Gregory, Roxanne A History of Women in Piracy

Life under the Black Flag

The word pirate conjures up images of dashing men, as seen in series such as Black Sails and Pirates of the Caribbean, but the world of piracy has a centuries-long history in which there were many little-known women who wielded real power in a man's world long before they were even allowed to participate in democratic elections. Their stories are captivating and include women of all ethnicities and cultures. From Sayyida al Hurra, Queen of the Barbarian Pirates, a Muslim woman who successfully raided her enemies' ships and became governor of Tétouan, to Zhèng Shì, an outcast Tanka woman who was born in a brothel and managed to command seventeen thousand men in the Red Flag Fleet, which was superior to the Chinese imperial navy at the time. During the Golden Age of Piracy in the Caribbean, many transgender women joined pirate crews, even though the presence of a woman on board a ship meant death. Their stories have been largely ignored by historians, but A History of Women in Piracy reveals the lives and loves of these courageous women who defied convention and proved themselves to be just as capable (if not more so) than their male counterparts.