#20. Elisa Bernerström
In 1808, Switzerland was fighting against the Russian army and the country needed many brave men to join the Swedish army. Well, for Elisa Bernerström that was not going to be an impediment to help her country and decided to join the Swedish army disguised as a man. What is most incredible is that Elisa found love in Stockholm while she was doing service there.
Elisa married Bernard Servenius and they stayed together on the battlefield until death do them part. The soldier proved she was very brave but her secret was revealed and the Swedish army decided to fire her. Elisa’s husband thought that she was dead but he found her as a prisoner of war. Soon after, they reunited and nowadays Elisa is considered one of the bravest persons in Switzerland.
#19. Rena Kanokogi
Another story full of injustice but incredible determination is Rena Kanokogi’s life. Back to the ‘60s, some sports were considered just for men and some of them were more for “ladylike”. Rena wanted to be a famous judo expert but it was impossible for her because she was a woman. Rena decided to disguise herself as a man and participated in a YMCA tournament and won it!
But when people discovered her gender, Rena was forced to return the medal. The judo expert was not going to give up. Rena traveled to Tokyo and became the first woman to train at the Kodokan Institute with men. Also, Rena founded the first world female judo tournament. In 2009, YMCA gave her back the medal that was taken from her in the past and she declared that people were righting a wrong and that was the most important thing. Sadly, Rena died three months after this act of justice.
#18. Joan Of Arc
Perhaps the most famous case of women who posed as a man is the one of Joan Of Arc that lived in the 15th Century in France. After God visited her in a dream, Joan found her destiny. The young lady was determined to help the French army against the English army during the Hundred Years’ War and disguised herself as a man. Joan became one of the talented soldiers on the battlefield, even King Charles VII recognized her for her actions.
The young soldier was captured by a group of French that were allied with the English. Sadly, she was sentenced to the death penalty because the jury believed she was a demon and deserved to die. Joan Of Arc was burned in front of a crowd in 1430 when she was only 19 years old. Nowadays, the brave lady is an iconic figure in films, literature and painting.
#17. Norah Vincent
Sometimes women don’t need to be on the battlefield to prove that equality doesn’t apply for us. Let’s see the amazing story of the journalist Norah Vincent and his “gender experiment”. Norah was tired to feel less compared to her men coworkers and decided to become a gender spy. How did she do it? She disguised herself as man and started to work in a company as the alter ego, Ned Vincent. The transformation wasn’t easy for Norah, she had to add bear into her face, take voice lessons and even wore a jockstrap to look like a man physique.
Surprisingly for the journalist, she found things that she didn’t expect it. For example, Norah realized that sometimes women have more benefits compared to men and that there’re some disadvantages for men in general. For Norah, it’s important to understand the differences and support men too. Norah’s research was published in 2006 by the name “Self-Made Man: One Woman’s Year Disguised As A Man”.
#16. Kathrine Switzer
Choose to play any sports nowadays it’s not so complicated for people, for example, nowadays women are professional soccer players. Let’s read the case of Kathrine Switzer, a famous runner from the ‘60s. The young lady wanted to be part of the Boston Marathon in 1967 but her coach told her that women were not allowed to run. Kathrine was determined to participate and on the day of the competition she signed up under the name of K.V Switzer. None could believe that a woman was running in the middle of men!
When the competition was over, sports reporters asked her why she wanted to be there and Katherina with a great fortitude said that she loved to run and she would come back even if she was banned. Also, she added that she would run with lipstick without a problem! After her participation, Boston Marathon allowed women to participate in it. We can say that Katherine was a very important person for women and marathons.
#15. Malinda Blalock
Another woman that participated in an important battle was Malina Blalock when she decided to join the Confederate Army during the American Civil War in 1862. Blalock decided to follow her husband, William Keith Blalock and used the name Samuel Blalock. The couple was only married for one year and Malinda wanted to protect William. On the battlefield, she said that she was William’s brother.
When The Blalocks were in an expedition to search for the enemy, Malina was shot in the shoulder and everyone was going to discover her secret. William rolled in poison oak and he was sent home. Malinda said that she was going to take care of her “brother” but the coronel didn’t give her the permission and finally, she confessed the truth. Later, the marriage joined a Union Regiment.
