Although women are often marginalized in history, they have played pivotal roles in a number of societies. Competing in a man’s world, some of these female rulers were fiercely protective of their power, even using murder to achieve their goals. Others were thoughtful rulers who built lasting legacies of cultural achievement.

10 Amina

Most likely born in the 16th century, Amina was a fierce warrior, military leader, and quite possibly the ruler of Zazzau, now called Zaria, a Hausa kingdom which was located in modern-day Nigeria. The eldest daughter of an ancient king named Bakwa Turunku, Amina ascended to the throne and embarked on a number of military campaigns to expand her country’s territory.

Supposedly to keep her grasp on power, Amina never took a husband, opting to have temporary husbands for one night each. They usually came from her personal bodyguards and were killed the following morning to keep details of their sexual rendezvous a secret.

One night, obviously aware of the fate that awaited him, one of her lovers escaped. Amina chased him, drowning in a river as he got away.

9 Zoe Porphyrogenita

Four Byzantine emperors owed their coronations to Zoe Porphyrogenita (“born in the purple”), the second daughter of Constantine VIII. When Constantine died, Zoe was crowned empress along with her husband, Romanos III Argyros.

One day, Romanos drowned in a bathtub, a death in which Zoe and her lover, Michael IV, were rumored to be involved. Later that day, Zoe married Michael IV, a violation of the tradition of widows waiting a year to remarry. When Michael IV died, their adopted son, Michael V, assumed the throne. He took sole control of the empire by banishing Zoe.

A revolt followed because Zoe was extremely popular. She and her sister, Theodora, soon ruled together quite contentiously. For his actions, Michael V was later blinded and castrated.

Eventually growing tired of political life and her sister’s ambitions, Zoe took another husband, Constantine IX, whom she allowed to rule until her death in 1050.

8 Brunhilda Of Austrasia

Born to the Visigoth king Athanagild, Brunhilda was married off to Sigebert I, the ruler of the Frankish kingdom of Austrasia. Her sister married Sigebert’s half brother, but she was soon murdered at the prompting of her husband’s mistress. Brunhilda made it her life’s work to avenge her sister.

Less than a decade later, war broke out between the two half brothers. However, Sigebert quickly met his end at the hands of an assassin and Brunhilda was imprisoned.

Eventually, she returned to power, seizing the regency in her son’s name. When he died relatively young, Brunhilda tried in vain to rule through her grandsons, who went to war when the elder grandson exiled her from his court.

Finally, she ruled for a short time through her great-grandson Sigebert II before being betrayed and killed by Chlothar II of Neustria. Chlothar had Brunhilda dragged to death by a horse.

7 Jadwiga Of Poland

The first female monarch of Poland, Jadwiga (aka Hedwig) was the youngest daughter of Louis the Great, king of Hungary and Poland. After his death, her older sister, Maria, was named Louis’s successor to the Hungarian throne.

But Polish nobility was wary of Maria’s husband and his ties to the Holy Roman Empire. So they persuaded Jadwiga’s mother to choose Jadwiga to rule Poland even though she was only 10 at the time.

In 1384, Jadwiga traveled to Krakow, where she was crowned “king.” Though she was already betrothed to William of Habsburg, Polish nobility “encouraged” her to marry a man named Jogaila, who was the Grand Duke of Lithuania and a more politically expedient match.

Jadwiga continued to reign as coruler with her new husband, building a legacy as one of Poland’s greatest monarchs. She died at age 25 during childbirth.

6 Queen Seondeok Of Silla

Queen Seondeok was the 27th ruler of Silla, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, as well as its first female monarch. Appointed to the throne because her father had no male heirs, Queen Seondeok quickly established herself as a thoughtful, intelligent, and just ruler.

Her prolonged desire for cultural advancement helped create a road map for the eventual unification of the Three Kingdoms. Queen Seondeok was also responsible for the construction of what is now the oldest surviving observatory in the world: Cheomseongdae.

One of the best-known stories of Queen Seondeok takes place when she was a child. Her father received a gift of peony seeds with a painting of peony blossoms. Queen Seondeok correctly deduced that the blossoms didn’t have a scent because no butterflies were flying around them in the picture.

She was also said to have predicted the exact date of her death.

5 Queen Ana Nzinga

Ruling as regent for her nephew over what is now Angola, Queen Ana Nzinga waded through the difficult waters of the African slave trade era with the aplomb that has made her legacy endure to this day. Sandwiched between hostile neighbors, she formed an alliance with Portugal.

But Portugal soon betrayed her. Forced to flee with her people, Queen Ana Nzinga offered refuge for runaway slaves and trained militias in an effort to retake her land from the Portuguese.

After a lengthy war with the Portuguese, she eventually gave up on her hope of defeating them. Instead, she focused on raising the status of her new kingdom, Matamba.

When she finally died, Matamba was doing quite well commercially, enabling them to deal with Portugal on more equal footing. Perhaps her greatest legacy is that she may have been the first “slave” abolitionist.

4 Rani Lakshmi Bai

In her youth, Lakshmi Bai learned to fight, becoming proficient in a number of disciplines like martial arts and sword fighting. These traits served her well later in life when she ascended to the throne of Jhansi, a state in northern India.

She assumed the throne after her husband died, becoming the regent for their adopted son. However, the East India Company refused to recognize her son’s right to rule because he was adopted. So they annexed the state.

Refusing to cede her kingdom to the British, Lakshmi Bai assembled an army to revolt against the occupying forces. As the Indian Mutiny began, the 22-year-old queen personally led her soldiers, bravely fighting even as her forces were overwhelmed by the East India Company.

Eventually, after a number of defeats, Lakshmi Bai dressed up as a man and met her death during battle.

3 Toregene Khatun

Wife of one Mongol ruler, Ogedei Khan, and mother of another ruler, Guyuk Khan, Toregene Khatun was also the ruler, the Great Khan, for a period of time herself. When her husband died, Toregene grabbed for power, using her political guile to build a consensus that she should rule to maintain stability until a new Great Khan could be chosen.

Though her reign was relatively peaceful, especially for a Mongol, Toregene worked to further her country’s cause by currying favor with a number of foreign dignitaries. Her nominee for the succeeding Great Khan was her son, Guyuk, who faced stiff opposition from a number of sources. He was finally elected after four tumultuous years.

2 Christina, Queen Of Sweden

One of the most vivacious and well-educated women of the 17th century, Christina assumed the throne of Sweden at age six upon the death of her father, King Gustav II Adolph. However, she didn’t start ruling until she reached age 18.

Her refusal to marry was one of the main reasons for her unexpected abdication of the throne at age 27. Faced with an unhappy populace begging for a king and his heirs, Christina left the country, heading to Rome to enjoy the company of Pope Alexander VII and others. Her secret conversion to Roman Catholicism may have played a role in her abdication as well.

After trying unsuccessfully to obtain the throne of Poland, Christina settled down to a life of leisure and patronage of the arts. The Pope later described her as “a queen without a realm, a Christian without faith, and a woman without shame.”

1 Tomyris

After her husband’s death, Tomyris became the queen of a tribe known as the Massagetae. Her greatest feat was defending her kingdom against the Persian king Cyrus the Great. Rebuffing his offer of marriage, Tomyris attempted to dissuade Cyrus from starting a war. She warned him: “Be content to rule your own people and try to endure the sight of me ruling mine.”

Nevertheless, the Persians invaded and Cyrus kidnapped her son, who later killed himself in captivity. The Persian king finally fell in battle against the Massagetae. Afterward, Tomyris was purported to have scoured the battlefield for Cyrus’s body, cut off the king’s head when she found him, and placed his head in a skin filled with human blood.

+ Further Reading

Women have played a fascinating role in history – from rulers to warriors and everything in between. Here are a few more fascinating but not too stereotypical tales of the fairer sex:

10 Amazing Female Spies Who Brought Down The Nazis
10 Women Who Transformed Themselves Into Superheroes
10 Women Warriors Forgotten By History
10 Overlooked Women Who Outdid Famous Men

Ancient warfare was dominated by men, who have natural advantages when it comes to wielding a sword, drawing a bow, or dying of dysentery in some squalid camp. But every so often a powerful woman would come along to shock the ancient world by leading her armies into battle. Proud male warriors often underestimated these women, usually with fatal results.

10Cynane

Cynane was the daughter of Philip of Macedon and the half-sister of Alexander the Great. Her mother was from Illyria, a region with a tradition of female warriors, and she taught Cynane to ride, fight, and shoot. In fact, as a teenager, Cynane supposedly accompanied a Macedonian invasion of Illyria and killed the Illyrian queen in single combat.

That may not be true, but Cynane was certainly a power player at the Macedonian court. Alexander tried to marry her to a distant chief to get her out of the way, but the chief mysteriously dropped dead before the wedding. Rumors of poison ensured that nobody else would try to marry Cynane against her will.

After Alexander died, his mentally disabled brother succeeded him as Philip III and there was a scramble to see who would become the power behind the throne. Cynane raised an army and marched on Babylon, intending to marry her daughter to Philip. This alarmed the regent Perdiccas, who sent an army under Antipater to stop her. But Cynane defeated Antipater at Strymon and continued toward Babylon.

In desperation, Perdiccas sent Cynane’s old friend Alcetus to assassinate her at a meeting. But the plan backfired. The Greek army was so horrified at the murder of Alexander’s sister that they demanded that Cynane’s daughter marry Philip as she had wished. Even in death, Cynane got her way.

9Mavia

During the reign of the Emperor Valens, an alliance of seminomadic Arab tribesmen burst across the border and invaded Roman Palestine. The Arabs were led by a woman named Mavia, who personally led her troops into battle. The Romans thought this was hilarious. In fact, when the commander of Palestine summoned reinforcements, he was effectively dismissed from his post for needing help to fight a woman.

Mavia soon taught them a lesson, crushing the Roman forces in battle. According to the historian Sozomen, the dismissed Roman commander actually redeemed himself by charging into the fray and rescuing the general who had fired him.

In any case, the Romans decided that Queen Mavia had to be taken seriously and sent negotiators to reach a diplomatic solution. Mavia’s main demand was that a monk named Moses be appointed to replace the current Arab bishop, suggesting that her invasion was religious in nature.

8Lu’s Mother

Lu’s mother didn’t even leave us her name, but she certainly made her presence felt in Ancient China. Around AD 14, a minor official named Lu was unjustly executed by the local magistrate.

