Infidel ~ a teaser (with my comment)

The moral of every one of my grandmother's stories rested on our honor. We must be strong, clever, suspicious; we must obey the rules of the clan. Suspicion is good, especially if you are a girl. For girls can be taken, or they may yield. And if a girl's virginity is despoiled, she not only obliterates her own honor, she also damages the honor of her father, uncles, brothers, male cousins. There is nothing worse than to be the agent of such catastrophe.

This tells me that women must be more powerful than men in that culture. Men seem to be totally dependent upon women for who they are. Without women, the men wouldn't have any honor. This quote comes from page 6 of Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali (2007), but the interpretation is entirely my own.