In church, I've heard a man making the comment, "A woman always has the right to change her mind." This is true and false. It is socially accepted, and so many women take advantage of their liberty to change their minds. That makes the statement true. But being changeable harms women. Also, it is against God's Law. Based on God's Law and the law of nature, which seeks to maximize life by maximizing personal power for every individual, it is false that a woman always has the right to change her mind.
In Hebrew, the word honour means value. A man of honor is a man who is valuable. Anyone who is honorable is valuable. For a poor man, he only has his word. His word is his bond. If a man changes his mind, as women are encouraged to do, his word becomes worthless. If he shows up for work late, he is quickly fired. Then other men stop asking him to do work for them. He quickly becomes isolated from any position of power or ability to earn wages.
When men are downtrodden and oppressed, they look for others to tread down and oppress in their turn. It is a case of as above, so below. This quote from one hundred years ago shows us the Victorian attitude to women:
The Ideal Man should talk to us as if we were goddesses, and treat us as if we were children. He should refuse all our serious requests, and gratify every one of our whims. He should encourage us to have caprices, and forbid us to have missions. — Oscar Wilde
In Hebrew, the word virtue means strength. Proverbs chapter thirty is all about how great the virtuous or strong woman is. A strong woman is a strong ally to her husband. We have already seen that a man loses his power or strength if he doesn't keep his word. This applies to women too. If a strong woman is a good woman, why would she weaken herself and make herself a poor woman? If she doesn't give any value to her word or bond, noone else will either. She will be a parasite, relying solely on her husband. This weakens the whole family.
Proverbs 31:10-31
10 Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.
11 The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil.
12 She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.
13 She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands.
14 She is like the merchants' ships; she bringeth her food from afar.
15 She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens.
16 She considereth a field, and buyeth it: with the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard.
17 She girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her arms.
18 She perceiveth that her merchandise is good: her candle goeth not out by night.
19 She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff.
20 She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy.
21 She is not afraid of the snow for her household: for all her household are clothed with scarlet.
22 She maketh herself coverings of tapestry; her clothing is silk and purple.
23 Her husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land.
24 She maketh fine linen, and selleth it; and delivereth girdles unto the merchant.
25 Strength and honour are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come.
26 She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness.
27 She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.
28 Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her.
29 Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all.
30 Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth יהוה, she shall be praised.
31 Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates.Matthew 5:33-37
33 Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto יהוה thine oaths:
34 But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne:
35 Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King.
36 Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black.
37 But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.
Jesus didn't distinguish between man and woman, but all the Children of God should keep their word, or promise, oaths, bonds, or agreements.
Is there some sense in which a woman's word is less valuable than a man's? There is, if she is independant minded. But if she is submissive, her word can actually be more valuable than a man's word. How can this be? This is exactly opposite to how our modern society views things! I will show you. When a woman marries a man, she keeps her property. God is not a Communist. But the man gains two valuable services from the woman. The second comes directly from the first. The first, is the Law in Numbers 30:
Numbers 30:1-16
1 And Moses spake unto the heads of the tribes concerning the children of Israel, saying, This is the thing which יהוה hath commanded.
2 If a man vow a vow unto יהוה, or swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond; he shall not break his word, he shall do according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth.
3 If a woman also vow a vow unto יהוה, and bind herself by a bond, being in her father's house in her youth;
4 And her father hear her vow, and her bond wherewith she hath bound her soul, and her father shall hold his peace at her: then all her vows shall stand, and every bond wherewith she hath bound her soul shall stand.
5 But if her father disallow her in the day that he heareth; not any of her vows, or of her bonds wherewith she hath bound her soul, shall stand: and יהוה shall forgive her, because her father disallowed her.
6 And if she had at all an husband, when she vowed, or uttered ought out of her lips, wherewith she bound her soul;
7 And her husband heard it, and held his peace at her in the day that he heard it: then her vows shall stand, and her bonds wherewith she bound her soul shall stand.
8 But if her husband disallowed her on the day that he heard it; then he shall make her vow which she vowed, and that which she uttered with her lips, wherewith she bound her soul, of none effect: and יהוה shall forgive her.
9 But every vow of a widow, and of her that is divorced, wherewith they have bound their souls, shall stand against her.
10 And if she vowed in her husband's house, or bound her soul by a bond with an oath;
11 And her husband heard it, and held his peace at her, and disallowed her not: then all her vows shall stand, and every bond wherewith she bound her soul shall stand.
12 But if her husband hath utterly made them void on the day he heard them; then whatsoever proceeded out of her lips concerning her vows, or concerning the bond of her soul, shall not stand: her husband hath made them void; and יהוה shall forgive her.
13 Every vow, and every binding oath to afflict the soul, her husband may establish it, or her husband may make it void.
14 But if her husband altogether hold his peace at her from day to day; then he establisheth all her vows, or all her bonds, which are upon her: he confirmeth them, because he held his peace at her in the day that he heard them.
15 But if he shall any ways make them void after that he hath heard them; then he shall bear her iniquity.
16 These are the statutes, which יהוה commanded Moses, between a man and his wife, between the father and his daughter, being yet in her youth in her father's house.
Numbers chapter thirty states that a daughter's word can be nullified by her father. And a wife's word can be nullified by her husband. Reasoning on this, this means that a slave can have his word nullified by his master. But a free man is always responsible for his words.
This right of first refusal is the first service that a man gains from his wife. She is a free woman, and he can't boss her around, but he does have a right to forbid her or block her from doing things. The second service a woman provides to her husband is sexual exclusivity, bearing and raising children. This comes from the first right, since the husband forbids his wife to contract with any other man for the services of child production. This is a fair deal; it leaves a woman with most of her independance, but brings her into a family that will protect her property and rights.
When a man agrees to protect a woman's property and rights, even with his own life, justice requires some reciprocity. God's way is just. By getting the right of first refusal, a man gains the right to ensure that his wife, who he is protecting, does not do anything that is against his own interests. Both parties benefit; one by having her interests looked after, and the other by gaining authority to protect his own interests from the one he is protecting.
Now, I said that the word of a woman who is submissive can actually be more valuable than a man's word. How is this? If a woman consults with her husband or father before giving her word, then the husband or father has no opportunity to nullify it. A woman who keeps her husband or father "in the loop" can give her word, and it will be just as valuable as any man's word. In fact, it will be as valuable as her word and her husband's word combined, since her husband is backing her up in it. The willful, rebellious woman is unreliable. No man can predict when her husband will decide to nullify her word, making it valueless.
A husband or father or master may not capriciously nullify his daughters word though. The nullification must be done as soon as the man hears of it, or as soon as he reasonably can after hearing it. If the man waits, he loses his right to nullify. It is from this that we get the famous Latin dictum of law, Qui tacet consentit or "He who remains silent consents." It is more famously translated as "Silence implies consent." Now you know where it comes from. It comes from God's own Law.
Now contrast what you have learnt from God's Law with this article by a Lawless woman, who describes her views on the relationship between men and women: What Other Women Want, by Sigrun Christianson.