Lu’s mother was heartbroken at the death of her son and became determined to get her revenge. Since she came from a family of wealthy wine merchants, she was able to build up support by generously offering gifts and credit to the local peasants.

By the time she was in her sixties, Lu’s mother had built up a loyal network of several hundred local youths. She recruited more supporters from the outlaws who had taken refuge on a nearby island.

Once her forces were strong enough, she launched an outright rebellion and took control of the entire district. The magistrate who had executed her son begged for mercy. But she responded that her son had died for a petty crime, so it was only fair that his murderer should also get the death sentence.

After Lu’s mother died, her supporters joined the Red Eyebrows, a group of rebels who painted their faces and played an important part in overthrowing Emperor Wang Mang.

7Rhodogune

Rhodogune was a Parthian princess in the second century BC. According to the Greek historian Polyaenus, the fearsome Rhodogune was taking a bath one day when she heard that a local tribe was revolting. She immediately jumped out of the water and vowed not to bathe or wash her hair until the rebels were defeated.

Unfortunately, the war that followed was “tedious,” but the revolting Rhodogune eventually led her forces to victory against the revolting rebels. She immediately retired to her bath and thoroughly washed her hair. However, Polyaenus says that her statues and seals always depicted her with unkempt hair from that day on in honor of her great and smelly victory.

6The Trung Sisters

The Trung sisters are considered heroes of Vietnam for leading the resistance against the invading Chinese Han dynasty. Trung Trac was married to Thi Sach, a Vietnamese nobleman who organized a secret plan to rise up against the Chinese. When the Han got wind of this and murdered Thi Sach, Trung Trac took over as leader of the movement.

Together with her sister, Trung Nhi, Trung Trac gathered an army and put the Chinese forces to flight. In AD 39, the sisters declared themselves joint queens of an independent Vietnamese state. However, the Han empire struck back, sending a huge army which overwhelmed the Trung forces. Refusing to be captured, the sisters drowned themselves in a river around AD 43.

5Lady Trieu

When asked why she never married, Lady Trieu famously declared, “I wish to ride a strong wind and tame fierce waves, kill sharks in the Eastern sea, force back the Chinese armies, and throw off the chains of slavery. How could I possibly accept to be some man’s servant?”

Like the Trung sisters, Trieu was a Vietnamese woman who led a rebel army against the Chinese. Her rebellion was smaller and more localized that the Trung sisters’ uprising, but Trieu was every bit as fierce. In later years, she took on mythological characteristics, including yard-long breasts which she threw back over her shoulders so they wouldn’t get in the way during battle.

The brief accounts of her life indicate that she was eventually defeated and took her own life around AD 248.

4Amanirenas

In classic sitcom style, Amanirenas was a tough woman who had to fix a disaster caused by her idiot husband. The warrior queen was the wife of King Teriteqas of Nubia, who had foolishly attacked Roman Egypt. When the Romans struck back, Teriteqas died of disease, leaving Amanirenas ruling Egypt as regent for their young son.

Fortunately, Amanirenas was more than up to the challenge. Roman sources describe her as a giant of a woman, blind in one eye and tough as nails. After escaping a Roman siege of Napata, she raised an army and marched on the fortress of Premnis. The legions soon arrived, but neither side was keen on a pitched battle. Instead, Amanirenas sent ambassadors to Emperor Augustus, who agreed to her demands and signed a lasting peace treaty.

3Princess Pingyang

Princess Pingyang was the daughter of Li Yuan, who founded the Tang dynasty. When Li Yuan launched his rebellion, Pingyang was sent to the family estate for safety. Instead, she built a peasant army, known as the Woman’s Army in her honor. (Later legends claiming that it was an army of women seem to be incorrect.)

With this force, Pingyang seized control of Huxian County and defeated a Sui dynasty army sent to stop her. She then marched north with 10,000 men, destroying the Sui forces in Shaanxi. In AD 617, she combined with her father to capture the Sui capital. She became the first woman to take the title of Marshal but then suddenly died at age 23.

2Hydna

Hydna of Scione was the daughter of a Greek professional diver who taught her to swim from a young age. After defeating the Spartans at Thermopylae, the Persians marched on Athens while their navy sailed down the coast. When a storm blew up, Hydna and her father volunteered to cut the Persian anchors.

To complete this feat, father and daughter had to swim 16 kilometers (10 mi) across a storm-tossed bay and then dive down and saw through the Persian cables, all while avoiding detection. Amazingly, they succeeded and the Persian fleet was wrecked. The grateful Greeks erected a statue of the divers, which was later stolen by Nero.

1Fu Hao

Fu Hao might be the oldest and greatest female general in ancient history. She was the wife of Wu Ding, who ruled Shang dynasty China from around 1250 to 1190 BC.

While such ancient history can often be mixed with legend, it’s certain that Fu Hao served as a general because many inscribed oracle bones dated to her lifetime ask questions related to her military campaigns. Her tomb has also been found and contains weapons and other martial trappings.

According to the archaeologists who have unearthed her story, Fu Hao was her husband’s main general. Her greatest victory came against the Tu-Fang, ancient enemies of the Shang whom she defeated so thoroughly that they were never a threat again.

She led three other confirmed military campaigns, all of them great successes. It seems that she was a cunning strategist, luring the Bafang army into a deadly ambush. She died of exhaustion shortly after this triumph and was buried with great honor.

The female orgasm is a part of human evolution that we simply haven’t been able to wrap our heads around. It flies in the face of all evolutionary theories for sex we currently have, and no matter how much we’ve tried figuring it out, any decisive explanation as to why it exists still eludes us.^[1]

Since it’s such a misunderstood part of the human experience, there are many things you might not know about the female orgasm. Even now, we consistently find surprising results during studies on the subject, further deepening the air of mystery around it. Here are ten such surprises.

10 Women Orgasm In Their Sleep

Wet dreams, or orgasms while sleeping, among men have been extensively discussed in both scientific circles and high school congregations. We know that they occur mostly during adolescence, and other than some unfortunate exceptions, guys tend to stop having them by their mid- to late twenties. There’s nothing particularly surprising about them, except for the first time one wakes up drenched in what is definitely not sweat.

Women having orgasms while sleeping, however, is much less understood and documented. According to studies, around 37 percent of women will experience at least one sleeping orgasm by the age of 45. Unlike men, their frequency increases with age, and it’s not a puberty thing, either.

The interesting part is that sleeping orgasms among women aren’t dependent on any other factors. For the women who experience them, it happens regardless of whether they’re single or married or how sexually active they are.^[2]

9 Women With Prominent Upper Lips Orgasm More Often

Women tend to orgasm less frequently than men, and the reasons for that aren’t really known. It doesn’t depend on factors like libido or sexual history, and it’s consistent among all cultures and races around the world. While it will be some time before we can solve that one, scientists have found a surprising factor that may influence the likelihood of orgasm among women: the shape of their lips.

In a study, a number of Scottish women were asked about their history of orgasms from intercourse, and the researchers cross-checked that with the shape of their lips. While we don’t know where they get these ideas for scientific studies from, they did find a surprising correlation between the shape of the upper lip and the likelihood of having an orgasm. Women with more pronounced tubercles (the central, round part of the upper lip) were more likely to orgasm from vaginal penetration.^[3]

8 It Affects The Brain Region Responsible For Addiction

One of the primary reasons we don’t understand the female orgasm is the difficulty of studying it in laboratory conditions. Because men can orgasm far more easily than women, it’s easier for them to do so during research, but the same can’t be said for women.

In some of the studies that have been successfully conducted, though, scientists have found surprising connections between orgasms and various regions of the brain. While we don’t need scientific research to know that an orgasm affects the brain in a way that few other things do, the effects are far more intense in women than men, affecting seemingly unrelated parts of the brain.

As one study found, one of those parts is the nucleus accumbens, which deals with reward.^[4] This region plays a major role in addiction to things like gambling and drugs.

7 It’s Not Always Physically Noticeable (And We Don’t Know Why)

Popular fiction portrays the female orgasm as visibly shattering and all-consuming, with noticeable physical signs you can’t miss. We’re not saying it never happens like that—as that would defy observed evidence in real life—but it certainly doesn’t always happen that way. In many instances, it can be difficult to tell if a woman has orgasmed at all, and not just for their partners. Some women aren’t very good at identifying an orgasm when they have one.

According to research by a neuroscientist, many women report having orgasms without any noticeable contractions or violent shaking of the limbs like we’d generally expect, and science doesn’t know why. It may be because women aren’t often good at differentiating an orgasm from other peak times of pleasure during a sexual encounter, according to the neuroscientist, at least.^[5]

6 It Works As A Painkiller

We may not be any closer to completely understanding the purpose of the female orgasm, but in all the research we’ve done on it, it’s clear that it has a special connection with the brain. We’re constantly finding new neural pathways between the female sexual organs and different parts of the brain that shouldn’t be connected at all, and a few of them are quite surprising.

Take the research on the connection between the female orgasm and pain threshold. At first, researchers studied it on rats and found that the rats simply did not feel any pain during vaginal stimulation. The pain-blocking effect was curiously similar to the administration of morphine, which prompted scientists to study it on humans. In a subsequent study of women, they found the same results: Vaginal stimulation almost doubled women’s ability to take pain. Orgasms more than doubled it.^[6]

5 The Inability To Orgasm May Be Genetic

We know for a fact that many women aren’t able to orgasm no matter what they do, and it’s not because of any inadequacy on their partner’s part. According to science, around ten to 15 percent of women have anorgasmia, which may sound like a disease but is actually just a fancy word for the inability to orgasm despite their best efforts.

It may sound dysfunctional, but research says that anorgasmia makes perfect evolutionary sense. Studies suggest a definite link between the inability to have an orgasm and genetics, and according to researchers, it’s because those women are evolutionarily choosy about who to orgasm with. In simpler terms, the bodies of some women are designed to not orgasm unless it’s with someone ideal to have a baby with. Looking at how difficult it is to find the perfect partner (at least perfect enough to convince the body), that may explain why so many women never or rarely have orgasms.^[7]

4 Women With No Pelvic Function Can Orgasm, Too

It has been a long-standing theory that the orgasm doesn’t have anything to do with the genitals at all. Sure, they act as the organs and nerve endings that require the stimulation to achieve it, but the actual climax happens only in the brain, according to the theory at least. While it will be quite some time before we can confirm that or rule it out, some evidence from people suffering from spinal cord injuries (SCI) does give credence to it.