#14. Sarah Emma Edmonds
Talking about the American Civil War, Sarah Emma Edmonds was a Canadian woman that wanted to join the Union army. Sarah disguised herself as a man and she served in the war as a male nurse, soldier and spy. Sarah served the Union army in different positions, for example, she became a mail carrier and a spy of the enemy army. Also, she took care of the wounded soldiers as a nurse and worked in the hospital.
In 1863, Sarah got sick from malaria and she couldn’t receive medical attention because she was afraid to be discovered. The coronel didn’t want “Franklin Thompson” to leave but Sarah didn’t have another option. From 1863 up to the end of the war, Sarah worked as a nurse at the United States Christian Commission. Later, she published her memoirs “Nurse And Spy In The Union Army” and donated the money from the book to many soldiers.
#13. Saint Marina
When Marina was a little girl in the 8th century she had to make the hard decision to follow her dad into a monastery. Marina posed as a boy in order to stay with her dad. In the past, monasteries didn’t allow women to go inside. Later, Marina became another monk under the name of Marinus, all the time she was in the company of her father until the day he died.
One day, an innkeeper’s daughter said falsely that she was pregnant from the monk Marinus. Instead of revealing the truth, Marina decided to keep wit the baby and raised the child as her own. Of course, she was expulsed of the monastery but Marina’s secret was never revealed until her death in 270 A.D. Nowadays, she is considered a saint and the protector of kidney sufferers.
#12. Hua Mulan
The animated and classic Disney film “Mulan” is based on the 5th-century ballad from China that tells the story of a young Chinese girl named Mulan that decided to join the army in the place of her father as he was very old at that time. When Mulan served in the army, she became one of the best soldiers of all time as she knew kung fu, archery and sword fighting. But all that Mulan wanted is to come back home.
The truth was revelead when Mulan decided to put female clothing and everyone realized she was a woman the whole time. Nowadays, the story of Mulan is famous around the world and there are three animated films of the female soldiers and this year we’re expecting the live-action film with Liu Yifei as Mulan.
#11. Hannah Snell
Throughout history, there’re many stories of brave women that wanted to be part of the great wars that took place in the world. For example, Hannah Snell knew since she was a little girl she wanted to be a soldier. Hannah joined the British army in the 18th century disguised as a man using her brother-in-law’s suit. When Hannah was on the battlefield, she suffered a lot of injuries but she never let a man give her medical attention, just women.
Hannah decided to reveal her secret in 1750 and her shipmates were incredibly surprised but the coronel decided to discharged her with honors and gave her a pension. Hannah published her book “The Female Soldier” and became the owner of a pub for The Female Warrior. Sadly, Hannah had suffered a lot during the times of war and her mental and physical health was very weak and was sent into a mental institution and died in 1791.
#10. Mary Read
Believe it or not, there’re only two women in the history that were convicted of piracy. One of them was Mary Read that spent most of his life undercover as a male shipmate and served to the British military as Mark Read. The young lady became one of the most famous pirates of the golden age of piracy in the 18th century after the ship she was on was captured by a group of pirates.
During her trips, she met the other female pirate, Annie Bonny and together became the rudest pirates of all time. When both of them were captured, they were expecting a child at the same time so the executions were postponed. In April 1721 while Read was in prison, she died after a strong fever.
#9. Deborah Sampson
Sometimes the physique could help us to reach things that we want to, like the case of Deborah Sampson from Massachusetts. Deborah was very tall compared to other women from that time. But her height didn’t help her to join the army in the Revolutionary War. Deborah didn’t give up and tried one more time but this time she was under the name Rober Shirtliffe and successfully she joined the Fourth Massachusetts Regiment.
Deborah suffered a lot during her two years of service, from injuries to gunshots but she never received medical attention from other persons. When she got an epidemic, she was taken to the hospital and her secret was revealed. She was honorable discharge in October 1783 and later she traveled around America talking about her experience and dressing in full military.
#8. Mary Ann Evans
Back in the 19th century, being a writer was a huge problem for women as none considered them as good writers like their male fellows. Many women took the decision to use another name for their novels, like the case of Mary Ann Evans that published her six novels under the pen name George Eliot. Mary Ann didn’t want to be judged for her private life, like many female writers.
Unbelievably, Mary Ann became the editor of the Westminister Review under the identity of George Eliot. Most of her novels were published under the pen name Eliot, like "Adam Bede", "The Mill On The Floss", "Silas Marner", "Romola" and the incredible "Middlemarch", which tells the story of a female heroine living in the wrong time and space. Coincidence?
