The pirates of the early 1700’s were vicious and bloodthirsty. However, even some of the most well-known pirates, such as Black Beard, Bartholomew Roberts, Bellamy, had their unique battle techniques and little quirks. Black Beard, for example, wove incense trough his long beard and lit it on fire before marching into a fray (Gibson online). It appeared more foreboding and he was always accompanied by a thick cloud of noisome smoke (Gibson online). Roberts was a religious man, and never once attacked on a Sabbath (Gibson online). He didn’t drink or gamble, and refused to allow either on his ship (Gibson online). Not quite what one pictures when imagining a pirate. Despite the oddities and the eccentricities, these men were brave. Their names are known, and their stories are told. However, the names of most female pirates are not known at all. Does Mary Read sound familiar? What about Anne Bonny? They were possibly the most fierce and noteworthy duo of piracy, and yet are hardly talked about. These two women, despite their brave actions and adventurous deeds, were still held down under the societal restraints of women in 18^th century Western Europe, and were therefore spoken of much less.

In the study of female pirates, one cannot leave out the two most adventurous and swashbuckling women from their time; Mary Read and Anne Bonny. Both sailed under the guise of men aboard Captain Jack “Calico” Rackham’s pirate vessel, the Kingston (Platt “Women” 32). They had to dress, fight, eat, drink, and swear like men while aboard the ship (Platt “Women” 32). Mary Read was born in England (Johnson “Mary” 153). Her father was a lowly man who had bedded her mother once and left, never to be seen again (Johnson “Mary” 153). Her mother, a noble widow, had, by her late husband, previously had a boy who had died young (Johnson “Mary” 153). In order to protect her reputation and hide that fact that Mary was born illicitly, she passed her young daughter off as the deceased son (Johnson “Mary” 153). When Read was of age, she ran away and joined the Navy, enlisting as a man (Gibson online). Soon, her ship was overrun by pirates, and when she was taken hostage and stated that she would “much rather join with Rackham than lead the dull life” on land (Gibson online). She became part of his crew, and it was aboard his vessel that she met with Anne Bonny. Anne was also of questionable parentage, as she was the illegitimate daughter of an attorney and a maid who worked in his household (Johnson “Anne” 159). The attorney, now having blackened his reputation and spoiled his business by sleeping with the maid, decided no more harm could be done by living with her (Johnson “Anne” 164). Soon after, he married her and Anne Bonny was born not too long following their marriage (Johnson “Anne” 164). As Anne grew, her father had hoped to marry her to a wealthy family and perhaps begin to rebuild his own fortune (Johnson “Anne” 165). Instead, Anne came across the pirate “Calico” Jack Rackham, who courted her and eventually won her affections (Johnson “Anne” 165). They decided to run away and elope, and Anne sailed on Jack’s ship alongside him, dressed as a man (Johnson “Anne” 165). During one raid, the young Mary Read was taken aboard, and the two became fast friends (Johnson “Anne” 165). They both fought side by side from then on, showing astonishing bravery and valour in combat that put other pirates aboard the Kingston to shame (Platt “Women” 33).

              While the lady pirates Read and Bonny were successfully terrorizing the seas, women back in England were restricted and subjected to discrimination. They were regarded as not having equal physical and intellectual capabilities, and were pushed down by both society and English law (“Feminism” online). They were denied some of the most basic rights one can have. They were denied the right to have control of their own person, children, or welfare (“Feminism” online). They were not allowed to own any property under their own name (“Feminism” online). They were also barred from the business world, as they were not allowed to work any substantial job at all (“Feminism” online). The women of these times were somewhat dehumanized through all of the restrictions laid on them by society and by law. One of the very first women to speak up about her situation was Mary Astell. She wrote a “Serious Proposal for the Ladies,” which was widespread throughout England (“Mary” online). In it, she voiced the idea of a women’s college; an idea that was very advanced for the age she lived in (“Mary” online). Unfortunately, her society was not as advanced as she was, and the idea failed. It was even satirized by the likes of Jonathan Swift, and Joseph Addison (“Mary” online). The lack of an open and receiving populace, and the English laws in place helped to hold women perpetually lower than men.