According to research, women with absolutely no nerve function in their pelvic area due to neurological injuries are still able to orgasm.^[8] More surprisingly, it feels the same as how it did before the injury, and it doesn’t depend on the extent of the injury, either. They did find that among the women studied, the ones who had a higher sex drive and greater sexual awareness were more likely to orgasm, though that seems to be generally true among women without SCI, too.

3 Women Are More Likely To Orgasm With Symmetrical Men

Unlike men, who rarely have any problems achieving orgasm during sexual encounters, women experience them less frequently. There are many theories as to why that may be, though according to one study, it’s because most men simply aren’t symmetrical enough.

In the study, they asked 86 couples about their climaxing frequencies. While it was predictable for the men, who orgasmed nearly 100 percent of the time as expected, for women, the frequency was much higher when their partner was symmetrical.^[9] We’re not just talking about the face, either, but overall symmetry.

It may sound surprising, but body symmetry is inherently related to the quality of the genes. It’s not just about attractiveness but also physical and psychological health. It suggests that the female orgasm may be a mate-selection mechanism, but then again, that’s only one of the many theories on why it exists.

2 It’s Rarely Due To Intercourse

Women’s ability—or lack thereof—to orgasm is often thought of as a verdict on the sexual prowess of their partners during intercourse. The partner’s skill in bed can certainly be a factor, but it’s a bit more complicated than that.

The female orgasm has almost nothing to do with the penetration part of sex. Only 25 percent of women who have orgasms can consistently do so from intercourse alone, and the rest require other things, like sex toys or oral stimulation, to achieve it. It’s also independent of external factors like the size of the penis, attractiveness of the partner, or stress.

It’s not just one study indicating this, either; one author went through 33 studies over the past 80 years to come to this conclusion.^[10] So, if you’re a man who cannot get your female partner climax through intercourse, you shouldn’t take it personally and just try other things out.

1 It May Be A Way To Retain More Sperm

One of the reasons female orgasm is so mysterious is that it appears to serve no evolutionary purpose at all. Unlike men, it doesn’t do anything for the actual reproduction process. Because of its relative infrequency compared to the male orgasm and lack of dependence on penetration, it isn’t a reliable indicator for sexual satisfaction, either.

While there are many theories on why it exists, one of them makes more sense than the others. According to some scientists, the contractions during an orgasm help the female retain as much sperm as she can, increasing the chances of fertilization. It’s backed by some research, too. In one study, researchers asked some women to collect the fluid ejected from the vagina after sex. They found that among the women who had just orgasmed, the ejected content had a lower amount of sperm than the others.^[11]

You can check out Himanshu’s stuff at Cracked and Screen Rant, get in touch with him for writing gigs, or just say hello to him on Twitter.

Female genital mutilation, also known as female circumcision, is a barbaric practice commonly found in Africa, Asia, and several countries in the Middle East. It is the cutting of the clitoris, removal of some or all of the labia minora, or stitching shut of the labia majora. This is conducted to control the woman, to keep her from being sexually promiscuous, to prepare her for marriage, and for religious purposes.

Many who preform and even receive these acts see nothing wrong with the practice. However, this procedure is extremely invasive, controlling, and often deadly, as well as a massive violation of human rights.

10The Health Risks Are Severe And Often Deadly

There are zero health benefits from female genital mutilation, only health risks that are often deadly. Some of the immediate results of female genital mutilation are severe pain, excessive bleeding, the swelling of the genital tissue, fever, infections, tearing of the genital area, problems with urination, inability for the tissue to properly heal, injury to the surrounding genital tissue, and in severe cases shock and death.

There are also long-term consequences of this act, if the woman is able to make it through the immediate complications, such as urinary problems (including urinary tract infections and painful urination), vaginal problems (including discharge, itching, and bacterial vaginosis), scar tissue problems, extreme pain and even tearing during intercourse, difficulty with intercourse, tearing during childbirth, the need to resuscitate the child after birth, and infant death. Furthermore, there are psychological problems that may follow female genital mutilation such as depression, low self-worth, anxiety disorders, personality disorders, sexual dysfunctions, difficulty becoming aroused, sexual dysfunction due to trauma, post-traumatic stress disorder, other stress disorders, and many other complications.

9Newborns To Young Adults Are Most Affected

The most common age of a young woman undergoing female genital mutilation is 7–10 years old, but it occurs to children of a much younger age in several countries. Many women who have been put through the process have it done to their children due to social pressure and the inability to recognize the negative impact of the practice. It is stated that it’s done at such a young age to “reduce the trauma to the children.”

Many girls 14 or older who have not undergone female genital mutilation may still be at risk. Women who have daughters will often find themselves conforming to the social pressures to have their daughters cut to find a husband, even if the mother is against the practice and has not had the procedure herself. Many young adults may also find themselves undergoing the procedure in their late teens to be able to find a husband, as many husbands in these countries are more attracted to those who do have this done.

8There Are Four Types

Type 1 is clitoridectomy. This consists of the removal of the clitoral hood and the partial or full removal of the clitoris.

Type 2 is an excision. This is where the clitoris and labia minora are partially or even fully removed. This may or may not come with the excision of the labia majora.

Type 3 is the most severe. This is referred to as infibulation or pharaonic type. This consists of narrowing the vaginal orifice by creating a seal to cover the vaginal opening by cutting and arranging the labia minora and/or the labia majoria. This may or may not include the removal of the clitoris. The process of repositioning consists of stitching the cut areas together for a set amount of time, usually done by binding the girl’s legs together to allow scar tissue to build up and close the wound, creating a seal. This is only opened due to penetrative sexual intercourse, through surgery, or through tearing during childbirth following intercourse.

Type 4 is a general classification for all other types of female genital mutilation for non-medical purposes. This may include pricking, piercing, incisions, scraping, and cauterization. There are also a variety of less widely practiced form of female genital mutilation, including those done to aboriginal women in Australia by use of a certain kind of string, mentioned later in the list.

7There Are Cases In The United States

The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) conducted a study in response to the advocacy of Equality Now and Same Hands for Girls in January 2016. This study found that an estimated 513,000 girls and women had undergone or been at risk of being subjected to female genital mutilation.

In addition, a study by the Population Reference Bureau conducted in February 2015 estimated that 507,000 girls and women living in the US are at risk of or have been subjected to female genital mutilation. This just proves that we need more information about the prevalence of female genital mutilation in the United States.

Although female genital mutilation has been a federal crime since 1996, there are no specific laws against them in the following states: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and Wyoming.

6Countries Are Trying To Get FGM Medicalized

In many countries where female genital mutilation is commonly practiced, a growing number of health care providers perform FGM, as well as supporting the medicalization of it. This would mean that it would become even more common and would be acknowledged as a beneficial medical practice. However, we know that it offers no benefits to the woman.

Many countries practice this through their religion. This is seen often in Muslim counties, where it is claimed that the Quran explicitly refers to female genital mutilation. However, Cairo’s Al-Azhar University condemned this, stating that it was a form of deceit to misguide people who hear this was a practice of the Islamic state.

5A Variety Of Tools Are Used

The tools used in the procedures of female genital mutilation are not always clean, and usually, the doctors conducting the procedure are not well trained. Dirty scalpels, pieces of glass, razors, small knives, and even sharpened sticks are used in these processes.

Often, opossum string is used, made of opossum hair strands. We see this in cases of FGM in the Pitta-Patta tribe in Australian aboriginals. When a girl reaches puberty, the entire tribe gathers, and an elderly man conducts the procedure. He first enlarges the vaginal orifice by tearing downward with his fingers bound in opossum string. Often following is the compulsory intercourse with several men.

4There Are Severe Sexual Consequences

Women who have undergone female genital mutilation often have a harder time having an orgasm, they have a less active sex drive, and often feel that they are not able to sexually please their partners. It is also more difficult for their vagina to self-lubricate during sex, which often leads to tearing and painful intercourse. Not only that—childbirth can cause the closed opening to tear, causing hemorrhaging, tearing even of the surrounding area, and even death to the child.

3There Are Also Severe Psychological Consequences

There are a multitude of psychological health consequences for a woman who undergoes female genital mutilation. She may develop post-traumatic stress disorder, other related stress disorders, depression, personality disorders, and a low sense of self-worth.

Data from a study conducted in 2010, of women in Northern Iraq who underwent female genital mutilation, demonstrates this. 45.6 percent or the women experienced some form of an anxiety disorder, and 13.9 percent were shown to be suffering from some type of personality disorder.

2Female Genital Mutilation Is A Massive Violation Of Human Rights

This seems like a fairly obvious statement, but many people in the countries that practice female genital mutilation feel otherwise. Meanwhile, the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the Committee on the Rights of the Child, and the Human Rights Committee have all been actively working to fight against it, condemning the practice altogether.

The practice has been identified as torture and cruel and inhumane treatment of women and girls, and violating the covenant on civil and political rights as well as covenant on economic, cultural, and social rights of women. It also violates a convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), a convention on the rights of the child, and a convention relating to the status of refugees and its protocol relating to the status of refugees.

In regard to children undergoing female genital mutilation, it is a permanent and potentially life-changing operation that cannot be called informed or free of coercion. Because of the vulnerability of the child and their need for care and support, human rights laws grant them special protections through The Convention on the Rights of the Child.

1Numerous Human Rights Campaigns Fight To End Female Genital Mutilation

There are difficulties when it comes to stopping female genital mutilation. However, numerous human rights campaigns work to educate people about the negative effects of female genital mutilation, to create an understanding of the impact it is having. Some of these sites include End FGM European Network, Equality Now, Network Against Female Genital Mutilation, and The Orchid Project to name a few.

With knowledge comes power. If we educate ourselves on the issues that negativity impact these women and spread the message, we can help to free these women and put a stop to the practice altogether.

Eli is passionate about discussing controversial issues and starting a dialogue till every person in the debate has their opinion heard. His life-long goal is to become a well-established author and make a difference in the world, as cheesy as it may sound.

Male bravado is often blamed the tendency of men to do extraordinarily dangerous things to impress others. But daredevils come in all shapes, sizes, and sexes. Women can and have been just as able to throw their own sense of self-preservation away to do really cool tricks.