#7. Charley Parkhurst
The life of the famous stagecoach driver, Charley Parkhurst wasn’t easy at all. When she was a little girl she lived in an orphan and then, decided to escape from it. Charley disguised herself as a man so she could start working in different places. Charley got a job in stables where she learned to drive a stagecoach. Later, Charley became famous and was known as One-Eyed Charley or Six Horse Charley. She had to move to California in 1851 because her identity was in jeopardy.
In California, she became the most famous stagecoach driver and traveled on many American routes. It’s said that she became the first lady to vote for a presidential election in 1868. When Charley passed away in 1879 of tongue cancer, her real identity was revelead and something else too, she had given birth when she was very young!
#6. Dorothy Lawrence
Some women in the past had to the impossible and beyond to make their dreams come true. Dorothy Lawrence was determined to be an investigative journalist during the First World War but her editors told her that it was impossible. Dorothy was not going to let that happen and decided to go to France disguised as a man, she even used watered-down that were for furniture to cover her pale skin.
Dorothy claimed she was a British soldier and joined the Leicestershire Regiment under the name Denis Smith. Dorothy served as a sapper but after 10 days of service, she got ill and confessed to the coronel the truth. She was sent to prison because they believed she was a spy. Luckily, she was sent free but forced no to tell anything about her experience. Dorothy was a very determined woman and decided to publish a book years later talking about the days in the army.
#5. Billy Tipton
The story of the famous jazz musician Billy Tipton is incredible and unique. The jazz musician was born under the name of Dorothy Lucille Tipton in 1914. When Dorothy was a little girl, she wanted to play the piano in her high school but it was prohibited for girls. Dorothy decided to change her appearance and disguised as a man in order to study music. Later, Dorothy started to identify as a man.
In one concert, Dorothy presented herself as Billy Tipton and in concerts, she had to bound her breasts to hide her gender. Also, Billy had many longtime-relationships with many women during his life including his last and longest romance with Kitty Oakes. Together the couple adopted three sons and until his death in 1989 at the age of 74, none knew the truth, not even his son nor his wife!
#4. The Bronte Sisters
Nowadays, The Bronte Sisters are well-known and are considered a very important part of British literature. But back in the 19th century, everything was more complicated for the Bronte sisters. Emily, Charlotte and Anne decided to publish a poetry book “Poems By Currer, Ellis And Acton Bell” under their male pen names. Some of their classic novels, like "Wuthering Heights", "Jane Eyre" and "Agnes Grey" were published under these pen names.
Time after, Charlotte revealed in a preface of "Wuthering Heights" in 1910 that they decided to use those male pen names because people would believe that their way of writing was not “feminine” and they didn’t want to change it. Also, at that time being a female writer was not something very common, said Charlotte in the representation of her sisters.
#3. Joanna Zubr
Joanna Zubr was part of the Napoleonic Wars in the 19th century where she joined the Polish army in the company of her husband Michal. Together, they were part of the Greater Polish Division. Of course, Joanna had to change her appearance to serve in the army. Joanna became a great soldier that sooner was promoted to sergeant. She also served during the invasion of Russia.
Joanna escaped from Russia on her own and later reunited with her husband and lived together in Wielun. The actions of Joanna were so important that she became the first woman that received the Virtuti Military medal, the most important Polish military honor. Also, she became the first woman in history to receive a medal for battle actions.
#2. James Barry
James Barry was born as Margaret Ann Bulkley but since she was a little girl, she knew that her name and body were not her real identity. In fact, James Barry became one of the most famous surgeons and inspectors of the British Army in the 19th century. But first Margaret abandoned her identity and started to live as a man.
James also became the first person to perform a cesarean in Africa and created many hospitals for wounded soldiers. In 1865, James had to retire because he was very old and ill. None knew he was a woman until his death. The Britsh Army was so shocked that decided to hide the case until a historian open James’ case in the ‘50s.
#1. J.K. Rowling
Believe it or not, the famous British writer J.K. Rowling at the beginning of her career decided to use just her initials J.K. to make her manuscripts published. Of course, we’re familiar with Harry Potter and his adventures. Nowadays, it’s considered the most successful book of recent times. “Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone” became a best-seller and was translated in more than 60 languages.
In the past, the British writer used another male pen to publish a book. Under the name Robert Galbraith, she published in 2013 the novel “The Cuckoo’s Calling” from the Cormoran Strike series. Even editors couldn’t believe it was a novel written by a woman after J.K. Rowling revealed the truth.