Welcome back to Kickass Women! This month we are paying tribute to Loreta Janeta Velazquez, a woman who was born in Cuba and ended up serving as a soldier and spy during the Civil War. Much of what we know about Loreta’s life comes from her memoirs, in which fact may or may not have taken a backseat to entertainment value. But even allowing for embellishment, she led a kickass life, albeit one that was … Continue reading Kickass Women in History: Loreta Janet Velazquez→
If there’s anything I love about the Internet, it’s the assurance that I won’t be disappointed if I Google “Chinese Pirate Queen.” This month’s Kickass Women is Ching Shih, also known as Madame Ching, also known as Cheng I Sao. She ruled the seas with an iron hand and retired so she could spend her golden years perched on big bags of money. She was a badass, and while of course her story is embellished … Continue reading Kickass Women: Ching Shih, Pirate Queen→
This month’s Kickass Woman is Mary Wollstonecraft. I am sad to say that Mary Wollstonecraft never, to my knowledge, literally kicked anyone in or on the ass, although I’m happily writing fanfic in my head in which Wollstonecraft spends her days beating up her oppressors with Regency English Kung Fu. In real life, Mary was a kickass woman in the sense that she insisted on living her life on her own terms, she was a … Continue reading Kickass Women in History: Mary Wollstonecraft→
The medieval Icelandic Sagas appear to be a mix of fact and fiction – and no one can agree about which parts are which. Both The Saga of Erik the Red and The Saga of the Greenlanders talk about a woman named Gudrid, who was born in Iceland and who travelled at various times to Greenland, Vinland, Norway, Rome, and eventually to Iceland again where she lived out her days as a nun. While little … Continue reading Kickass Women: Gudrid the Far Traveller→
Halloween has come and gone, but here in California we didn’t get anything remotely like Fall until the week of Halloween, so I’m hereby declaring that we can celebrate Halloween right up until Thanksgiving and then segue promptly into various Winter Solstice festivities. With this in mind, this month’s kickass woman is Maria Louise Ramé, or, as she preferred to be called, Marie Louise de la Ramée, an author who used the pseudonym ‘Ouida’. If … Continue reading Kickass Women: Marie Louise de la Ramée, AKA Ouida→
We at the Pink Palace are curious about Suffragette (link warning – music and video autoplay), the upcoming movie in which white British women kick ass for the right to vote, though recent promotional efforts have been less than stellar, and some early reviews indicate that the film depicts a stunning lack of women of color in the suffragette movement. In the United States, many women of color fought for suffrage, often facing discrimination from the … Continue reading Kickass Women: Mary Church Terrell→
The movie Stonewall, directed by Roland Emmerich, premiers September 25, 2015. This movie has been the center of controversy regarding its cast and trailer. While the jury is still out on the finished product, the trailer and plot synopsis focuses on a white, cisgender man. Transgender people and people of color, if included at all, seem to be relegated to supporting roles. Notably, famous Stonewall participant Sylvia Rivera isn’t listed in the IMBD page at all. … Continue reading Kickass Women in History: Sylvia Rivera→
The Republic of the Philippines is a country made of over 7000 islands. It’s a sovereign state that had to fight two world powers (Spain and The United States of America) for independence, plus it was a major battleground in WWII. During all these wars, women fought both in a support capacity and directly, on the battlefield, as soldiers. The most famous is Agueda Kahabagan, known by the Spanish as “The Tagalog Joan of Arc”. … Continue reading Kickass Women in History: Agueda Kahabagan and the Women of the Philippine Revolution→
There are a lot of ways to qualify as a kickass woman and although Vera Brittain, a pacifist, did not literally kick any asses, she figuratively kicked a hell of a lot of them in many, many ways. The ass-kicking began when she insisted on getting an education against the wishes of her parents and it continued with her grueling work as a nurse in WWI. After the war, Vera became a writer, journalist, and … Continue reading Kickass Women in History: Vera Brittain→
Edmonia Lewis (c. 1844 – sometime after 1909) came from a penniless family, was orphaned at nine, was African American and Native American, and stood only four feet tall. This did not stop her from achieving international fame as a sculptor. Lewis had an African-Haitian father and a mother who was African American and Mississauga (a branch of the Chippewa people). Her mother was a weaver. She spent her early life in New York State. … Continue reading Kickass Women in History: Edmonia Lewis→
Khutulun was the most famous of the many Mongol women who fought and led armies. She’s come down in legend as “the wrestling princess,” but she was much more than a champion wrestler. Khutulun was the daughter of Qaidu Khan, leader of a Mongol group called the Ogedeids. Qaidu Khan was the nephew and rival of Kublai Khan. Khutulun was born sometime in 1260 and was a favorite of her father’s. He granted her a … Continue reading Kickass Women in History: Khutulun→