10Helen Gibson

Helen Gibson is generally considered the first stuntwoman in Hollywood history. Because her father had wanted a son, he encouraged Helen to pursue tomboy activities. After seeing a Wild West show, she signed up to be a rider, after first learning how exactly to ride a horse. She managed to ride so well that she could pick up a handkerchief from the ground while riding a horse at a gallop, despite the danger of being kicked in the head. After this, she married a rodeo performer, and the couple earned their money by winning races where they stood on the horse’s back.

Helen Gibson entered the film industry by starring in Hazards of Helen, a series of 12-minute films about a quick-witted heroine constantly placed in peril. In one episode, Gibson had to leap from the roof of a train station onto the top of a moving train. She later called it her most dangerous stunt. She managed to land on the train, but the motion of the locomotive almost launched her off and under the train. She managed to avoid death by grabbing an air vent, but, like a consummate professional, let herself hang over the edge to make the scene more exciting.

She later worked as a stunt double and was honored in her later life for helping to make Hollywood the film making center that it is. She died at the age of 86.

9May Wirth

May Wirth was billed as “the greatest bareback rider in the world.” She was born to circus performer parents John and Dezeppo Zinga, and when they separated, she was adopted by Mary Wirth, a noted horse rider. In this family situation, May soon learned the skills which would make her famous. By 10, she could tumble, balance, and was a tightrope artist and contortionist.

When she learned to do a forward somersault on the back of a moving horse, she was called a “real trick rider” and received a place in circus shows. Called “the fearless American hurricane hurdle rider,” she performed tricks like leaping from the ground onto the back of a galloping horse—while wearing baskets on her feet. Despite injuries, Wirth continued to perform in circuses across the world.

Wirth died at age 84 and was commemorated in her native Australia with a postage stamp.

8Dorothy Dietrich

Dorothy Dietrich is one of the top female magicians in the world. Her range of acts runs from escapology to sawing people in half live on TV to performing illusions with such unmagical creatures as ducks and poodles.

Her greatest escapology stunt was freeing herself from a straitjacket while dangling from crane hundreds of feet in the air. She did it without the benefit of a net. And the rope holding her up was burning. It had been attempted in the past, but Dietrich was the only person to achieve it. In another act, shown in the above video, Dietrich was the first woman to perform the bullet catch. A live round was fired from a gun into a metal cup held in her teeth.

Dietrich still performs around the world. Each Halloween, she holds a Houdini Seance—an attempt to contact the spirit of the great magician on the anniversary of his death. As yet, she has had no luck.

7Sonora Webster Carver

For a time in the early 20th century, a stunt involved forcing horses to dive from towers up to 60 feet high. Horse diving sometimes involved people actively riding the horse over the edge of the tower. Sonora Webster Carver was the first woman to become a horse diver.

William “Doc” Carver was the inventor of the act, and he placed an ad calling for “a girl who could swim and dive and was willing to travel.” Sonora Webster answered, and from 1924, she would mount a running horse as it climbed the ramp to the jump and ride it into a pool of water sometimes only 12 feet deep. She married Doc’s son, marrying into the family business.

In 1931, Sonora’s horse Hot Lips made a mistake and tumbled into the water face first, as did Sonora. The shock of the collision detached her retinas and totally blinded her. Despite this, she continued to dive horses for 11 years. Carver lived to be 99.

6Mabel Stark

Mabel Stark was the first female tiger trainer in the world. Stark was a depressed young girl, so her doctor suggested she study to be a nurse, hoping the excitement of the job would drive off the blues. In the breaks between studying, she went to the zoo, becoming obsessed with the big cats. Stark left nursing for working in the circus. She began with horses but soon made friends with the big cat wrangler; she would later marry him.

In 1916, Stark began hosting the tiger act but worked with all the big cats. The animals did not always return her affection. She was injured many times. On one occasion, she had to be carried from the ring unconscious after being grabbed and mauled by a lion that broke her arm.

Stark performed with big cats until 1968, when she was forced to retire. After she left, one of her tigers escaped and was shot and killed. Stark killed herself soon after, depressed by the loss of her tiger and her job.

5Lillian Boyer

In the early days of aviation, simply getting on a plane was an act of bravery. Crashes were common, and fatalities none too rare either. But it seems that no sooner was mankind airborne that they wanted to make the act more thrilling. Wing-walking, or barnstorming, involved people climbing from the relative safety of the plane and performing seemingly impossible acts on the wings. Lillian Boyer was one of the great female wing-walkers.

Lillian Boyer was called “The Fair Devil of the Air,” among other things.
She earned the title with such daring acts as moving from one plane to another while in the air, hanging from a rope by her teeth, standing on her head on the wing, and riding the wing through a loop the loop. Despite the risks of plummeting thousands of feet to the ground, she claimed never to be afraid. “I don’t know if I lacked good sense or what,” she said. When asked what a beautiful lady was doing in such a dangerous game, Boyer said, “Strength and alert judgment are not determined by sex.”

Boyer retired in 1928 and lived until 1989.

4Rosa ‘Zazel’ Richter

Rosa Richter, who performed under the name Zazel, was the first human cannonball. In 1877, at the London Aquarium, she was launched with an explosion from a cannon over 70 feet, above the upturned faces of the astonished crowd below. This was the novel conclusion to Zazel’s more traditional acrobatic routine.

She only appeared to have been launched out of the barrel of a cannon. In reality, the explosion and boom that seemed to propel the 16-year-old girl into the air was a trick of stagecraft. Hidden inside the “cannon” were ropes and springs that provided the force to throw her toward the net, where she landed safely to rapturous applause.

This method of launch presents many opportunities for something to go wrong—a tangled rope could spell disaster. Zazel avoided this particular issue but did succumb to the danger inherent in all cannonball acts. Gravity is a harsh mistress. She missed the net and broke her back. She survived but retired from daredevilry.

3Maria Spelterini

In 1876, Maria Spelterini at age 23 became the first woman to walk a tightrope strung across Niagara Falls. Not content with doing it once, she performed the stunt five times in July that year. The wire she walked on was 2.5 inches across.

After crossing the wire the first time, Spelterini thought she needed to make her show more dramatic. She put peach baskets on her feet to increase the risk. She then did a crossing with her hands and feet tied together. Next, she walked across the falls only to return again by walking backward on the wire. She seems to have been on to something as contemporary news reports almost paid more attention to her flamboyant dress and style than to her startlingly dangerous acts.

After several more performances, Spelterini stopped appearing as a daredevil. Despite her fame and place in the record books, not much is known about her life. When and where she died remains a mystery.

2Dolly Shepherd

In 1903, Elizabeth “Dolly” Shepherd was a 16-year-old waitress in London. Buffalo Bill Cody was touring his Wild West show at the time. He shot a plaster egg off his wife’s head while wearing a blindfold, but the bullet grazed her scalp. Dolly stepped forward to let him try again using her head. For her bravery, Buffalo Bill took Dolly to a balloon display. With half an hour’s training, Dolly began making parachute jumps from balloons.

People would come and pay to see her and other girls launched by balloon to several thousand feet and parachute down to the audience below. She saw several other people die—parachute technology was still being perfected. Dolly was undaunted. She said she would “go high because I had it in my head that if I had to be killed, I’d like to be killed completely: good and proper!”

Dolly made the first tandem parachute jump when something went very wrong. Dolly was being sent up with another girl. The other girl’s parachute malfunctioned and would not detach from the balloon. Dolly urged the girl to climb across and wrap her arms and legs around Dolly to share her parachute. While this was happening, the balloon had ascended to 11,000 feet. The pair survived the fall, but Dolly was left paralyzed.

Dolly lived to be 96.

1Annie Edson Taylor

In 1901 Annie Edson Taylor was a Civil War widow searching for a way to make herself famous and make a fortune in the process. The method she chose was to load herself into a barrel and throw herself over Niagara Falls. As you do.

On her 63rd birthday Taylor was placed into a wooden pickle barrel by two assistants and strapped in by a leather harness. Her plan was, if she survived, to sell memorabilia and give lecture tours. To improve the chances of survival, the barrel was padded with cushions, but it was still a chancy proposition. The barrel was towed into the Niagara River and cut free to ride over the falls.

Taylor survived. She bobbed around at the bottom of the falls for 20 minutes before being rescued. After the stunt, she said, “Nobody ought ever to do that again. If it was with my dying breath, I would caution anyone against attempting the feat.” Of course they did. Of the 15 people who have tried to make the jump, five have died in the attempt.

Unfortunately, the fame she sought never materialized, and nor did the fortune. Taylor spent most of her money trying to recover her barrel after it was stolen by her manager.

Duels have been commonplace throughout history and have taken many forms. Many centuries ago, it wasn’t uncommon to see gallant gentlemen both fall in love with a fair lady and decide to go to the streets with their swords to fight one another till first blood for her affections. More recently, in the American Wild West, duels were perhaps more common. Gunslingers, outlaws, and lawmen would meet at high noon, so stories say, to count their paces, turn around, and fire their six-shooters in cold blood to settle a debt or argument or, once again, for the hand of a woman.

What all of these examples have in common is that they feature men wielding the weapons. Whether they be sword fights or gunfights, high European society or the Wild West (or frankly anywhere in history) the duelists are male. This makes sense, given how patriarchal society was until about a century ago. Women had limited freedoms and a totally different set of standards. Despite the norm, there were some women who took up arms against one another or even against other men. This is a list of ten female duels and duelists.

10 Petticoat Duel

The “Petticoat Duel,” as it has been called, was between Lady Almeria Braddock and Mrs. Elphinstone in London in 1792. According to reports, the debate was sparked when Mrs. Elphinstone insulted Lady Braddock with a comment about her age, calling her older than she claimed to be. To settle the score, Lady Braddock challenged Mrs. Elphinstone to a duel in Hyde Park.

They started with pistols as heir weapons. Neither woman was injured by a bullet, but Lady Braddock’s hat was not so lucky. Since neither combatant was hurt in the gunfight, they opted for swords. Mrs. Elphinstone was the victim this time, taking a cut to the arm. After that, she apologized for her comment, and the two were friends once again.^[1]

9 Duelo De Mujeres

Italy is portrayed today as one of the most romantic countries in the world, and it was no different in the 16th century. According to the legend, Isabella de Carazzi and Diambra de Pettinella of Naples were both madly in love with Fabio de Zeresola. Since they couldn’t both have him, the two decided to fight for his love.

