Weirdlet

*nod* I'm sure they're allowed to fight to defend themselves- but they aren't trained to do so, because that treads on Man's Turf, man's responsibilities, and the male arts. It may be as innocent as starting out as a way to divide up the work into the spheres they're most commonly used in, but as time goes by, it becomes tradition and hidebound, and binds more than it frees. A woman might have the talent- but she also might have 'it's not right for me to do so' hanging over her head.