Women of Bushido...What does that mean?

"Bushido's code praised women "who emanicipated themselves from the fraility of their sex and displayed heroic fortitude worthy of the strongest and bravest of men." The ideal parallels the American Frontier or Pioneer woman more so than it does contemporary women's lib.

Under Bushido, girls learned to repress their feelings, to harden their nerves and to excel in weaponry. This was usually the nagi-nata (long handled sword). The Bushido woman had no overlord, so she learned to defend herself. The women following the Bushidio Code, carried kai-ken (long-bladed posket daggers). They carried these in their bosoms for defense or if need be to commit seppuka. It was a tradition that their greatest domestic quality was the education of their sons. (this was mostly as this a male dominated philosophy and so loss of feminine traits were praised, but women generally aren't expected to do this, they are the domestic,peaceful half.)

To smooth the angularity of movement the women learned dancing. Music was essential as an art to regale weary hours of husbands and fathers. Music, dance and poetry were only to purify the heart. Under Bushido the woman surrendered herself to the good of homes and family in much the way the man accomplished self-surrender to the lord or country. Self-renunciation operated as a key note of the loyalty of man and domesticity in a woman. But there was NEVER any sense of slavish surrender.


...Under Bushido,woman was not regarded as man's equal. But men were not equal among themselves as demonstrated in courts of law, polling places and the like. On the battlefield a woman was expected to contribute little, at home everything.

For the woman in the Bushido ethic, life was focused on the home as the center of the universe. The man focused his life on the service to his lord and his Emperor. "
Via current book obsession

**What does this mean? Quite simply my job is to take care of the heart, home and dreams of partner. My home and family's happiness is that which above my own. This is how I choose to live if I could find the right man who is worthy. This is an old fashioned philosophy, but that is ok for me, and most women feel that it is wrong. But I believe in letting a man be a man, but he must be a worthy man. He has to have worthy traits. I have no problem walking behind a man in public, and beside him in private. Shake your head at me if you must, but you don't have to agree as I see this as a wonderful thing I am able to give. While may scoff and think that I'm selling myself short, let me just say it takes a certain character and ability to accomplish this. It sounds like the easiest, but it can actually be the hardest.