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Julie D’Aubigny was a 17th-century bisexual French opera singer and fencing master who killed or wounded at least ten men in life-or-death duels, performed nightly shows on the biggest and most highly-respected opera stage in the world, and once took the Holy Orders just so that she could sneak into a convent and shag a nun.

(via Feminism)

bisexual opera singer who killed ten men and snuck into a convent to shag a nun.

Just so y’all know, she later set that convent on fire so she and that nun could sneak out. And she seduced one of the men she’d dueled.

Since we regularly have people who are confused about how a woman might be both sexually liberal and a badass warrior without having battle lingerie, it seems to be worthwhile to point out an often overlooked but truly amazing historical example of one.

Her general preference was for men’s clothing, because she had learned early to ride, fence, etc but she  dressed up when attending court or society balls:

She lived fast and died young, and developed a reputation for torrid affairs, winning fatal duels and beating up people who displeased her – including famous singers who badgered women in her troupe.

And she did it all centuries before the lingerie industry as we know it was even conceptualized.

– wincenworks