Publication

Abstract : A considerable number of women raided the seas, alongside men, demonstrating equal, if not more courage and valour. From cross-dressing to complete neglect of identity and coping with compromising sanitary conditions in the vessels, these women had to go through a variety of ordeals to be at the sea and establish authority. Pirate captains, both male andfemale rarely found it difficult to recruit crew members even though the average life expectancy of a pirate during the time was not more than two years. Ann Bonny and Mary Read are two of the most famous female pirates who reigned the seas during the Golden Age of Piracy. “Lost women”, as many historians would refer to them, preferred to be savages in the seas rather than being the ‘Angels of the house’; whose lives revolved around looking pretty and finding a respectable and rich husband, even at the cost of cross-dressing or betraying their lovers. Naturally, there should be a reason for these women to embrace the career, defying both male and female gender roles. What led them to choose the rough storms and tides of aggressive and raging seas?