I am an old guy who has done judo, karate, tae kwon do, and aikido. I highly recommend aikido for women. To oversimplify, it is a derivative of Daito-ryu jujitsu whose founder modified the techniques ao as to restore harmony to a situation, not defeat an opponent.

Aikido includes some weapon training, mainly to improve form when doing techniques unarmed, and to practice take-aways. In life you probably will not be facing someone with a japanese sword, but maybe someone with a knife or gun.

Go into an aikido dojo and watch the people on the mat all smiling -- it is quite a contrast to my previous experiences with 'serious' arts whose techniques are designed to injure. If you talk to those who have practiced these other arts for a long time, they will all agree that the objective is to polish your soul; they just haven't found aikido yet.

About half the members of my dojo in California are women.

Just sharing my experiences.