Bullfighter in the context of Tauromachy

Bullfighting is a physical contest that involves a bullfighter attempting to subdue, immobilize, or kill a bull, usually according to a set of rules, guidelines, or cultural expectations.

There are several variations, including some forms which involve dancing around or leaping over a cow or bull or attempting to grasp an object tied to the animal's horns. The best-known form of bullfighting is Spanish-style bullfighting, practiced in Spain, and a few of its former American colonies, as well as parts of the Philippines, Portugal (see: Portuguese-style bullfighting) and Southern France. The Spanish Fighting Bull is bred for its aggression and physique, and is raised free-range with little human contact.

This is a list of female bullfighters who are notably participating, or have in the past participated, in bullfighting. Women in bullfighting has been traced to the sport's earliest renditions in Spain, namely during the late-1700s and early-1800s. Spanish painter Francisco Goya first depicted a female bullfighter in his etching work La Pajuelera, which featured a woman sparring with a bull on horseback in 1816. During the Spanish Civil War of the 1930s, women were forced to exile in other Spanish-speaking countries and the United States in order to continue bullfighting. In Spain – along with many countries in Latin America and Asia – women were banned from the sport. They were banned from bullfighting in Spain until 1974, and in Japan until 2018.

Women had difficulty completing their alternativa, a ceremony where a bullfighter becomes a matador, during the 1980s due to the social pressures of the decade. Spanish bullfighter Cristina Sánchez was the first woman matador in Europe, gaining full status in 1996.

The Toreador Song, also known as the Toreador March or March of the Toreadors, is the popular name for the 1875 aria "Votre toast, je peux vous le rendre" ("I return your toast to you"), from the French opera Carmen, composed by Georges Bizet to a libretto by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy. It is sung by the bullfighter (French: toréador) Escamillo as he enters in act 2 and describes various situations in the bullring, the cheering of the crowds and the fame that comes with victory. The refrain, "Toréador, en garde", forms the middle part of the prelude to act 1 of Carmen.