Just as women were looked down upon on land, they were regarded as bad luck at sea (Blackwood 38). Since women were considered weak and inferior, it is likely that they were assumed to be unable to handle all the work. This was not true for Read and Bonny at all. The two ladies each carried a “Cutthroat Cutlass,” as well as a flintlock pistol in their belt, and the heavy hand axes (Platt “Weapons” 28). Mary was astonishingly brave, and frequently put her fellow crewmates to shame with her daring saves and bold actions in combat (Platt “Women” 32). Her deeds constantly proved to history that she was worthy of as much praise, if not more, than that of any male pirate aboard her ship. When their ship was finally captured by the British Navy, both lady pirates managed to escape a hanging by “pleading their bellies,” begging on the behalf of their unborn children (Johnson “Anne” 164). English law prohibited the execution of pregnant women (Platt “Women” 33). Read and Bonny were instead held in the cells until they could have their babies (Johnson “Mary” 157). It was believed that Mary would be let off of the noose, due to the immense compassion that the public had for her, if she hadn’t died of fever while in prison (Johnson “Mary” 158). For Anne, her fate is unknown. She received several extensions of her hanging, before finally disappearing with her newborn child (Johnson “Anne” 165). There was no record of Anne after her trial, and she simply vanished from history. Just as the lives of these two women began in secrecy, their demise was cloaked in mystery and unknowns.

The influence of European opinions about women indirectly forced Read and Bonny to dress as men throughout their pirating career. The stereotypes and ideas about women from the mainland could not be escaped, and their crew would have thought nothing of them were it not for their disguises. Even though they fought as well as, and sometimes better than the men, battling “like wildcats, using pistols, cutlasses, and boarding axes” (Marx 118), they were still under enough social pressure to hide their sex while fighting. The general male opinion what that women were weak, emotional, and frail creatures, unfit for any physical labor. After triumphing in a duel or engagement, the women would reveal themselves to the dying man, bringing shock and awe to his eyes (Marx, 117). The fact that one had been fighting against a women alone was surprising, but that she had beaten him was absolutely inconceivable during those times. When it was finally revealed to their entire crew that they were female, the response was likely to be outrageous. Men of the time felt threatened if any women dared show any slightest bit of superiority over themselves, and this is exactly what Mary and Anne did. And not by a slight amount either. By leagues.

Decades before Mary Wollstonecraft wrote her Vindication of the Rights of Women, Mary Read and Anne Bonny were on the seas, fighting for their own rights. By even defying the natural order of society, they became two of the many women who believed they deserved better. Today, they may seem as if they were ashamed of their sex, hiding beneath layer of clothing and other disguises, but it was the opposite. They were proud to be female, and it was one of the most rebellious things a woman could do in those times. These women, noted here for their adventures at sea, were specifically defying the laws of society to do what they loved. They risked scorn, humiliation, and ridicule by going out on the seas. They placed themselves as equals to men, and fought alongside them fearlessly. Had they been discovered to be women before they had had a chance to prove themselves, they would have been laughed at and delivered back to shore. Read and Bonny knew, the moment that they stepped onto the Kingston, that they had to be outstanding at what they did, or not do it at all. There was no middle area for these women, and their commitment to their crew and their lives was undeniable. Unfortunately, the time period that these amazing women lived in did not allow for their popularity, and so after their deaths and disappearances, they simply faded from mind. Parents told their children bed time stories of the great Captain Roberts, or the fearless Black Beard, but not of the noble Anne Bonny, or the courageous Mary Read. It was as if they had never existed. Early 18^th Century Europe was not ready for these two amazing women, and therefore their exploits and deeds were very much undermined. Even a heroic pirate duo is susceptible to the restraints and stereotypes of a sexist society.