Women didn't have a choice about going, if their husbands or fathers were going so were they. But from what I've been reading women did write back to other women who were about to make a similiar journey with advice about what to bring and what to expect, etc.
I need to recheck out one of the books by Edmund S. Morgan about Puritan families that I didn't finish. I learned that in certain Purtian colonies it was relatively easy to get a divorce (easy compared to what it would be later in the more stricter areas). Both men and women were allowed to request a divorce for various reasons including a lack of sex life. There are records of women who'd been married for a long time and whose husbands couldn't fufill the marital needs successfully divorcing.
To: plebe@thatchhut.co.uk
From: james@king.co.uk
Subj: Mayflower???
Body: Sux 2 B U! LOL!!!1!
Jessica - can I have your babies?
To: james@king.co.uk
From: plebe@thatchhut.co.uk
Subj: Re: re: Mayflower???
Body: Ur mom wuz hamster & ur dad smelt lk elderberries LOL!!!
To: plebe@thatchhut.co.uk
From: plebe@king.co.uk
Subj: Re: Re: re: Mayflower???
Body: Enjoy ur stay in Tower. Cropped ears: v. fashionable.
Cc: Shire Magistrate
ya'll are terribly amusing.
From: plebe@king.co.uk
Woo hoo! Promoted to King! In your face, other plebes!
To: james@king.co.uk
From: captshrimp@newworld.va
The religious enthusiasts were bad enough. Now you're sending losers who loafeth around and look for gold. They annoyeth the savages, who were savage enough already. Now we hath harvested a few measly ears of corn, and they want to throw a grand entertainment. I intend to invite the savages, because they can at least hunt. I fail to see any reason to celebrate, since all we have to drink is water.
Also, pls send beer.
Your humble servant, Miles Standish
To: captshrimp@newworld.va
From: james@king.co.uk
Subj: Dealing with the savages
Did you give them the blankets yet?
::psst:: hi steph! did you get my comment from the other day?