Women are often tougher than they get credit for. History has seen incredibly valiant and resilient women. Names like Joan of Arc, Amelia Earhart, Rosa Parks, and Florence Nightingale come to mind. And the list of modern-day tough women continues to grow, including athletic heroes like Diana Nyad and activists like Malala Yousafzai. Each demonstrates toughness and resilience uniquely.
But what about the women who don’t always get the spotlight? This list highlights ten unbelievably badass women from history who deserve more recognition. Their stories are certainly worth knowing!
Mary Read
During the Golden Age of Piracy (1690-1730), few women sailed the high seas. Mary Read did it exceptionally well. Her tomboy persona began early in life. After her half-brother’s death, her mother disguised her as a boy to continue receiving child support from her late husband’s relatives.
Read joined the British Navy and fought in battle. Later, she became a sailor. In the early 18th century, pirates raided her ship. Whether by choice or force, she joined them and quickly became a successful pirate.
She joined John “Calico Jack” Rackham’s buccaneer crew, dressing and acting like a man. Alongside fellow pirate Anne Bonny, Read became a legend. She even had a romantic relationship with the ship’s carpenter. When he quarreled with another sailor, legend says Read shot the troublemaker herself.
In 1720, Read and Bonny became enemies of the British crown due to their piracy. The British Navy captured their ship. While Calico Jack surrendered quickly, Read fought fiercely before being captured.
Sentenced to hang, Read’s execution was postponed due to her pregnancy, and she was sent to prison. She died there in 1721 from illness. Her legend, along with Bonny, lives on as one of the fierce pirate women who challenged Britain’s naval dominance. [1]
Frances Clayton
When the Civil War began, Frances Clayton joined the Union Army to fight alongside her husband. Many women secretly fought in the Civil War by enlisting due to lax record-keeping and concealing their identities with baggy uniforms.
Clayton was one of the most dedicated, fighting under the name “Jack Williams” with the 4th Missouri Artillery. She reportedly fought in 18 battles and was wounded three times. After her husband died in the Battle of Stones River, she was exposed as a woman and discharged.
Her story made headlines, and she became a minor celebrity among Union supporters. She gave newspaper interviews, but after 1863, her life remains a mystery.
Officer Rand mentioned in the Fort Wayne Daily Gazette that Clayton considered a lecture tour about her war experiences, which could have been lucrative. However, she disappeared from public view, leaving her later life unknown. [2]
The Night Witches
The “Night Witches” were exceptionally brave Russian women who served in the 588th Night Bomber Regiment during World War II. Although women were officially banned from combat, Marina Raskova rose to the rank of major and convinced her superiors to allow women to fight.
Joseph Stalin formed female combat units, the first being the bomber women known as the “Night Witches.” They attacked German strongholds at night, idling their engines to glide silently over targets. The Germans, unable to hear them coming, were frustrated by the wind noise, which sounded like witches on broomsticks.
They flew in low, bombed quietly, and quickly left, striking fear into the hearts of the Nazis. Their innovative tactics and bravery made them a formidable force. [3]
Lyudmila Pavlichenko
Lyudmila Pavlichenko, known as “Lady Death,” was another badass Russian woman in World War II. Dissatisfied with nursing or factory work, she joined the Red Army’s 25th Rifle Division as a sniper.
Pavlichenko is credited with 309 confirmed kills of Nazi soldiers. She became the most feared female sniper in history and was promoted to lieutenant by the war’s end.
Near the war’s end, she visited the United States as a hero and was the first Soviet citizen honored by Americans. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt welcomed her. She traveled with Eleanor on a goodwill tour, but some criticized her for not wearing enough makeup.
At a rally in Chicago, Pavlichenko retorted, “I am 25 years old, and I have killed 309 fascist occupants by now. Don’t you think, gentlemen, that you have been hiding behind my back for too long?” [4]
Manuela Sáenz
Manuela Sáenz de Vergara y Aizpuru, an Ecuadorian woman, became a key figure in South American revolution after partnering with Simón Bolivar in the 19th century. She married an English doctor in 1817 and became a socialite in Lima, Peru.
As revolution stirred, she abandoned her comfortable life to fight for South American independence. By 1822, she had left her husband and began a revolutionary alliance and romantic relationship with Bolivar.
