Good morning,

The usual Fem Fri "beat" is very much women who are doing good things for the world, basically because good things for the world is what I like. Every now and then, though, it's worth remembering that women can also do… crimes! I'd like to thank the colleague who inspired this newsletter by opening a conversation with "have you heard about the Chinese pirate princess".

AND HERE SHE IS. Ching Shih, who commanded a fleet four times the size of Blackbeard's, She was not really a princess – this is more of a rags to riches story than a palace to pirate story – but she seized opportunities where they were presented and literally ran a tight ship:

With Zhèng Yi and Ching Shih side-by-side, the Red Flag Fleet quickly grew from 200 ships to more than 600 ships, and eventually to 1700-1800 ships. Their fleet was “color-coded,” with the lead fleet being Red, and the remaining fleets Black, White, Blue, Yellow, and Green. […] Zhèng Yi died in 1807, only 6 years after marrying Ching Shih. At the time of his death, the Red Flag Fleet included approximately 50,000 – 70,000 pirates. Ching Shih, not wishing to go back to a life of prostitution, knew that this was her opportunity to rise to become a powerful pirate lord.

https://www.ancient-origins.net/history-famous-people/ching-shih-prostitute-pirate-lord-002582

From the high seas to grim old London*, here's Moll Cutpurse! The pullquote is from The Newgate Calendar, which seems to have been basically a scurrilous gossip rag masquerading as improving literature, and there's lots more about her antics at the link:

She was above all breeding and instruction. She was a very tomrig or hoyden, and delighted only in boys' play and pastime, not minding or companying with the girls. Many a bang and blow this hoyting procured her, but she was not so to be tamed, or taken off from her rude inclinations. She could not endure that sedentary life of sewing or stitching; a sampler was as grievous to her as a winding sheet; and on her needle, bodkin and thimble she could not think quietly, wishing them changed into sword and dagger for a bout at cudgels.

https://eastendwomensmuseum.org/blog/mary-frith

Finally, in the interests of balance, the view from Reductress; Sorry Feminists, Men Are Better At Murder:

If there happened to be a preponderance of male murderers in a sample group, a typical whiny feminist would say that it’s due to a legacy of sexism and a culture that discourages girls from committing murder. Yet there is nothing keeping women from murder – men and women have equal and abundant access to guns, which have made murder more accessible to everyone.

http://reductress.com/post/sorry-feminists-men-are-better-at-murder/

Hey, have a lovely weekend! Probably don't commit a crime though.

Alex.

*you can tell it is the winter, hey