The winner of the duel is unknown, but the affair went down in history as a great spectacle. In fact, the artist Jose de Ribera painted a scene from the brawl in his 1636 piece called Duelo de Mujeres, which is Spanish for “duel of women” or “women’s duel.”^[2]

8 Pauline Metternich And Anastasia Kielmannsegg

According to an 1892 newspaper report, two Austrian noblewomen, Princess Pauline Metternich and Countess Anastasia Kielmannsegg, dueled over floral arrangements at a function in Vaduz. Princess Metternich was the wife of an Austrian ambassador to Paris under Napoleon III. As an esteemed socialite, every little detail of the event, including how the flowers were arranged, must have been important—enough that she would risk her health, if not her life, to defend her tastes.

The winner of the duel was undecided. Both women experienced wounds; Princess Metternich took a cut to the nose, and Countess Kielmannsegg was slashed in the arm.^[3] They did take safety precautions, of course. One of those presiding was Baroness Lubinska, who had some medical training. Another precaution was dueling topless. The fear was that any clothes which got jammed into a wound would cause in infection, so sensibly, they removed the clothing. It is reported that Baroness Lubinska told surrounding men, “Avert your eyes, you lustful wretches!” Even if that tidbit of the tale is not totally accurate, it adds to an already interesting story!

7 Agnes Hotot

Agnes Hotot dueled in a different kind of way: She jousted.^[4] Born in 14th-century England, she was the daughter of the earl of Dudley. The earl had gotten in a dispute with another gentleman, and to settle it, they opted to joust. In the most untimely fashion, Dudley fell ill just before the joust was scheduled to take place. To protect her father’s honor, Agnes donned the armor herself, disguising herself as a man, and fought the joust in his place.

Not only did she fight, but she won. In celebration of her victory, she unmasked herself in front of her opponent to reveal her true identity and gender. To us today, this would not be as big of a deal, but in the 1300s, being beaten by a girl would have been an extreme humiliation.

6 Madame De Polignac And Madame De Nesle

This 18th-century French duel was once again for the affections of a man, the duke of Richelieu. Madame de Nesle singled out Madame de Polignac as a great rival and finally challenged her to a duel for the duke’s heart. De Polignac accepted, and the two took up arms, with two squires as witnesses. This time, the weapons of choice were pistols, not swords.

The rules of the duel were simple: They could advance as far away as the length of a scarf and could fire at any given moment. De Nesle was the first to pull the trigger, but she missed de Polignac entirely. Madame de Polignac, upon her turn, succeeded in wounding Madame de Nesle’s shoulder. Alas, despite these efforts, neither woman got the man.^[5]

5 Miss Shelby And Madame Astie De Valsayre

This duel is perhaps the least petty of all the duels on this list. That is, it isn’t about flowers or age. It was one of politics and patriotism, which in the 19th century, was probably not really expected of women.

The duel took place in France, between American feminist Miss Shelby and bold, provocative French feminist and activist Madame Marie-Rose Astie de Valsayre. The two got into a heated argument over whether France or the United States had better female doctors. To settle this matter of medicine, these ladies took to the fields of Waterloo to battle it out on-on-one, blades in hand, 15 days after the argument.

Astie de Valsayre confidently wrote that the delay was so that her opponent could practice, making it a more even match. Despite the time to prepare, Miss Shelby lost, receiving a wound in her shoulder.^[6]

4 Comtesse De Saint-Belmont

Madame de Saint-Belmont’s story is similar to that of Agnes Hotot’s. The madame was in charge of her French estate after her husband was taken prisoner. While she was there alone, another gentleman came to her home and took up residence, uninvited, as if it were an inn. At first, she wrote this man a letter politely requesting that he leave. He ignored it completely. Fed up, Madame de Saint-Belmont wrote another note, challenging this gentleman to a duel, but she signed it in her husband’s name as “Le Chevalier de Saint-Belmont.” The gentleman accepted.

The moment came, and de Saint-Belmont, dressed as a man, won by disarming her opponent. She then revealed herself, insufferably humiliating him, and told him once again to leave.^[7] It’s probably safe to conclude that this time, he did not hesitate in his departure.

3 Julie D’Aubigny

Julie d’Aubigny lived a very colorful, scandalous, independent life, to say the least. A spectacle of upper-class 17th-century France, she wore many hats: opera singer, mistress, fugitive, and swordswoman, among others.^[8]

There is one particular duel that would drop the jaws of even today’s society. Once, at a ball, d’Aubigny attended dressed as man. She wasn’t there disguised as a man, like other women on this list, but rather, she confidently cross-dressed, just because she could. At this ball, a beautiful young woman caught her eye, and unabashed, d’Aubigny kissed her. Many witnessed the act, and three men, all suitors to the young woman, challenged d’Aubigny to a duel.

At midnight, the four went outside, where one after another, d’Aubigny defeated her opponents.

2 Mademoiselle De Guignes And Mademoiselle d’Aiguillon

These two Parisian women of 18th-century high society had a disagreement at a party simply over who was more important. They then went outside to the garden to settle it fair and square. Their weapons of choice were neither pistol nor sword, but knives. The winner of the contest is quite unclear; both were wounded. De Guignes was wounded in the arm, and d’Aiguillon was wounded in the neck.^[9]

This list, including these two dueling dames, does contain many French women dueling and wielding weapons, but it wasn’t that common of a practice, although through the 1700s and 1800s, it did occur more frequently, such as in this case.

1 Marta Duran And Juana Luna

This is the most recent duel on the list, having taken place in 1900 in Mexico. Marta Duran attended a ball with Rafael Riquelme. There, Riquelme’s eye found Juana Luna, who did not discourage his attention. This led to a bitter rivalry between the Luna and Duran. The next morning, the two met with swords in hand.

Several rounds of fighting ensued. In the second round, Duran was severely wounded. By round three, she’d grown weary from blood loss, and Luna took advantage of Duran’s fatigue by wounding her sword-bearing arm. Luna, without question, was the victor, but despite all this trouble, both women gave up Riquelme and made up.

Unfortunately for Duran, her wounds were so severe that they required the attention of a surgeon, which ended up causing more trouble, as that was illegal. A surgeon cannot see a patient without government permission, and in this case, no permission was granted.^[10] Needless to say, many people paid a price for this duel, and no one got what they were even fighting for.

“Ruthless,” “witty,” and “scheming” are only a few of the words that describe the first female emperor of China, Wu Zetian. Despite the obstacles that stood in the way of her uphill climb to power, she overcome a plethora of opposing forces and remains one of the most impactful, influential women in Chinese history.

Known and referenced as the “scheming shrew” of China, historians of her time tried to remove Wu’s name and impact from history. However, thousands of years later, snippets of the life that Wu Zetian lived and her achievements are being released.

10 She Was Emperor Taizong’s Secretary

Wu Zhao was born circa AD 624 to a wealthy, high-ranking family. Due to her father’s occupation and strong ties to the court, he encouraged Wu to acquire the education that many women in her time could not receive. It is said that as soon as Emperor Taizong laid eyes on Wu at the age of 14, he awarded her the title of carin (fifth-ranked concubine), calling her Mei-Niang, which means “charming” or “beautiful.”

Even though Wu was a concubine, she was still able to pursue art and music in the palace.^[1] By following her own interests, she continued to seek out knowledge that would set her apart from all of the other girls. Through Wu’s beauty and intelligence, she enticed Emperor Taizong and became his secretary for ten years. As Wu spent more time with Taizong, she learned about state affairs and was in charge of several important documents. When the time came for Wu to reign, she used what she had learned under Emperor Taizong in her own government.

9 She Had An Affair With Taizong’s Son To Get Back Into The Palace

In 649, Emperor Taizong died. Traditionally, when an emperor dies, his concubines would have to shave their heads and become nuns. However, Wu wasn’t like any of the other concubines. When Wu was in the court, she had won the affections of Li Zhi, Taizong’s son (later named Gaozong as emperor). So when Li Zhi came to honor his father in Ganye Temple, she seduced him and tried to convince him to take her back into the royal court.

Empress Wang (Gaozong’s wife) noticed the situation and took things into her own hands. Wang’s inability to bear children, which had created a rift between her and Gaozong, prompted her to tell Wu to stop shaving her head so that she could come back into the palace. As soon as Wu was brought back to court, she was given the title of the second concubine (the zhaoyi).^[2]

8 She Used The Death Of Her Daughter To Become Empress

After giving birth to two sons in 652 (Li Hong) and 653 (Li Xian), Wu gave birth to a daughter in 654, who was found strangled to death in her crib. Wu quickly put the blame on Empress Wang, claiming that Wang was jealous of her child. Not only did she accuse Wang of the murder, but she also accused Wang and her mother of witchcraft, ensuring that Wang and her family would be removed from the court. After Empress Wang and Consort Xiao left the court, Wu ordered them to be killed.^[3]

There are several speculations as to how Wu had Wang and Xiao killed, but it has been said she had their hands and feet amputated. Then, their arms and legs were tied together, and they were thrown into barrels of wine to drown. Though the killer of Wu’s daughter is unknown, several ancient Chinese and modern-day historians claim that Wu killed her daughter in a precarious attempt to become the empress of the Tang dynasty.

7 She Killed Anyone Who Was Against Her Position As Empress

As soon as Wu secured her spot as empress, she began to dispatch a secret police force who arrested those who were against her reign or plotted against her despite their status. One example of the efforts of these secret police was the death of Zhangsun Wuji, the brother-in-law of Taizong and close ally of Gaozong. Similar to several aristocrats in the Tang dynasty, Wuji failed to agree with Wu’s rise to empress. So in order to shut him up, Wu had Xu Jingzong accuse Wuji of treason, and eventually, Wuji was forced to commit suicide.

Eventually, Emperor Gaozong, Wu’s husband, suffered a stroke that blinded him and resulted in several administrative duties being passed onto Wu. During this time, Gaozong was worried about Wu’s control of the court and recruited his senior minister of the Zhongshu Sheng (legislative department), Shangguan Yi, to depose Empress Wu. However, it was too late. Once Wu was notified of Yi’s plans, she executed him.^[4]

6 She Deposed Her Eldest Son And His Wife To Become Emperor

After Emperor Gaozong’s death in 683, Wu placed her oldest son, Li Hong (Emperor Zhongzong) on the throne. Zhongzong was controlled by his wife, Lady Wei, who appointed all of her family members to high positions. However, Lady Wei proved to be a nuisance, as she tried to mimic Wu’s actions to climb to the top as empress. Wu quickly replaced Zhongzong with her younger son Ruizong (Li Dan), and Zhongzong was deposed.

