Bad Girls: A Look At the Female Rebel Throughout History

We took a look at women through history who sacrificed their comfortable lifestyles to participate in war. The British would say these women were “Doing Their Bit”. But, as we saw, these women did their service in disguise. It was incredibly dangerous for men in battle much less women. Men saw women differently in history. Women were seen as people to do be protected and honored as wives and mothers. We don’t care about this position today. At one time, the military would not take men who were their mother’s only child or they would let them go if they had siblings killed in battle making him the last child. We valued family then and the government knew that no parent should have to lose all their children to war.

Now we are going to look at female rebels over time. These women are different from the previous ladies we looked at. While these women have similar courage, they didn’t just rebel against the stereotype of women being the weaker sex, but they rebelled against the nation’s government in any way they could. The first rebel we’re going to look at is Anne Bonny.

Anne is an interesting example of the rebel female. She was born about 1698 in Kinsdale, Ireland. Anne is one of the most famous pirates in history, mainly due to her gender, although she was only a pirate for about two years. Anne was a pirate in the Caribbean during the end of the Golden Age of Piracy. Women during this time had few rights, but those on pirate ships were able to gain some level of freedom and equality. Many pirate ships had democratic leadership. Everyone had a vote on key issues. They would vote for their leaders, meaning the captain, first mate, and quartermaster could all be voted out of their positions if the majority of pirates voted to do so. They would have a written document that laid out what the rules were for their ship.

Anne’s family went through a difficult period when she was young and her father was discovered to have impregnated a servant while she was working in his family’s home. Anne’s father, who was a lawyer, was damaged by the scandal. He disguised Anne as a boy and brought her to live in his home; however, when the duplicity was discovered William decided to move the family to Charles Town (now Charleston), South Carolina. Around 1718 Anne met James Bonny. They married quickly thereafter. Disapproving of his daughter’s choice, he disowned Anne. Anne and James decided to go to New Providence Island in the Bahamas. James Bonny was a confidential informant on pirate activity for Governor Woodes Rogers. It was here that Anne met the pirate known as Calico Jack (real name John Rackham). She quickly fell in love with him and decided to abandon James Bonny.

Joining Rackham’s crew in 1720, Anne dressed as a man and took on the moniker Bonny. Brittanica indicates that Anne never disguised her real gender to the rest of the crew. She dressed as a man for security when they were pillaging. She signed the pirate agreement and moved to blend in with the men. As it turned out Rackham was not the best of pirate leadership. Rackham’s ship might have continued hunting and stealing from other ships had he not stolen the ship called The William to have as his new ship. The William was a British ship, and its capture earned the attention of Governor Woodes Rogers of the Bahamas. (Tucker, 89-145.)  Rackham chose to take the king’s pardon, available thanks to the Act of Grace issued in 1717, but in the end decided to go back to pirating placing a bigger target on his back. (Johnson, Chapter 7.) Governor Rogers issued a proclamation on September 5, 1720, in which he listed the crew members by name, including the names of both Anne and Mary Read, another disguised female pirate who we will discuss at a later time, and described them as enemies of the crown. (Tucker, 145.) On November 15, 1720, in Negril Point, Jamaica, while having drinks with a group of English sailors they had invited aboard, Rackham’s ship was caught by Captain Jonathan Barnet, a privateer hired by Governor Rogers. Anne and Mary were the only ones on board to fight back and not hide below, and they were all captured, and thrown in jail.

The trials of Rackham, Bonny, and Read took place in the Bahamas. Rackham was found guilty and hung the next day. Bonny and Read were tried together. The courthouse was jammed with people who wanted to see the two female pirates. Multiple witnesses testified to seeing the women in action behaving as pirates. The women were found guilty and sentenced to death. When the judge was ready to set the date for the hanging, the two women announced that they were pregnant! The judge demanded confirmation of the pregnancies, which was done and satisfied the court that the women were indeed pregnant. The judge instructed that they would be jailed until they delivered their babies. Afterwards they would be hung.

Mary Reid became sick with typhus and died prior to giving birth. No child was delivered. We know from historians that Anne was not hung either, though the reason for that is not known. Some sources claim that she returned to Charles Town and changed her name. She married again. Her husband was Joseph Burleigh. They went on to live a quiet life and had several children. She died in 1782. There is some indication that she may have returned Jamaica before her death. There is a grave for an Anne Bonny in Spanish Fort, Jamaica, with a death date of 29 December 1733. The grave is unmarked.

Whether Bonny ever killed anyone is unknown, though there is a story about her that relates a situation wherein Bonny beat a rapist so badly that he was hospitalized. It is believed that this altercation happened in her late teens. She was a pirate for 69 days, not much time to earn the reputation that she has. This notoriety is most likely attributed to her being a woman. Recently Bonny and Reid have been described as lesbians. This is a modern interpretation. I believe they are grasping at any straws they can get to prove that homosexuality is more common than we have been led to believe in attempt to mainstream the alternate lifestyle.

“The claim that Bonny and Read were lesbians largely entered popular understanding via radical feminist Susan Baker’s 1972 article, “Anne Bonny & Mary Read: They Killed Pricks” published in a newspaper run by the lesbian separatistorganization, The Furies Collective. This article inspired writers such as Steve Gooch, which in turn influenced many media depictions.” (Wikipedia)

There were statuescommissioned for Bonny and Reid in 2020 and was unveiled at the Execution Docking in Wapping, London. The statues did not remain on display due to complaints from various groups suggesting that, by celebrating these women, they are promoting piracy. The statues were taken possession of by a local resident.

Bonny and Reid have been characters in numerous movies and plays. Here are just a few.

• Bonny appears as a character in the 1944 American novel Lusty Wind for Carolina by Inglis Fletcher.
• Binnie Barnes portrays Bonny in Frank Borzage’s 1945 RKO production The Spanish Main.
• Jean Peters portrays a character based on Anne Bonny called captain Anne Providence in the 1951 film Anne of the Indies, itself based on a 1947 article by Herbert Ravenel Sass.
• Hope Emerson portrays Bonny in the film Double Crossbones (1951).
• Bonny was portrayed by Diana Quick in the 1978 RSC production of The Women-Pirates Anne Bonney and Mary Readby Steve Gooch, at the Aldwych Theatre in London.
• Both Bonny and Mary Read are mentioned in the lyrics of “Five Guns West” by Adam and the Ants from their 1981 album Prince Charming.
• Jewelry Bonney, a female pirate in Eiichiro Oda‘s manga One Piece, is named after Anne Bonny.
• “Anne Bonny” is the title of the second track off of Death Grips 2013 album Government Plates.
• Bonny prominently appears in the video game Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, and its remake Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced, voiced by Sarah Greene.
• Bonny was portrayed by Clara Paget in the Starz TV Series Black Sails.
• Bonny is a main character in the 2021 Netflix docuseries The Lost Pirate Kingdom, where she is portrayed by Mia Tomlinson.
• Minnie Driver portrayed Bonny in the episode “Fun and Games” in the second season of the HBO Max series Our Flag Means Death.

Hope you have a great week! Stay tuned for more bad girls in the coming weeks!!

”Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.” Ephesians 6:13 NIV