Editing Samurai (section)

== Female Samurai ==
As the Samurai gradually became a formalized hereditary class the term came to apply to both men and women from samurai families. The daughters of Samurai clans were like their brothers trained to fight so they could literally hold the fort while the men were off on campaign, to help train up the next generation and to protect themselves and their kids in an era of warring clans. The general term for a Female Samurai under arms is ''Onna-musha'' (woman warrior). Because swords were normally reserved for male samurai, they are associated with the Naginata or the bow. Though [[-4 Str|strict Japanese gender roles]] meant they were only taught household duties and self-defense, women could take up arms as ''Onna-musha'' when all their bros get wiped. There are also instances of them leaving homes behind for war, like entire units of female cavalry or graves where a third of the battle dead were female, but it should also be noted that whenever their presence was recorded, the people writing it thought it was kinda weird, making them the exceptions rather than the norm.