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Throughout much of history, women have been denied the same opportunities as men. Confined to their homes, they were kept from the grand achievements that would secure a place in history. At best, their names were only remembered through their association with famous men.
Yet, even in centuries of oppression, there were women with incredible talents and ideas who refused to be silenced. In a world where men were the only ones permitted to succeed, they cut their hair, donned trousers, and accomplished feats that their male counterparts thought impossible for a woman.
10. Rena Kanokogi: The Woman Who Triumphed in a Men's Judo Competition
From a young age, Rena Kanokogi (born Glickman) was determined to become a judo master. Raised in Brooklyn, she immersed herself in martial arts, aspiring to become the world’s best.
There was just one obstacle: Rena was a woman. In the 1950s, when she first yearned to compete, women’s judo competitions simply didn’t exist—or at least not any that were challenging enough. But Rena didn’t let that hold her back. She entered the 1959 New York State YMCA Judo Championship, a competition that was exclusively for men.
Women were banned from the competition because judges believed they were too delicate and weak to compete with men. Rena, however, didn’t just prove she was their equal—she showed she was their superior. She defeated every man she faced and walked away with the gold medal.
In the end, she was compelled to return the medal. The judges suspected Rena was a woman, and when they inquired, she confessed. Rena didn’t regret giving up the medal, though. She felt that by revealing the truth, she helped legitimize women’s judo, which was far more valuable to her than any medal.
Rena went on to coach the women’s judo team at the 1988 Seoul Olympics and became the first woman to achieve a seventh-degree black belt. Rena Kanokogi passed away in 2009 at the age of 74.
9. Dr. James Barry: The Pioneering Doctor Who Successfully Performed a C-Section
When Margaret Ann Bulky was born in Ireland in 1789, women were strictly prohibited from practicing medicine. However, when her family fell on hard times and her supportive uncle passed away, she felt responsible for helping them survive.
She adopted her uncle’s identity, taking the name James Barry, and enrolled in medical school under his guise. Her eccentric appearance didn’t help—she wore an overcoat regardless of the temperature, spoke with a deep, unnatural voice, and used 8-centimeter (3 in) shoe inserts—but she excelled in her studies, and her professors eventually overlooked their suspicions.
By 22, she was serving as an assistant surgeon in the military, and by 1857, she had become the inspector general overseeing all military hospitals. One of the most accomplished medical professionals of her time, she was the first surgeon to successfully perform a C-section, saving both the mother and child. (Sources differ on whether she achieved this first in Africa or within the British Empire.)
She left a request in her will to be buried in the clothes she wore when she passed away, without her body being washed. However, her wishes were not honored, and as a nurse prepared her for burial, the shocking truth was revealed—one of the most respected figures in medicine was, in fact, a woman.
8. Khawlah Bint Al-Azwar: The Woman Who Led the Muslim Army Against the Byzantine Empire
During the early Muslim conquests of the Byzantine Empire in the seventh century, a young woman named Khawlah bint al-Azwar joined the army. Her brother, Dhiraar Ibn al-Azwar, was a commander, and she accompanied him as a nurse to care for his injuries.
When her brother was captured during the Siege of Damascus, Khawlah refused to allow him to perish in captivity. Disguised in armor with her face veiled, she took his place on the battlefield, fighting alongside the other men.
Khawlah fought with such courage and intensity that the army's general, Khalid Ibn Walid, personally met her to acknowledge her as the hero of the battle. The entire army was stunned when she uncovered her face.
Rather than dismissing her, Khalid allowed her to lead a mission to rescue her brother. Khawlah commanded a battalion of men to infiltrate the Byzantine camp, liberating her brother and every other prisoner the Byzantines had captured.
Khawlah continued to follow the army, initially the sole woman in a male-dominated military. That changed, however, when she was captured by the Byzantines and thrown into a women’s prison. There, Khawlah armed her fellow prisoners with tent poles and stakes, leading a violent escape that resulted in 30 Byzantine soldiers killed and countless women freed through their own collective strength.
7. Agnodice: The First Female Doctor of Greece
Ancient Greece was notoriously harsh towards women. In this society, women were expected to remain silent and obey their husbands, living in a place where it was said: “The best reputation a woman can have is not to be spoken of.”
