written by Enyd Ford
Sometimes, it seems as if women were invisible before the Suffragette movement and the World Wars; that they existed almost solely as housewives and mothers. This is absolutely not true. Whilst prejudice, restriction and oppression have undeniably impacted upon women’s life chances, there have always been those who challenged these expectations. So, in the name of female empowerment, here are three amazing women who lived their lives boldly and freely.
Eleanor of Aquitaine (1122-1204)
Eleanor was the Duchess of Aquitaine, Queen of France and Queen of England (due to her marriage to two different kings) and one of the most 
influential people in Europe at the time. Safe to say, quite a powerful individual. She accompanied her first husband (King of France, Louis VII) on the second crusade, where she enraged him with her debate of battle strategies but also personally lead the French armies into battle.
When she remarried to King Henry II, she kept complete control of Aquitaine with the province answering only to her. In 1173, she was imprisoned for 16 years after her eldest son led an uprising against her husband. Luckily, when Henry II died, Richard the Lionheart set her free, and she acted as Queen consort for him during the third crusade (she would have been in her 60s at the time- incredibly old by medieval standards) and went as far as issuing commands in her own name (I know, absolutely shocking).
One of the most surprising things about Eleanor’s life is not only the amount of freedom she had, but how she was able to keep control and power for the entirety of it, despite the immense pressure she must have faced at the time to yield to her husbands.
Ching Shih (1775-1844)
Ching Shih is history’s most successful pirate who commanded a crew of 80,000 people and is horribly overshadowed by, in comparison, very mediocre men such 
as Blackbeard. Ching Shi was born as Shi Yang in Guangdong, China, and made her living as a prostitute before marrying the pirate Zheng Yi and becoming a member of the Red Flag Fleet. The details of the marriage are sketchy, but it is thought Ching Shi made Zheng Yi promise to give her 50% of the profits from their piracy.
She held enormous sway over her husband and reformed the rules on the ship to crush any chances of mutiny, severely punished the assault of female captives and encouraged fairness and generosity among the crew. These reforms among others meant other pirate fleets joined the Red Flag Fleet, which only grew after the death of Zheng Yi and Ching Shih assumed full control. She took control of coastal towns and taxed all ships in the South China Sea. What’s more, the members of the Chinese navy sent to stop her reign ended up joining the fleet.
Ching Shi only retired from piracy when the emperor himself offered an amnesty (which meant she would not be arrested for her crimes and could keep most of the wealth she earned). She decided to quit whilst she was ahead, meaning her ferocious legacy is not tarnished by an ignominious death. A true feminist (but not quite legal) icon.
Josephine Baker (1906-1975)
A famous black, bisexual performer, who adopted twelve children of different racial backgrounds (called ‘the rainbow tribe’) and received military honours. One of the most 
amazing women of the twentieth century.
Baker rose to fame in Europe as an exotic dancer; on one particular occasion performing in a skirt made of bananas. During the Nazis’ take-over of France in WW2, Baker joined the French Resistance and used her celebrity connections to gather information on Nazi troops and smuggled the information around by writing it on music sheets. For her bravery, she received two of France’s highest military honours.
On top of this, she was an anti-racism activist who refused to perform for segregated crowds when in America, and attended and spoke at many protests, including the 1963 march on Washington (where Martin Luther King made his ‘I have a dream’ speech). She was the first American to be buried with French military honours after a phenomenal life.
This article doesn’t even scrape the surface of the amazing things women have accomplished throughout history, and even though the patriarchy is far from dismantled, with the freedom and independence women have fought for and won we can expect an even greater influx of female achievement that is yet to come.
