Another Canadian soldier was killed in Afghanistan this week. The fact that Nichola Goddard was the first Canadian woman soldier to be killed in combat since World War II seemed to make the tragedy even more newsworthy. Unfortunately, none of the mainstream media outlets used this unfortunate occasion to ask important questions about why Canadian soldiers are in Afghanistan in the first place (and why our prime minister wants them to stay for another two years).
Nor did anyone ask bigger questions about women and war — women are affected by war in very different ways than men, and their experiences are drastically underreported in the news media. Im not going to get into specifics, rather Ill point you to an online quiz at Amnesty International about women and war. Its eye-opening and very informative, and may make you angry about the silence around these issues in our newspapers (besides, who doesnt like tests that let you go back until you get the answer right?).
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