A very reasonable response.
My partial disagreement is strictly one of the physical limitations.
It is probable that a man can, on average, pull twice the draw weight bow of a woman. Some a good bit more.
There is no reason in this world that a woman can’t be as skilled with a bow as a man, but the draw weight difference means that he can shoot from a much greater distance and that his arrows will hit with much greater force.
Important factors in a combat situation. I just get tired of the female warrior meme. It’s so utterly stupid. And I sometimes wonder if it plays a role in young women getting themselves into dangerous situation because they don’t realize how utterly vulnerable they are without a man to defend them. Oe a gun.
I have no problem with what you say. I’m only suggesting that some women, back then, could have done it :-)
I’m just trying to get at what the legend really refers to and means.
=JT
Sherman Logan:
"I just get tired of the female warrior meme.
It’s so utterly stupid.
And I sometimes wonder if it plays a role in young women getting themselves into dangerous situation because they don’t realize how utterly vulnerable they are without a man to defend them." The article tries hard to separate fact from fantasy, the facts being that a large percentage (30%?) of Sythian women were buried with warrior tools, and that Greeks considered many "barbarian" women to be warriors.
This was a scandal to civilized Greeks, but then one needs to wonder about their own warrior goddesses, Athena and Artemis (Diana) and also Jason's companion, Atalanta.
So the basic idea of women warriors was not entirely myth.
There were some.
