other girls in armour

I have been getting so enthusiastic about starting up our national women's buhurt team that I sometimes forget that fighting women doesn't feature in many people's world view. And let's face it, the media portrayal of warriors tends to leave out the girls.

Disney doesn't make movies about fearless female knights, riding up on their white steeds, armour glinting in the sunlight, to save the helpless and vulnerable young man from certain destruction. I've recently discovered a site that turned the Disney princesses into warrior women. Sort of. They still don't give them armour, just slinky outfits based on the original. I must admit it gave me a giggle, though.



Joan of Arc seems to be the only popular woman fighter, and she is largely dealt with by filmmakers as a prophet or crazy person, depending on how generous the filmmaker is feeling. This seems highly unfair, all things considered. I have recently read the trial transcripts, which give an insight into what kind of girl she was - and she was still a girl - which show her to be intelligent, confident and independent, even at her tender age. These were traits that the patriarchy of the time did not encourage in women. And certainly, the fact that she insisted on wearing men's clothing really galled her captors.

Going back into antiquity, we see famous Celtic leaders such as Boudicea, who allegedly fought bare-breasted, and Cartimandua, who led her tribes against the Romans.



But even as late as the 1890s, there were women who fought in their own units. The Dahomey Amazons were fearsome warrior women, the last of which died in 1979; not that long ago.

 

In almost every culture, there are heroines who led armies and fought battles. Here is a list and timeline. Their bones and weapons have been dug up by archaeologists next to the bones and weapons of their brothers-in-arms. So, why is it so unusual for women to be accepted as fighters in modern society?

I don't know. I know that somewhere out there are a thousand sociologists, anthropologists, psychologists and other '-ologists' who will give a really well-researched and well-formulated explanation. It still makes no sense to me. And so I've given up thinking about it.

Instead, I'm thinking about getting my women fighters armoured up and trained to fight at the next IMCF. That's a good place to start.