I was watching a movie about someone who took hostages and the negotiator asked that at least the women and children be released. This had me thinking: why is that a somewhat "go to" phrase for certain scenarios? (I know it was just a movie but perhaps this phrase is still used in this or other situations.) Are they suggesting that women and children's lives matter more? Or, in the hostage situation - does it have to do with the fact that stereotypically the men are more likely to be able to fight the hostage taker? I can understand why you'd want the children to be let go in certain situations. They are certainly more vulnerable and have more of their lives ahead of them. But when it comes to the women - what about equality? Aren't men and women's lives of equal value? (Don't get me wrong, if I was held hostage and the person wanted to let the women go, I wouldn't complain.). But it has me thinking about equal rights and opportunity. How can we ask for equal rights if we might would jump at the opportunity to be let out of a risky situation like that? Does that make me (or others who feel the same way) hypocritical? I gather that this might be an old phrase taken from historical times, but do you still think it has any uses in today's world? How do you feel about the women and children being grouped separately from the men in such scenarios? What other scenarios can you think of where women/children are grouped separately from the men?