Gay pirates in history

TS, This posting was informative and should help explain and clear up some misunderstanding about the etymology of these words. I'm always finding articles about how pirates were not that interested in women, and have often wondered if this is why they are so vicious towards women. I'm like you. I thought pirates being gay literally meant they were homosexual and therefore that explained why they were so evil towards women in spite of two women being pirates in Europe and one of the most ruthless being a woman in Asia.

The two women in question were Anne Bonny and Mary Read, now known the world over as the pirate queens, or the Hellcats of the Caribbean. In their challenging of the norms of their age in such a spectacular way, they continue to epitomise the social rebellion view of piracy. What is even more interesting however, is that many authors have postulated that the two were in fact lovers. If one takes a gander at the wider social history of piracy, the discipline is littered with instances of peoples of the same sex finding comfort with each other out on the vast oceanic frontier.

Skip to player Skip to main content Skip to footer. Watch fullscreen. Like Bookmark Share. The Fascinating History of Female and Gay Pirates Gayety.

Request Exam or Desk Copy. Explores the sexual world of the one of the most fabled and romanticized characters in history—the pirate From Blackbeard to Captain Hook, pirates have been the subject of countless movies, books, children's tales, and even a world-famous amusement park ride. In Sodomy and the Pirate Tradition , B. Burg looks beyond the myth to analyze the social and sexual world of sea rovers.