Women wielding swords/daggers/bows in the past

[migueldiaz]

Originally Posted by Jeff D

I think it was meant to symbolize what it says, 'The saber dance' . I think her physic is only what is/was thought to be erotic. This is one more answer for the original question asked; "What kinda weapons(edged) could women be allowed and would wield in the past and in what cultures?"

Thanks for the comment Jeff

Before I posted that earlier comment of mine, I was reading this earlier post, which said:

"In some tribes of Africa, smiths are outcasts that live outside the village. They are uncircumcised, therefore they posses both the masculine and the feminine, symbolically having the entirety which confers them, as in the Congo culture, the necessary protection to work iron, a product of Mother Earth's womb extraction."

And then I saw the pic you posted. So for a moment, it crossed my mind that perhaps the photographer was constructing a metaphor. Something like this and please hold on tight! --

Mother Earth's womb and breast can yield both nourishment and destruction (or raw materials therefor ... e.g., metal ore which can be made into a scalpel or a sword, etc.). Now the lactating and/or pregnant girl in the photo symbolizes the thought, and the ceremonial sword sort of provides the link to the parallelism.

Then again I may be reading too much between the lines. Or perhaps it's the effect of the new herbal tea somebody gave me last Christmas?

Ok, I think too it's both!