Jane Yolen - Bad Girls. Sirens, Jezebels, Murderesses, and Other Female Villains

BAD GIRLS

SIRENS, JEZEBELS ,
MURDERESSES, THIEVES
& OTHER FEMALE VILLAINS

JANE YOLEN
HEIDI E. Y. STEMPLE

ILLUSTRATED BY

REBECCA GUAY

TO THE STEMPLE BAD GIRLS, YOUNG AND OLP, ESPECIALLY MADDI AND GLENNY.

AND FOR JUDY OMALLEYTHE BADDEST AND THE BEST

H. E. Y. S. AND J. Y.

FOR MY SWEET, FUNNY, QUIRKY, CREATIVE BAD GIRL, VIVIAN

R. G.

Text copyright 2013 by Jane Yolen and Heidi E. Y. Stemple
Illustrations copyright 2013 by Rebecca Guay
All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. Charlesbridge and colophon are registered trademarks of Charlesbridge Publishing, Inc.

Published by Charlesbridge
85 Main Street
Watertown, MA 02472
(617) 926-0329
www.charlesbridge.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Yolen, Jane.
Bad girls: sirens, Jezebels, murderesses, thieves, and other female villains / Jane Yolen and Heidi E. Y. Stemple; illustrated by Rebecca Guay.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-60734-538-1 (ebook)
ISBN 978-1-60734-585-5 (ebook pdf)
1. Female offendersBiographyJuvenile literature. 2. Femmes fatales
BiographyJuvenile literature. 3. Women murderersBiographyJuvenile literature.
I. Stemple, Heidi E. Y. II.Title.
CT3203.Y65 2012
364.3740922dc23
[B] 2012000783

Printed in China

Illustrations done in ink and brush on Bristol paper with digital color
Display type set in Populaire and text type set in Fairfield
Printed September 2012 by 1010 Printing International Limited in Huizhou,
Guangdong, China
Production supervision by Brian G. Walker
Designed by Susan Mallory Sherman

WHEN IM GOOD, IM VERY GOOD. BUT WHEN IM BAD, IM BETTER.

Mae West in Im No Angel

THERE ARE MORE BAD GIRLS in history than we can count: murderesses, drunkards, torturers, batterers, fences, slatterns, liars, layabouts, and total louts, as well as wicked mothers, grandmothers, and stepmothers. The list is endless, even though females are supposedly the gentler sex.

Often, though, a tough girl, an outspoken girlan active, smart, forward-looking girlis mistaken for a bad one. A strong leader is considered a wrong leader when that leader is female.

In this book we are taking a look back through history at all manner of famous female felons. Were looking at the baddest of the bad, as well as those who may have been just misunderstood. The crimes in question happened hundreds, even thousands, of years agoand some of them may have never happened at all. Our bad girls are a mixed bag. Some committed criminal acts, some morally wrong acts. Some acts are, perhaps, less criminal than justifiable, brave, or even committed in self-defense. We cannot compare badness by counting bodies. After all, do three hundred Protestants burned at the stake by Queen Mary outweigh the two that Lizzie Borden was accused (though acquitted) of killing? Nor can we compare badness by measuring crimesPearl Harts stagecoach robbery might seem tame in comparison to Salomes hand in a great prophets execution. Each bad girl can only be judged standing on her own.

Everyone is entitled to her own opinion, and you will see ours. We certainly dont always agree with each other, and we dont expect you to agree with us either. Every crimeno matter how heinouscomes with its own set of circumstances, aggravating and mitigating, which can tip the scales of guilt. And views change. The line between right and wrong, criminal and hero, good girl and bad, is sometimes very thin. Though some actsand some girlswill always be bad through and through.

THE STRONGER A MAN, the harder he falls. Delilah was counting on it.

When Samson was born, his mother was so happy to have a baby that she promised an angel she would raise him as a Nazarite. Nazarites were people consecrated to God who never cut their hair. In exchange, the angel promised that Samson would have extraordinary powers and help deliver the Israelites from the hands of the Philistines who ruled them.

As Samson grew up and grew hair, he became as strong as the angel had promised. In one battle he single-handedly killed over a thousand Philistines using just the jawbone of a dead donkey. It was an astonishing feat. For the man and for the donkey.

Next Samson ripped the gate of Gaza from the ground and carried it on his shoulders while the Philistines fled. Samson led the Israelites for twenty years. He was the man.

Now the Philistines wanted Samson dead, but no man had the courage to face him. So of course they sent a woman to do the job.

That woman was Delilah. It is not known if she was a Philistine herself, but she was certainly in their pay. She was promised eleven hundred pieces of silver from each of the five Philistine chiefs to discover the source of Samsons strength.

Delilah was young, beautiful, smartand sly. She put herself in Samsons way, and he fell for her. Hard. One day Delilah smiled her sexy smile, batted her sexy eyelashes, and said to Samson, You are so strong. What makes you that way?

Since he had promised his mother never to tell his secret, Samson lied. Bind me with seven green bowstrings that have never been dried, and I will be as weak as any man.

While he slept, Delilah bound Samson with seven fresh bowstrings. Then she cried out, Wake up, Samson, my love, the Philistines are here! He woke, and snapped the bowstrings as if they were straw. So she knew hed lied.

Delilah pouted. She wanted those pieces of silver. So she tried again. She smiled her sexy smile. She batted her sexy eyelashes. And Samson told her he could be weakened if bound with new ropes that had never been used. When he fell asleep, Delilah bound him again. He broke the ropes easily, too.

Delilah sulked. She swore Samsons lies were proof he didnt love her. But once again he lied, and once again she tried to weaken him while he slept. It didnt work.

After that, she would not stop nagging. Day and night Delilah complained. Night and day she whined. Until at last she threatened to leave if he lied to her again. So this time Samson told her the truth. It was his hair. Cut his hair, and he would be weak and wobbly and worthless. He would be wimpy and wilted and worn.

Delilah knew the truth when she heard it. When Samson fell back asleep, she had a servant come in and cut his hair and shave his beard. Then she called for the Philistines to bind Samson. He was caught. Delilah took her silver coins and left quickly.