On not quite getting the point

When I was reading the news last night, I came across this tidbit: That OBL used one of the women who was there in the compound with him as a shield, hiding behind her during the shootout, which resulted in her death. And I was utterly unsurprised. When a culture (country...religion...however you want to slice it) sees women as less than human, why would you give any more thought to taking shelter behind one as you would to hiding behind a cow?

And then I read this quote in Andrew Sullivan today:

"I don't know very much about Muslim cultures, but it's hard to imagine there's any culture in which hiding behind your wife, or any woman, rather than fighting for yourself is not considered about as shameful and cowardly as it gets."

Which I just can't help automatically reading as:

"Dude. You hid behind a cow."

Sigh.