For a woman to practice medicine in Greece was unthinkably audacious. It was considered so scandalous that any woman attempting it would face a death sentence. However, according to the Roman historian Gaius Julius Hyginus, one woman, Agnodice, boldly decided to do so anyway.
As the tale goes, Agnodice disguised herself as a man, studied medicine, and became one of Athens' most accomplished doctors. Specializing in assisting women during childbirth, she became so beloved by her patients that her male colleagues accused her of seducing them.
The men were so certain she was stealing their patients through inappropriate means that they took her to court for sexual misconduct. However, during the trial, Agnodice stunned the court by revealing her true identity as a woman—an act that would almost certainly lead to her execution.
Her patients fought to save her life. Upon hearing that Agnodice was about to be executed, they flooded the courtroom, declaring that she had transformed female healthcare. One woman even told the judges: “You are condemning her who discovered health for us!”
To everyone's astonishment, the court ruled in Agnodice's favor. According to the story, she was spared execution, allowed to continue practicing medicine, and the law in Athens was amended. Thanks to her, women were finally granted the right to become doctors.
6. One-Eyed Charley: The First Woman to Vote in the United States
One-Eyed Charley, born Charlotte Parkhurst in 1812, underwent a transformation later in life. Donning a pair of pants, she became One-Eyed Charley, one of the most feared figures in the Wild West.
Unlike the other women in this list, One-Eyed Charley likely wasn’t merely disguising herself for a job. It’s believed that Charley identified as a man and chose to live as one. Regardless of gender, Charley made her mark in history.
One-Eyed Charley was known as one of the toughest, hardest-drinking cowboys on the American frontier. After losing his eye to a horse’s kick, he became a bitter man. He worked as a stagecoach driver, gaining a reputation for carrying guns and being quick to draw. When the bandit Sugarfoot attempted to rob Charley, he quickly learned that Charley was just as fast with a gun and just as willing to shoot as any outlaw.
Charley’s gender wasn’t questioned until his death. Even for a man, his voice was unusually deep and gruff, a result of chewing tobacco for years, which caused him to develop mouth cancer. That’s why it shocked everyone when his body was prepared for burial, revealing that he had been born a woman.
However, by that point, Charley had already made his mark in history. In 1867, he became the first person born a woman to cast a vote in an American election, registering to vote in California.
5. Renee Bordereau: The Woman Napoleon Wanted Dead
Renee Bordereau lost 42 members of her family during the French Revolution. While the revolution was supposed to fight for liberty and equality, the revolutionaries didn’t always target just the aristocrats. Many members of the Bordereau family, who were peasants, fell victim to their wrath, including Renee’s father, who died before her eyes.
In 1793, when the Royalists rose against the Revolutionaries, Renee seized the opportunity for revenge. Disguised as her brother, Hyacinthe, she joined the battle.
She became one of the most feared warriors in the Royalist army, known for riding into battle with a horse’s bridle in her teeth to keep her hands free for both a sword and a gun. This unique strategy made her a deadly force—legend has it that she killed 17 men in her first battle alone.
The French came to believe that she was invincible. Having fought in 200 battles, she became so infamous that Emperor Napoleon placed a 40,000-franc bounty on her head.
Eventually, her comrades-in-arms discovered that their fiercest fighter was actually a woman. Despite this, they kept her in their ranks, with one soldier famously pointing her out and saying:
Do you see that soldier with sleeves of a different color from his coat? That’s a woman who fights with the strength of a lion.
4. Kathrine Switzer: The First Woman To Compete in the Boston Marathon
In the 1960s, when Kathrine Switzer attended Syracuse University, there was no women’s running team. Undeterred, she joined the only available team, the men’s cross-country squad, and informed her coach of her goal: to run in the Boston Marathon.
At that time, women were prohibited from participating in marathons because they were considered too “delicate” for such an endurance event. But Switzer was resolute. Her coach doubted her ability, so to prove him wrong, he challenged her to run 42 kilometers (26 miles) in training. Switzer, however, went above and beyond and ran 50 kilometers (31 miles) instead.
To enter the 1967 Boston Marathon, Switzer registered under the name “K.V. Switzer.” She wore a loose sweatshirt to blend in, but her attempt at camouflage wasn’t foolproof. Switzer still wore lipstick during the run, which made it clear to anyone who saw her that this was no man.
