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My Young Auntie (1981)
What happens when you mix a screwball comedy, a fish-out-of-water story, and a hysterically overpowered martial arts heroine? My Young Auntie, my favorite Shaw Brothers movie.
Executioners from Shaolin (1977)
Groins as strong as steel, kung fu stances that keep women's legs closed, androgynous martial arts masters -- this seminal action movie has a lot to say about the sexes, but not what you'd expect.
This month's sponsor: CELESTIAL PICTURES
For the next month, you'll be getting twice-weekly illustrations from RP. Half of those will be pioneering butt-kicking ladies of the early martial arts movies of the Shaw Brothers.
Come Drink With Me (1966)
One of the great early entries of martial arts cinema, this movie stars -- to the bafflement of its villains and possibly its audience -- one of the most legendary female kung fu stars of all time in her breakout role.
The 14 Amazons (1972)
When virtually all their family's male heirs were wiped out, the 14 widows of the Yang clan did not mourn. They did not hide. They got revenge.
Random Princesses
Viśpálā
The first prosthetic limb in human civilization went to this ancient warrior queen. Or did it? The story is more complex than you might think.
Tin Hinan
The greatest leader of the nomadic Tuareg tribe of northern Africa, who put their men in veils and let their…
Sacajawea
One of the most famous women in American history, this hyper-capable Shoshone woman walked across America with a baby strapped to her back, in order to map it.
Mekatilili wa Menza
When colonial powers went too far, she rebelled in the most stylish way possible: dancing from town to town. It was surprisingly effective.
Eréndira
When horse-riding Spaniards invaded, she defied her tribe to befriend one of the abandoned horses, using her new bond to fight off the Spanish.
Li Chi
When a monster demanded teenage girl sacrifice, Li Chi saved herself, and was crowned princess for her troubles.
Grace O'Malley
Irish pirate queen who led decades of rebellions against England, met face-to-face with Elizabeth I, and got official license to…
Calafia
Black, Muslim warrior queen of a tribe of griffin-riding Amazons - and the honest-to-god namesake of California.
Toregene Khatun
Although her tribe was destroyed and she was forced into an unwanted marriage, this indomitable woman came to run the world's largest empire - with a woman as her companion.
Vitka Kempner
Spy, smuggler, saboteur, partisan: this Jewish woman refused to go like a lamb to the slaughter, and fought the Nazis tooth and nail... even after the war, when she, alongside others, poisoned thousands of Nazi POWs in a revenge plot.