Zing Tsjeng on pirate queens, resistance heroines, and history's forgotten women

This article has been published to coincide with an episode of Mashable's new podcast, History Becomes Her. Listen here.

Women account for around half of the world’s population. But they only occupy around 0.5 percent of recorded history.

Zing Tsjeng is the author of the Forgotten Women book series, four books which aim to address the erasure of women from recorded history. These four books provide fascinating biographies of the leaders, scientists, artists, and writers who are notably absent from our history books.

For those of us who grew up learning a lot about Henry VIII, Oliver Cromwell, Christopher Columbus, and Abraham Lincoln, you might have wondered what women were getting up to during this time. They were very busy, it turns out.

You can listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Acast, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Author and journalist Zing Tsjeng. Credit: christopher bethell

In this episode of History Becomes Her, we learn about some of the fascinating women who changed the course of history but didn’t get a mention in the books we read at school. You'll learn about U.S.-based peace activist Concepción Picciotto, Chinese pirate leader Ching Shih, and the Mirabal Sisters, who opposed the dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo in the Dominican Republic. You'll hear the story of Mary Ann McCracken, a Belfast-born social reformer who championed female equality and campaigned against slavery.

Tsjeng also pays tribute to her grandmother, Julie Wong, who smuggled food to British prisoners of war during the occupation of Hong Kong while raising seven children. "You can be a hero in a very quiet, private way," Tsjeng said of her grandmother. "You don't need to talk about it, you don't need to brag about it. But people still remember you. It's about everyday heroism."

Tsjeng also discuss the role racism, classism, and sexism all intersect to erase women of colour and working class women from history. "Honestly I think women of colour have been erased so much from the historical narrative," said Tsjeng in the interview.

Subscribe to History Becomes Her on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Acast, or wherever you get your podcasts.