This has to be said. I don't dislike Muslims, but I really, really dislike Islam

[quote]Islam is a religion that treats women like trash and I don't know why any woman would willingly remain a Muslim, or married to a Muslim.[/quote]

The quran can be interpreted in various ways, you already know that I guess.

In your argument with Ahmed, you opted for the literal definition of the word "اضربوهن" in the quranic verse instructing husbands how to treat wives that reject them (so did I).
I encountered variations, the last one I remember was written by the scholar Mohamed Abduh. According to him it should be done with a straw, not extreme , avoids the face and doesn't leave any marks. So translations made later on used that definition of the word instead.

Now the interpretation should always take into account the historical context of the verse, right? That's where the problem starts. Some of the events confirm the violent nature of the teachings. They are often ignored or suppressed by the scholars. The verse you questioned for instance was revealed when a woman was [b]punched in the stomach[/b] by her husband. She went to complain to the prophet. He initially told her father to hit her husband the same way. But then Gabriel came with that verse and the prophet changed his mind.

Many Muslims, women and men, have to ignore the information in order to normalize the teachings, most of them actually don't even know the context, they aren't aware of the contradictions in the approaches used for the interpretations. They know what they are told. They are selective in their beliefs due to the cognitive bias or prior indoctrination.
That and the Hadiths promising women of a happy ever after later on if they obey their husbands and be patient. It's an opiate.
Also poor education coupled with fear of shunning and becoming an outcast. Feeling the life style is not problematic, many women seem to prefer being dependent and being treated like that as rude as it sounds.