disclaimer: i have no idea the context, but...

I just heard, in the background, on CNN the following, "women and children, that are in no way involved in the politics of this area..."

something about being removed from homes, injured, lives changed, or killed.

But go back to that quote. I do know some context, the reporter was talking about the Lebanon/Israel conflict when she mentioned the suffering. I am sure there is suffering, and the suffering is not what bothers me about what I heard.

Since when did women and children have nothing to do with the politics of any area in the world in any part of world history? And why do we allow such statements said in cliche fonts?

1) Women and children having a sadly muted voice in recorded history is worth discussing. But there is a difference between recorded history and real and present thinking. In the thoughts of any figure that shapes world history, men, women, and children play prominent parts.

2) Last I checked, women play quite large roles in Israel and Lebanon.

To disagree on that second point is to believe that the faces we see on CNN are what really matters. That belief, in my opinion, is either silly or the product of a strange strategy of cable news ("the women and children who have nothing to do with this conflict") to convince the poloi of the great untruth that a select few men have structured the world. I thought Professor Zinn had rid of of such ill-thought norms.