Manuela fiercely fought for Latin American independence, wearing a colonel’s uniform publicly. She had a pet bear and led violent revolutionary clashes. She famously saved Bolivar from assassination.
Bolivar called her the “Libertadora del libertador” (liberator of the liberator). After Bolivar’s death in 1830, her role diminished, but modern historians recognize her importance and bravery during that era. [5]
Ina Ramirez Perez
Ina Ramirez Perez performed a cesarean section on herself and both she and the baby survived. In March 2000, in rural Mexico, Perez went into labor without access to a phone or transportation.
After 12 hours of labor, she realized she needed to cut open her abdomen to deliver the baby. She managed to cut into her abdomen and remove the baby before passing out from the pain. The baby was alive and healthy.
One of her children ran to town for help, and healthcare workers sewed up the seven-inch incision and took her to a hospital eight hours away. Doctors operated further to ensure her recovery.
Both Perez and the baby survived with no ill effects. Her story spread worldwide, marveling at her tenacity. Perez proved the incredible toughness of women. [6]
Boudica
Boudica was an early British queen, living in the first century AD. After her husband, Prasutagus, died around 60 AD, the Romans tried to seize his kingdom shortly after invading Britain. Boudica rebelled against the Romans.
After her daughters were violated and she was abused, she led indigenous British people against the invaders. Her insurgency reached Camulodunum, where they destroyed the city and its defenders.
Governor Gaius Suetonius Paulinus eventually gathered Roman fighters and confronted Boudica and her forces. The Romans had superior weapons, training, and tactics.
Thousands of Britons were killed defending their homeland. According to Tacitus, Boudica and her daughters poisoned themselves to avoid capture. Today, she is remembered as a British hero for resisting colonial oppression. [7]
Buffalo Calf Road Woman
Buffalo Calf Road Woman, also known as “Brave Woman,” was a 19th-century Northern Cheyenne warrior who fought against General George Armstrong Custer at the Battle of the Rosebud and Little Bighorn.
In 1876, after gold was found on Cheyenne land, the U.S. Army tried to displace them. Buffalo Calf Road Woman and her band were attacked near Rosebud Creek. When her brother’s horse was shot, she saved him on horseback.
At the Battle of Little Bighorn, she fought alongside her husband, firing at American soldiers. The allied tribal fighters won against Custer’s men. Legend says Buffalo Calf Road Woman was among the last to reach Custer before his death.
The Cheyenne were eventually rounded up, and Buffalo Calf Road Woman died in prison three years later from diphtheria. She is remembered for her resistance against the unjust occupation of her people’s land. [8]
Victoria Woodhull
Victoria Woodhull was the first woman to run for U.S. president. Born in 1838, she ran for president in 1872, marking the first time a woman dared to seek such office.
Her run was controversial, and she didn’t win, but she significantly impacted the suffragette movement. Woodhull was also the first female stockbroker on Wall Street, a journalist, and a writer.
She advocated for sexual freedom and women’s rights, challenging societal norms. Despite facing ridicule, she remained undeterred. The world needs more women like her who fight for their beliefs regardless of public opinion. [9]
Queen Tomyris
Cyrus the Great founded the Achaemenid Dynasty in Persia during the 6th century BC. But Queen Tomyris took his head. Tomyris ruled the Massagetae, known for their horsemanship. After her husband died, she led her people into battle.
Cyrus offered Tomyris marriage to conquer her land. She refused, not wanting her people absorbed into his empire. Cyrus then trapped a large part of her army and captured Tomyris’s son.
Enraged, Tomyris wrote Cyrus, demanding, “Give me back my son and depart unpunished… I will give you your fill thereof.” Cyrus released her son, but he died by suicide.
Tomyris attacked Cyrus with such ferocity that Herodotus called it “the stubbornest of all fights.” Tomyris defeated Cyrus, found his body, cut off his head, and took it home as a trophy, avenging her son’s death. [10]
These ten women defied expectations, challenged norms, and left indelible marks on history. Their courage, resilience, and determination continue to inspire. They remind us that strength knows no gender and that anyone can leave a lasting legacy.
Which of these women inspires you the most? Leave your comment below!
