I once married a Muslim "man of color" and assumed, unthinkingly that, as an outsider himself, he might somehow identify with and make common cause with women. I found that this misguided assumption was untrue and, in my new book, "An American Bride in Kabul," I write about my unsentimental education in such matters, an education which took place both in America and in Afghanistan long ago.

I had also once assumed that all formerly colonized peoples and Third World impoverished countries were filled with naturally noble inhabitants who were instinctively spiritual and kind to each other. I quickly discovered that barbarism is indigenous to such regions, and that tribal and religious wars, the most profound misogyny, cruelty, and corruption were accepted as normal." It was only a crime to criticize such practices.

I learned long ago that belonging to a particular gender, race, class, religion, or sexual preference tells us nothing about how a particular person might think or behave.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2013/09/10/voting-for-victims/