Even though Ruizong was in power, he was a puppet emperor, and she forced him to abdicate in 690. She then named herself “Zetian” (Ruler of the sky) and “Wu” (meaning “military” or “weapon”) and rose to power.^[5]

5 She Considered Herself A Living Buddha

Being the emperor of the (second) Zhou dynasty wasn’t enough for Wu Zetian. She had statues of the Maitreya commissioned in her image and claimed herself to be the incarnation of the Maitreya Buddha (a Buddhist bodhisattva who saves suffering beings).^[6] She also called herself Empress Shengsen, which means “Holy Spirit.”

4 She Was Superstitious And Paranoid

Now that Wu was the emperor of Zhou dynasty (which was originally the Tang dynasty), she continued to have an irrational (or perhaps rational) fear of the court officials who were against her reign and had them imprisoned and replaced through her system of secret police.^[7]

To justify the nature of her reign, Wu also focused on symbols and good omens. Yet, despite the several good omens that came her way, when a mountain seemingly appeared after an earthquake, one of her ministers was convinced that it was a sign that her reign was not to be. Wu refused to believe that this was true, instead proclaiming the mountain to be a good omen. To get rid of the minister’s claims, she had him banished.

3 She Had Sexual Relationships With Several Men In The Palace

Even in her old age, Wu had her fair share of men. She had an affair with a fake monk named Huaiyi, which resulted in anger and disagreement in court. After Huayi was gone, she had an affair with the infamous Zhang brothers. Despite her effective and impactful rule throughout the Zhou dynasty, the affection that the Zhang brothers expressed made her forget about her responsibilities, and she lived her final years as emperor entertaining herself in their presence.^[8]

Members of her court finally had enough and ordered the brothers killed in 705. Wu was forced to abdicate. Zhongzong was restored as emperor, and the Zhou dynasty was ended. Wu spent the remaining months of her life in retirement until she died at the age of 80 or 81.

2 She Was Respected By Women And The Common People

Wu did a lot for those who were in need. She focused on the building of irrigation systems and lowering taxes for those who lived in poverty or were farmers. Due to this, many of the common people of the short-lived Zhou dynasty respected and revered Wu.

She also had an large impact on women’s rights. She gave positions to women in the courts and had scholars write biographies on important, influential women. Due to her reign, women had more freedoms and could express themselves in ways that would not have been possible at any other time. Wu influenced more women to actively participate in politics and even influenced other female leaders, writers, and artists.^[9]

1 Her Tombstone Is Blank

Despite all of the improvements that Wu brought during her reign, she was remembered as an dowager empress, not an emperor. And due to the scandals that surrounded her name, her tombstone was left blank.^[10]

Poetry enthusiast and amateur writer. Occasionally writes on https://onlyforamomentblog.wordpress.com/ and enjoys watching Netflix.

There have been many links between organized crime and the entertainment industry over the years, especially during the Golden Age of Hollywood and the heyday of the nightclub circuit. While a lot of these associations were business related, some of the most exciting stories center on romantic relationships between gangsters and female movie stars, recording artists, and other celebrities.

The more popular these high-profile women were, the more shocking it was to learn they were dating or married to such infamous men. Here are 10 of the most celebrated stars who were also known to be gangster molls.

Related: 10 Famous Gangster Hideouts

10 Donna Reed

Despite her Oscar-winning performance as the sleazy Alma, aka Lorene, in the 1953 film From Here to Eternity, Donna Reed had one of the most wholesome personas of any actress during the mid-20th century, especially when she played the ideal homemaker, Donna Stone, in her self-titled TV series. That’s why it’s so surprising to learn that she dated mobster Johnny Roselli (sometimes spelled Rosselli) in the late 1940s.

The handsome, charming Roselli seems to have fit in well with the Hollywood crowd, also dating such stars as Lana Turner and Betty Hutton, among other actresses. Although he was known for his impressive diplomatic skills, being dubbed “The Henry Kissinger of the Mob,” Roselli was also involved in murders, according to author Douglas Thompson.^[1]

9 Gloria Vanderbilt

Heiress-turned-actress and fashion designer Gloria Vanderbilt had a drama-packed life from when she was a child to being the center of a famous custody trial through her four colorful marriages and various occupations. However, the prominent socialite experienced much turbulence, including the abuse Vanderbilt said she endured at the hands of her first husband, Pat DiCicco, whom she married at the age of 17. In addition to being a film producer and agent, DiCicco was also allegedly involved with the Lucky Luciano crime family. Nearly 13 years older than Vanderbilt, he had previously been married to actresses Thelma Todd and Linda Douglas.

Vanderbilt, who was visiting her mother at the time of the engagement, rushed into marriage because she didn’t want to go home to her aunt, the prominent society matron and artist Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, who had won custody of her years earlier. So she quickly married DiCicco following her break-up with iconic millionaire business magnate Howard Hughes, who was employing DiCicco as a press agent at the time.

The extremely wealthy Whitney was so opposed to the marriage that she cut her niece out of her will. It was obvious to Vanderbilt from the start that the union was a mistake. However, this was worse than an incompatible match. The ill-tempered DiCicco turned out to be violent and emotionally abusive. After a few years, she landed in the arms of her second husband, 63-year-old conductor Leopold Stokowski—who had his own issues. She divorced Pat DiCicco in 1945, paying him a settlement of $350,000.^[2]

8 Dona Drake

With her performances in such classic films as Kansas City Confidential and The Girl from Jones Beach, the sultry Dona Drake was a familiar face in the 1940s and ’50s. In addition to acting, she was also a singer/dancer and bandleader. But one of her most interesting roles had nothing to do with show business. She was the girlfriend of gangster Louis “Pretty” Amberg, who, alongside his two brothers, tried to take charge of racketeering in Brooklyn.

Ambition turned out to be Amberg’s downfall. In 1935, his body was found in a burning car. Police questioned the starlet, who was in her early twenties at the time. Drake said she didn’t even know what line of work Amberg was in or what his real name was, claiming she only knew him as Mr. Cohn. Not only did Drake go on to have a successful career, but her personal life also flourished. She was married to Oscar-winning costume designer Travilla for 45 years.^[3]

7 June Lang

Johnny Roselli didn’t just date beautiful actresses; he married rising star June Lang in 1939. She may not have been as famous as some of his girlfriends, but the lovely blonde, blue-eyed June did have a successful career with such movies as Footlight Serenade and Stage Door Canteen, musicals that were made around the time of her marriage to Roselli. However, Lang’s connection to this mobster, dubbed “Handsome Johnny,” ultimately hurt her career.

When Roselli was not working in Hollywood and Las Vegas on behalf of the Chicago mob, he dabbled in film production, actually co-producing a few movies. June claimed she was unaware of his mob ties during their marriage. As improbable as this may sound on the surface, there’s a good chance that Lang really was in the dark about her husband’s primary line of work since his connection to organized crime was not widely known in Hollywood at the time. He also had a talent for being whatever anyone wanted him to be. It was supposedly the discovery of his criminal activity that prompted Lang to leave him. The couple divorced in 1943.^[4]

6 Lana Turner

The stormy love life of film icon Lana Turner included more than one gangster, but the blonde beauty’s most famous relationship was with Cohen crime family affiliate Johnny Stompanato, not so much for the tumultuous relationship itself but for the way things ended. Stompanato was killed in 1958 by Turner’s 14-year-old daughter Cheryl Crane, who stabbed the mobster to death when he and Turner were having a very heated argument, during which Crane feared for her mother’s life.

It seems that her anxiety was warranted, considering the extremely possessive Stompanato was known to be violent toward Turner. Not only had he assaulted her but Stompanato, who was insanely jealous, also threatened Turner’s co-star Sean Connery by pointing a gun at him when he suspected the two of having an affair.

On the night of the fatal stabbing, Turner was trying to break up with Stompanato. Initially, Turner tried to protect her daughter by telling authorities that she was the one who killed Stompanato. However, it soon became clear that Cheryl was responsible. The adolescent was exonerated following a coroner’s inquest that concluded the stabbing was a justifiable homicide due to domestic violence. Naturally, the case sparked a huge scandal, one of the biggest in Hollywood history.^[5]

5 Jayne Mansfield

Considering all the time Colombo underboss Sonny Franzese spent at legendary nightclubs like the Copacabana, it makes sense that he would have become acquainted with various celebrities. But it is a little surprising to learn that he was romantically involved with some of the most famous actresses of the 1950s and ’60s, including Marilyn Monroe and Diahann Carroll.

According to Crime Reads, iconic movie star Jayne Mansfield was “madly in love with” Franzese. The night they met at The Latin Quarter nightclub was a memorable one.

Franzese was stunned to see the voluptuous blonde looking down at him from the stage where she had unexpectedly appeared. Mansfield was married to famous bodybuilder and actor Mickey Hargitay at the time. When she told him that her husband would be taking her home that night, Franzese threatened to beat him up if he came to the club. However, the relationship was not a serious one for the handsome mobster who was busy playing the field.^[6]

4 Jean Harlow

It’s easier to envision the brash, saucy Jean Harlow as a gangster’s moll than most of these actresses. The legendary platinum blonde siren dated infamous mobster Abner “Longie” Zwillman. He backed the young actress’s career in 1930 by loaning Columbia Picture’s mogul Harry Cohn $500,000 in exchange for giving Harlow a two-picture deal. The 19-year-old divorcee had mostly appeared in bit parts until then. The early 1930s films she starred in for Columbia and MGM skyrocketed her to fame.

In what could be seen as a case of art imitating life, Harlow was cast as gangsters’ girlfriends in a number of movies such as Public Enemy (1931). She would help to create the flashy, brazen, hard-edged image moviegoers had of gangster molls in the 1930s, one that would become a long-lasting stereotype. Married three times during her 26 years, Harlow’s love life was filled with drama. Following her relationship with Zwillman, who was dubbed the Al Capone of New Jersey, her 1932 marriage to producer Paul Bern ended when he committed suicide just two months after the wedding.^[7]

3 Billie Holiday

It’s no secret that legendary jazz singer Billie Holiday had a very troubled personal life. Between her well-documented addiction problems and her abusive childhood, as well as other adversities, it is amazing she was able to accomplish so much during her 44 years. Lady Day’s love life was another source of turbulence. Her third and last husband, Louis McKay, who she married in 1957, was a shady character, who abused Holiday, stole her money, and was described as a wannabe gangster. He did reportedly work as a mob enforcer and may have been involved in other criminal activities.

