This comment by Danny on the post Dead Men Don’t Count in War
I don’t think it’s men in general whose lives are disposable but rather a bit of a split.
When it comes to putting men into military service and sending them off to wars its not that they are disposable and have no usefulness. I think it’s that their capacity for military service IS usefulness. It’s the “men are usually bigger. stronger” thing. (Yes that same thing that comes up everytime someone wants to wax on about how men commit more violence.)
When it comes to civilian men I’ll be the first to agree that that there is some disposability going on. If a male is not a child and is not considered to be of fighting shape he is considered disposable (and when you get down to it I think the only reason boys are considered disposable is solely because they are children). As is mentioned in the post. When civilian deaths are reported it’s usually a number and then the portion that were women and children is mentioned.
Once a guy gets to old he is either a threat (while he is in that age ranged where he’s considered to be combat effective) or he does not matter at all (because apparently even elderly men aren’t even worth looking out for).
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This is so true. You need only tune in to the news in today’s age and listen to the reporting of a disaster. In the eyes of eestern editors, the only classes worthy of noting in the casualties are women and children.