Also, it made martyrs of many young women! I believe that there are quite a few saints who were young ladies who refused to marry, and wanted to become a religious, and were denied/slain by their parents/suitors. This is especially empowering because in these cases, the young woman is spiritually righteous.

Thank you for your post about this! As a child, these women fascinated me. I was always taken aback when people condemned Catholicism as anti-feminist, because I always found female empowerment a prominent feature of my faith.