"I'll explain this to you, with the caveat that I'm a heretic and have had men try to kill me for behaving in ways a woman shouldn't."

She says, because it's ludicrous that she's the one here to defend the system.

"But the church has strict scriptures about what each sex should be. Women aren't supposed to fight, men aren't able to read. Lighteyes hold political power and are of higher caste than the Darkeyes- which is probably an result of history distorting into superstition. The use of stormlight can briefly cause a person's eyes to grow pale and glow. The power was common place, then use died out completely. Several millenia later, you're left with a ruling class."