Bad Girls Throughout History
- 1/13
Joan Jett
The punk-rock star has given a voice to the struggles of the American middle class through her hard-rock jams with Joan Jett and the Blackhearts. She has produced eight albums that have been certified platinum and gold.
Michael Ochs Archives/Getty - 2/13
Dita Von Teese
The queen of burlesque helped make sex an art form. The 37-year-old model adds a 1940s and '50s glamour to the job.
Carlos Alvarez/Getty - 3/13
Bonnie Parker
The ultimate bad-girl bandit became infamous for being part of the 1930s outlaw duo Bonnie and Clyde. Heard of 'em?
Hulton Archive/Getty - 4/13
Elizabeth Taylor
Aside from building a legendary career as an actress in Hollywood, she has also built a reputation for being a man-eater. She's been through eight husbands in her 78 years.
Hulton Archive/Getty - 5/13
Gia Carangi
The bad-girl supermodel lived a fast and short life, dying at the age of 26 from AIDS in 1986. Carangi was a Studio 54 regular in the 1970s, but things started to go south for the party girl when she developed a heroin addiction. Her life story was chronicled in the 1998 film Gia by none other than fellow bad gal Angelina Jolie.
Andrea Blanch/Getty - 6/13
Nancy Friday
The author's seminal work, My Secret Garden, established — despite popular belief at the time — that, yes, women do have sexual fantasies. Shocker.
Michael Ochs Archives/Getty - 7/13
Angelina Jolie
The A-list actress may have rebranded herself as a mother-of-all-children, UN-goodwill-ambassador type, but her past is undeniable. The 35-year-old snagged heartthrob Brad Pitt from America's sweetheart, Jennifer Aniston, and has played several tough gal protagonists, like Lara Croft in Tomb Raider and an assassin in Mr. and Mrs. Smith. She also, um, made out with her brother and carried a vial of Billy Bob Thornton's blood around her neck. You know, the usual.
Carlo Allegri/Getty - 8/13
Mae West
Although she is most famous for being a 1930s Hollywood sex symbol, she got a bad-girl start in her hometown of New York City. The actress and playwright was prosecuted on moral charges for a play she wrote, titled Sex. West was then sentenced to 10 days in jail for "corrupting the morals of youth." Oh, Mae!
John Kobal Foundation/Getty - 9/13
Pam Grier
The actress gave people plenty to talk about in the 1970s, when she starred in a string of films about women in prison and "blaxploitation" films such as Foxy Brown.
Michael Ochs Archives/Getty - 10/13
Mary Quant
Inventor of the miniskirt, the British fashion designer proved that there were no lengths too short for women's clothing.
Mike Prior/Getty - 11/13
Sally Bowles
The fictional character from the 1972 musical film Cabaret has taken on a life of her own. Played by Liza Minnelli (a bad girl in her own right), Bowles broaches a highly controversial subject in the production: abortion.
Silver Screen Collection/Getty - 12/13
Tallulah Bankhead
Southern belle turned bad girl, the actress was just as famous for her risqué Hollywood roles as her Hollywood romances. Rumors about her sex life included names like Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, and Billie Holiday, among others.
John Kobal Foundation/Getty Images - 13/13
Cleopatra
She not only ruled ancient Egypt, but she also conquered several of the world's most powerful men, including Julius Caesar and one of his successors, Mark Antony. Her legacy as a supreme seductress lives on in Western culture. Case in point: Elizabeth Taylor — a seductress in her own right — portrayed the queen in all her headdress glory.
Hulton Archive/Getty