The couple was arrested together, at one point, for possession of narcotics. She was too afraid of McKay to report the physical violence he inflicted on her to the police. The last straw came when she found out he had lost her money in a risky business deal. She left McKay but was still married to him when she died a short time later, in 1959.^[8]

9 Phyllis McGuire

The McGuire Sisters was one of the most popular female singing groups of the 1950s. The trio of minister’s daughters also had one of the most straight-laced images until glamorous lead singer Phyllis McGuire began a scandalous romance with notorious Chicago mafia boss Sam Giancana.

Giancana was drawn to McGuire when he saw her performing with her sisters at The Desert Inn in 1959. He subsequently arranged to cancel the large debt she owed the casino. Even though McGuire testified before a grand jury in 1965 that she and Giancana were just friends, she later admitted they’d had a romantic relationship. Still, she explained in a televised interview that she did not know who he was when they first met.

In love but feeling pressure to end the romance since the bad publicity was heavily damaging the McGuire Sisters’ career and upsetting their parents, she was conflicted. Besides taking a toll on her professional life, McGuire was also caught up in an FBI investigation targeting Giancana. The agents even planted listening devices in her bedroom.

The couple was together for a number of years. But McGuire eventually became involved with oil-man Edward “Tiger Mike” Davis, and Giancana was shot to death by an undetermined assailant in 1975. Giancana and McGuire’s passionate relationship was depicted in the 1995 HBO movie Sugartime.^[9]

1 Marilyn Monroe

In light of Marilyn Monroe’s wild, sometimes scandalous lifestyle, it almost seems par for the course that she would have dated a gangster at some point. However, Monroe, who was rarely one to do things on a small scale, has been romantically linked to numerous high-profile criminals, including ladies man Sonny Franzese and reportedly Chicago mob boss Sam Giancana.

Marilyn was a very different type from the woman Giancana was most famously involved with, the clean-cut singer Phyllis McGuire. Something that has received a lot of attention is, according to many sources, Giancana was with Monroe on her last full night alive, during which he tried to talk her out of going public about her alleged affair with President John F. Kennedy.

Her romance with Franzese was part of a love triangle with her ex-husband, baseball great Joe DiMaggio, who was still in love with her. The memorable evening that Monroe sang “Happy Birthday” to President Kennedy during a Democratic fundraiser at Madison Square Garden, DiMaggio was chasing Franzese around the arena in an attempt to confront him about the affair. Franzese was trying to avoid the meeting because he admired DiMaggio. As he later claimed, he was ashamed of himself for getting involved with Monroe.^[10]

Spies. Secret agents. Experts of espionage. These exciting and elusive characters have been sparking intrigue in the hearts of us average citizens since James Bond appeared on the big screen in a cloud of mystery and a jet-black tuxedo. Stories of heroic feats accomplished by these agents of intelligence spread like wildfire, and nothing excites us more than a dangerous mission or a daring escape.

Unfortunately, modern spy mania has been focused primarily on the furtive actions of male spies, leaving some incredibly fierce female spies high and dry. Well, it’s time for these hard-core women to enter the spotlight. Here are 10 of the most notorious female spies in history.

10 Belle Boyd

“Southern Belle” Boyd would not have considered herself a spy. However, she was essential to many of the South’s victories during the US Civil War. She gathered information about Union forces through covert means and passed it along to aid the Confederacy.

It was 1861, and the war was just beginning. At the time, Boyd was a resident of Martinsburg, Virginia. She was eager to join the efforts of the South against the North, so she got involved with the Confederacy’s fundraising efforts. However, she knew that she could do more. When Union soldiers occupied her town in 1861, she saw her chance.

Boyd took advantage of her status and conversational abilities to become close to some of the Union soldiers. Covertly, she gathered as much information as she could while maintaining her seemingly innocent persona. She would then relay this information to Confederate officers, even if it meant sneaking through enemy lines to tell General Stonewall Jackson about the opposition’s plan to burn the town’s bridges.^[1]

However, recon is not all that Belle was famous for. One day, during the Union occupation of Martinsburg, a Union soldier attempted to raise a flag over the home of Boyd and her mother. After Boyd denied the men access to her home, one rowdy soldier attempted to force his way into the residence. He did not make it very far. Belle pulled out a gun and shot the man dead. Pretty hard-core, right?

9 Melita Norwood

Melita Norwood was sweet and seemingly innocuous. A secretary at the British Non-Ferrous Metals Research Association (aka “the BNF”) in the 1930s, she was responsible for things such as organizing appointments and handling files. Nothing too serious.

Wondering where the spy part comes in? Here it is.

The BNF was actually a cover organization for the Tube Alloys project—Britain’s nuclear weapons program. Though she lived and worked in Britain, Norwood was a Russian at heart, identifying with the Communist ideologies of the Soviet government. This sympathetic attitude eventually got her involved in the KGB. When they gave her an opportunity to help them out, she accepted.

Acting under the code name “Hola,” Norwood was directed to stick around the BNF facilities after closing and covertly remove files from the safes. She would then copy these files and give them to KGB handlers at her house (unknown to her husband). Much of this information was used to advance Russian nuclear technology.^[2]

Following the discovery of her espionage efforts years later, Norwood was asked to reveal the identities of her Russian accomplices. She refused, claiming memory loss as the reason that she could not recall any of their names.

8 Christine Granville

Christine Granville was a beauty queen-turned-spy. Prior to her involvement in World War II, she was a model. At the start of the war, Granville became a messenger in Nazi-occupied countries in Europe. Her job was to carry messages through Poland, delivering them to various Allied forces without detection.

This proved to be a dangerous responsibility. Granville became famous for rescuing soldiers from execution, escaping gunfire, parachuting, sewing knives into the hems of her skirts, fabricating elaborate stories to get out of tight spots, and charming guards and guard dogs alike. One story tells of how she escaped Nazi police forces by biting her tongue and pretending she was dying of tuberculosis.

Granville also used her beauty as an asset, charming various lovers throughout her lengthy career in espionage. She quickly found the eyes of Winston Churchill, who would later make her a member of his personal espionage unit under the code name “Willing” (a hint at Granville’s sexy and exciting personality).

It is even rumored that Granville was the inspiration behind the female lead in the James Bond novel Casino Royale. Alas, Christine was murdered by a crazy ex-lover in London toward the end of her career.^[3]

7 Noor Inayat Khan

The first female radio operator and the first British-Indian spy. Yes, you read that right. Noor Inayat Khan was a groundbreaking woman. She was hired by the “Prosper” resistance movement in Paris during World War II under the code name “Madeleine.”

The movement’s leaders initially questioned whether Khan could get the job done, but their fears were quickly allayed. While many other members of the resistance were arrested, Khan avoided capture time and time again, frequently relocating and remaining in constant communication with London.

Unfortunately, Khan’s long and successful career as a spy ended when she was exposed by a local Frenchwoman who discovered her identity. Khan was quickly arrested by the Gestapo, who used her personal documents of secret signals and codes to trick London into sending new agents. The Gestapo then captured these agents as well.^[4]

After an attempted escape, Khan was placed in solitary confinement and tortured for information. However, she refused to reveal anything, eventually dying at the hands of the Nazi police. What a woman.

6 Mata Hari

Mata Hari was a spy disguised as an exotic Asian dancer. Cool, right?

She was famous for touring Europe, performing a series of strip shows in which she would make up elaborate stories about her youth. To some audiences, she was born in a sacred Indian temple. To others, she was taught to dance by Indian priestesses.

Mata Hari’s seductive nature and boisterous personality gave her the perfect cover for espionage. Thus, at the outbreak of World War I, she became a messenger and courier for the Allies’ opposition.

Mata Hari was famous for making lovers out of high-ranking military officials from different countries, allegedly coaxing them to reveal details about weapons and strikes. She would relay these details to the opposition, resulting in the deaths of thousands of people. However, some people have speculated in the 21st century that her effectiveness as a spy was overstated. Or that she may not have been a spy at all.

During her lifetime, Mata Hari was also suspected of being a double agent. But before her status could be revealed, she was discovered by the Allies and sentenced to death. A French firing squad killed her outside Paris in 1917—a dramatic end to a dramatic career.^[5]

5 Virginia Hall

Virginia Hall, an American spy with the British Special Operations Executive, was as tough as they come. She also worked for the American Office of Strategic Services during World War II and later for the CIA.

While on a hunting trip in Turkey, Hall lost her leg to a gun accident. After her leg was amputated, she named its wooden replacement “Cuthbert.”

She led networks of agents in various tasks throughout her career, rescued prisoners of war, and recruited hundreds of spies to work against the Nazis (who referred to her as the “limping lady”). Using her wit to remain one step ahead of the Nazis at all times, Hall served as an infuriating roadblock to many of their operations.^[6]

Hall became the only civilian woman to receive the Distinguished Service Cross.

4 Nancy Wake

Nancy Wake was not your average journalist. After a childhood in poverty (mostly in Australia), she worked as a journalist and then rose to become a hostess in high-society France by marrying a wealthy French industrialist. Wake saw the destruction and abuse caused by the Nazis firsthand, and she longed to do something about it.

She joined the French Resistance at the beginning of World War II, quickly becoming a heroine of the movement. Her successes included establishing communication between the British military and the French Resistance, saving Allied lives by secretly escorting them through France to Spain, and collecting and storing weapons for the advance of the Allies.

She was often credited with executing German spies, and it is even rumored that Wake once killed a German soldier with her bare hands. These daring feats gained her the nickname the “White Mouse.” For try as they might, the Nazis could never get their hands on her.^[7]

3 Anna Chapman

Three words: Crazy. Russian. Spy.

Anna Chapman is one of the more famous modern spies. Part of a spy ring devoted to Russia, she spent years in the United States while attempting to glean information of any kind that might be useful to the Russian government.

She was popularly accused of attempting to seduce the NSA whistle-blower Edward Snowden in an effort to keep him in Russia for questioning. Chapman hoped to marry him, lock him in Russia, and snatch American secrets from his brain. Intense, right?