She began the race with great momentum, but an outraged official, furious that a woman was running the marathon, stormed onto the course. He tried to physically remove her, shouting: “Get the hell out of my race and give me those numbers!” What followed was a chaotic altercation as Switzer’s friends rushed to her defense. Despite the commotion and the disruption to her race, Switzer’s determination kept her going until the finish line.
Switzer didn’t win her first marathon, but she didn’t stop there. She ran the Boston Marathon seven more times, and in the 1974 New York City Marathon, she not only won but finished 27 minutes ahead of the next woman.
3. Jeanne Baret: The First Woman To Circumnavigate The Globe
Not all stories end in triumph. Jeanne Baret’s tale, a groundbreaking moment in history where she disguised herself as a man to circumnavigate the globe, ends in a tragic and horrifying way.
In 1766, Jeanne Baret joined Louis Antoine de Bougainville’s round-the-world expedition as a botanist. Her partner, Philibert Commerson, had already been enlisted, and not wanting to be separated from him, Baret agreed to disguise herself as a young man and accompany him as his assistant.
Together, they sailed the world, identifying countless plants and making Baret the first woman to complete a global journey. A whole genus of plants they discovered was named in her honor—Baretia, chosen by Commerson, who believed that, like Baret, these flowers embodied contradiction.
Over time, the crew discovered Baret’s true gender. The long-standing story is that the native people of Tahiti recognized her and revealed it to the crew—but recently, historians have uncovered a darker version of events recorded in the journals of three men aboard the ship.
While near Papua New Guinea, three crew members who had learned Baret’s secret attacked her. They brutally beat and gang-raped her. Despite the law demanding their execution, the crew covered up the crime, allowing the men to go free. Left in agony, Baret carried a child conceived by one of her attackers.
Baret made history as the first woman to complete a journey around the globe, but for a woman of her time, achieving such a feat came at a tragic and painful price.
2. Trotula Of Salerno: The First Female Gynecologist
Trotula of Salerno is often credited as the world’s first gynecologist. In the 11th century, she was a prominent physician in Italy, holding the prestigious position of chair of medicine at the School of Salerno. Her groundbreaking books on healthcare introduced revolutionary ideas that would influence the field of medicine for centuries.
Unlike many women of her time, Trotula didn’t need to disguise herself as a man. Italy had begun accepting a small number of female doctors, and Trotula worked openly in her profession. However, when it came to publishing her works, some of her books were released under a male pseudonym, as society at the time was reluctant to accept medical texts written by women.
Trotula made significant contributions to women's health, introducing innovative ideas to support women through menstruation, conception, pregnancy, and childbirth. She was one of the first to suggest the use of painkillers during childbirth, a practice that was forbidden at the time. She also recognized that infertility could be attributed to men as well as women.
In her own time, Trotula earned considerable respect as a female physician, but over the centuries, people struggled to accept that a woman was capable of such accomplishments. During the Renaissance, copies of her medical writings were published under male pseudonyms, and even when she did not attempt to disguise herself as a man, others often did so on her behalf.
1. Saint Marina: The Monk Who Was Secretly a Woman and Became a Saint
After the death of her mother, Saint Marina’s father chose a monastic life, and Marina, with nowhere else to go, joined him. She disguised herself as a man, taking the name “Marinos,” and entered the monastery alongside him.
Over time, Marinos gained the respect of the other monks in the monastery. However, his reputation was soon destroyed when the daughter of a local innkeeper came forward, claiming she had been assaulted by Father Marinos and was now pregnant.
While Marina had no involvement in the pregnancy, she chose not to deny the accusation. She knew that if she revealed the truth, the baby would be left without a chance at a proper life. So, she pretended to be the father and took the child in as her own.
After being expelled from the monastery, Marina was left to fend for herself on the streets, begging for survival. Despite her circumstances, she cared for the child with unwavering devotion, and eventually, the monks welcomed her back into the monastery.
The child Marina raised went on to become a monk himself, and together, they lived in the monastery until Marina's death. It wasn't until her body was prepared for burial that anyone realized she was a woman, and thus, innocent of all the charges.
