Sailors did not get paid until they came home, and women were left to support themselves at a time when society did not accept working women. Landlocked wives tended shops, became tailors and washerwomen. Some were forced into prostitution. One amazing tidbit revealed by the Mariner's Museum is that childbirth at sea was not uncommon. Combat is closer to sport than art.
Sports certainly involve combat.
On the playing field, women against women are proving they can draw crowds on shoestring budgets. In the field of combat history shows us some women are tougher than we give them credit for. On both fields, women are closer to securing what some want and all deserve, but we're not there yet.