But get this: Chapman was also a famous model. She would often use her status to learn covert information and gain access to government secrets. In 2010, she was finally arrested in New York City and deported after pleading guilty to conspiracy charges.^[8]

A model who is also a spy? A spy who is also a model? Seems legit.

2 Josephine Baker

Josephine Baker is just straight-up cool. Most famous for being both a singer and a dancer, she became wildly popular in the 1920s. Baker was into all things exotic—performing songs, dances, and even comedic skits wearing nothing but a feather skirt. As you might assume, she quickly became one of Europe’s most popular and highly paid performers, eventually even going on Broadway.

However, most people don’t know that Baker was also a spy.^[9] She worked for the French Resistance during World War II, smuggling messages by hiding them in her sheet music and sometimes even in her underwear. For her work, Baker received French military honors.

1 Ana Montes

Ana Montes, a famous spy for the Cuban government, began working for the US with the Defense Intelligence Agency in 1985. She was often referred to as an expert on all things Cuba. As she openly disagreed with US foreign policy, it was not long before Cuban officials reached out to Montes and persuaded her to do some work for them.

She was the perfect woman for the job. Not only did Montes have access to government secrets (specifically the Afghanistan invasion), she also possessed a photographic memory. This made it easy for her to memorize documents and encrypted files and recite them to her handlers later.

When her colleagues grew suspicious, Montes agreed to take a polygraph test to prove her allegiance to the US. She passed. She would go on working covertly for the Cuban government for a few more years until the FBI was able to build up a substantial case against her. In 2002, she pleaded guilty to spying and received a 25-year prison sentence.^[10] Her tentative release date is 2023.

Female spy enthusiast.

Women have often played a pivotal role in most rebellions and revolutions throughout history, though many of those names have been largely erased from the records – deliberately or otherwise. From the legendary Zenobia of Palmyra to Qiu Jin to the Vietnamese Trung sisters that fought against Chinese rule back in the first century AD, these are the most influential female rebel leaders from history we’ve all forgotten about. 

10. Claire Lacombe

While Claire Lacombe, born on August 4, 1765, began her career as an actress in Paris, she’d go on to become one of the most influential figures of the French Revolution. Together with Pauline Léon, she co-founded the Society of Revolutionary Republican Women in 1793. 

While details of Lacombe’s early life remain elusive, we know from some records that she started working in Marseilles as an actress before joining the revolutionary scene in Paris. Her political beliefs and outspoken nature likely contributed to her struggle in finding work, leading to her moving to the capital and engaging with other revolutionary figures of the times.

In 1792, Lacombe played a major role in the fall of the Girondin faction of the Revolution, and her larger impact on this era was notable, even if short-lived, especially considering her working-class background. Apart from the ideals of the French Revolution, she also campaigned for women’s rights throughout her life. 

9. Queen Mavia

Queen Mavia was a legendary ancient-Arab queen who – along with Zenobia of Palmyra – is still remembered as one of the most powerful female rulers to ever emerge from the region. Her story has been largely reconstructed from oral traditions and songs, so we’re still not sure about the exact details of her early life. 

Mavia, also known as Mawiyya in Arabic traditions, was likely born in the Tanukhid tribe and later married King al-Hawari. Following his death, the small kingdom was invaded by the Roman Emperor Valens, though he vastly underestimated the military strength of the Tanukhids now led by Maviya. Despite facing challenges due to her gender in the heavily-male-centric society of the time, Mavia proved herself as a formidable military force against the Romans in the Mediterranean region. Sadly, she died fighting the Romans some time around 425 AD, roughly a century after Zenobia’s death in similar circumstances. 

8. Lakshmi Bai

Queen Lakshmi Bai was the ruler of the British-controlled Indian province of Jhansi, emerging as one of the most important leaders of the mutiny of 1857-58. Born in November, 1835, in Kashi, India, she received an unconventional upbringing for Indian women at that time, having been trained in martial arts like sword-fighting and horse-riding from an early age.

Lakshmi Bai was appointed as the regent of Jhansi by the British government, though she’d soon find herself on the rebelling side after the beginning of the widespread and popular rebellion. She organized her troops and commanded the rebels in the Bundelkhand region, achieving some successes against British troops during the early phases of the campaign. 

The entry of the British cavalry in the war, however, turned the tide, combined with a major British counter-offensive led by Gen. Hugh Rose in 1858. Despite fierce resistance, her troops were quickly overwhelmed by the superior British firepower, and she was soon killed in battle near the city of Gwalior.

7. Corazon Aquino

Corazon Aquino, also sometimes referred to as Cory Aquino, was an important figure during the 1986 People Power Revolution that toppled the dictatorship of President Ferdinand Marcos in the Philippines. Despite her lack of experience, Aquino became politically-active after the assassination of her husband, Benigno Aquino Jr. She reluctantly agreed to run for president in a snap election after witnessing massive public support and outrage against the repression, poverty, and corruption of the Marcos regime, resulting in widespread support from other revolutionary factions within and outside the government.

The People Power Revolution quickly gained momentum, as millions of Filipinos protested and rallied for change. Aquino emerged as the first female leader of the country after winning the elections in February of the same year, which also resulted in her winning the 1998 Ramon Magsaysay Award for her influence on revolutionary change across the region. 

6. Trung Sisters

The Trung Sisters, or Trung Trac and Trung Nhi, emerged as rebels during the first Vietnamese independence movement against China in the first century AD. They fought against predominantly-Han overlords and briefly established an autonomous state during this time. Thanks to their achievements, the Trung sisters are remembered as heroic figures across Vietnam to this day.

Trung Trac, the elder sister, took charge of the movement after her husband was assassinated by a Chinese general for plotting against Chinese rulers. She was later joined by her sister and other aristocrats, leading to a popular uprising and successful capture of multiple citadels by rebel forces. 

While they eventually proclaimed themselves queens of the independent Vietnamese state, this revolution was quickly overwhelmed by seasoned Chinese troops under General Ma Yüan, as it lacked mass peasant support, supplies, and proper training. The failure directly led to them committing suicide in 43 AD, bringing a tragic end to one of the earliest challenges to Chinese rule in the Vietnamese region. 

5. Qiu Jin

Also sometimes called China’s Joan of Arc, Qiu Jin was a notable revolutionary during the late-19th and early-20th-century period in China. Born into a gentry family in Xiamen in 1875, she had to go through the traditional expectations of her time in Chinese society, including foot-binding and an arranged marriage. 

Qiu Jin would leave her husband and sail to Japan in 1903, where she became involved in political activism and joined secret anti-Manchu societies. Returning to China in 1906, she founded the feminist publication, Chinese Women’s Journal, that advocated for women’s rights, education, and the abolition of the practice of foot-binding. She joined revolutionary movements and promoted nationalist sentiments through her writings and was even appointed as the head of the Datong school, which served as a front for training revolutionaries. 

Qiu Jin’s involvement in revolutionary activities led to her arrest in 1907, though despite exessive torture, she refused to reveal information about the uprising. Sadly, incriminating evidence led to her public beheading at the age of 31, which shocked the Chinese population and further fueled resentment against the Qing dynasty. 

4. Djamila Bouhired

Djamila Bouhired was born in 1937 in Algiers, Algeria. She’d go on to become an iconic leader of the Algerian Revolution against French colonial rule, fought across Algeria between 1954 and 1962. 

Bouhired first became radicalized due to the French torture and brutality inflicted on Algerian civilians and National Liberation Front – or FLN – members during the early phases of the rebellion, leading to her joining the rebel organization at the age of 17. She played a pivotal role in recruiting young women into the FLN and even participated in high-profile bombings – like the Milk Bar bombings – in retaliation for French atrocities. 

Although arrested in 1957 and subjected to inhumane torture, Bouhired remained loyal to the cause and refused to reveal information about the FLN. Her trial, which was later found to be full of irregularities and false charges, resulted in a death sentence, which was later commuted to life imprisonment due to international pressure.

3. Yaa Asantewaa

Yaa Asantewaa was an influential Ashanti queen who gained global attention due to her famed rebellion against the British empire around the turn of the 20th century. While her exact birth date is unknown, we know that she was born in the Ashanti Confederacy in present-day Ghana some time between the 1840s and 1860s. 

The British provoked a rebellion among the Ashanti people some time in 1896, leading to the exile of their king and other leaders in the following years, followed by Yaa Asantewaa rallying her troops and appointing her the Commander in Chief of the Ashanti army. The conflict that ensued became known as the Yaa Asantewaa War of Independence, or just the Yaa Asantewaa War. Despite her efforts and early successes, however, Asantewaa was captured during the rebellion and exiled to Seychelles, where she died in 1921.

2. Zenobia

Septimia Zenobia, also known as just Zenobia, was the queen of the Roman colony of Palmyra in present-day Syria between 267 and 272 AD. She assumed regency for her underage son after the assassination of her husband, Odaenathus, eventually styling herself as the queen of Palmyra and expanding her influence across the region by conquering several eastern provinces of Rome, including Egypt and parts of Asia Minor. She soon declared independence from Rome and adopted her husband’s titles, aiming to establish her own empire in Syria opposed to Rome.

Zenobia’s ambitions, however, clashed with the interests of the Roman Empire under Emperor Aurelian. In 269 AD, Aurelian launched a large-scale campaign against her forces, defeating them in Antioch in Turkey and Emesa in Syria, before laying siege to Palmyra. While Zenobia attempted to flee with her son, she was captured before crossing the Euphrates river. The Palmyrenes soon surrendered, and the city was eventually sacked and destroyed by Roman troops. 

1. Boudica

Boudica, Boadicea, or Boudica – depending on the source – refers to the ancient British queen who led one of the largest rebellions against Roman rule in 60 AD. It began after the death of her husband, Prasutagus, when the Romans annexed his kingdom instead of offering protection to his family. Outraged by these actions, Boudica raised an army and started attacking Roman infrastructure and military installations throughout East Anglia, now East England. 

According to Roman historian Tacitus, Boudica’s rebels massacred around 70,000 Romans and pro-Roman Britons, including the almost-complete destruction of the Roman 9th Legion. Despite these successes, however, Boudica’s forces were ultimately defeated by the Roman governor Suetonius Paulinus. Accounts differ regarding Boudica’s ultimate fate, though some records suggest that she died due to ingesting poison before her army was defeated and captured.