The Kings Shilling

I have to admit I don't quite understand why there is so much consternation about a woman being killed in Afghanistan. By which I don't mean that we shouldn't be dismayed about any deaths in the conflict, I mean why is a woman being killed worse than a man? The way it is being presented it seems to be that a woman's life is of inherently more value than a mans. I believe in equality. I tell my daughter that there is nothing that she can't do, she has all the same opportunities open to her as any of the boys in her class. I don't know, maybe someone will tell me that women are paid less in the forces for an equivalent position, in which case then there could be a risk-benefit argument, i.e. not being paid to take the risk. However it seems to me that if you sign up for the military then you accept that there is an innate risk. Her death hasn't lead to a question about our role there but has simply lead to questions about women in the forces. But if we accept equality then we have to accept women being able to sign up and the end point of that is we have to accept that women are going to be at risk the moment they put on a uniform. If they are to be kept safe and coddled away from danger then society is only paying lip service to equality.