The History of Female Sailors

From Banned and Blindfolded to Pirates and Rebels

Uncover the myths that kept sailor women off the seas — and meet the fearless female sailors who defied superstition, led fleets, and rewrote history.

The sea has always been a symbol of chaos, mystery, and danger. And women? We’ve been cast in the same light.

Throughout history, powerful women were framed as sirens, witches, or temptresses – beings whose presence could unravel the order of things. And so, when women wanted to sail, explore, or command? The story flipped: women are bad luck on ships.

Real women were seen as dangerous, as wild cards in a world where order, hierarchy, and obedience were critical for survival at sea. It wasn’t just about physical presence. The belief ran deeper: that women’s “uncontrollable passions” could stir tempests, incite chaos, and anger the sea gods. Men claimed we would distract them, unhinge them, perhaps even doom them, not through action, but simply by being. In truth, it wasn’t about women being bad luck. It was about control.

Sailors lived in tight, all-male quarters for months at sea. The ship’s hierarchy was rigid and brutal. Anything, or anyone, who disrupted that system was labeled a threat. And women, with their mystery, power, and potential to question the rules, were seen as too dangerous to include.

By barring women from ships:

• Men kept power, hierarchy, and narrative firmly in their hands.
• Fear of feminine mystery became a justification for exclusion.
• Women were turned into symbols instead of participants.
  

When women did appear, they had to sneak aboard in disguise, or serve as objects (like prostitutes in port), but never peers. The irony? Ships themselves were called “she.” Sailors sang to them, worshiped them, feared their wrath, but God forbid a real woman be part of the crew.