Women in History: Mulan

We’ve been thrilled with the suggestions we’ve had come in for our time machine postie eco tampon pack! Some of the suggestions have been really creative, you people sure know your history. We thought we’d share a couple of them here with you. Keep your thoughts coming as you let your time travelling imagination roam! Today our time travelling postie is heading to China.

Modern depictions of Mulan gloss over a lot of details that Mulan must have faced in her time in the army. Like going to the toilet, did she just pretend to stand by a tree sometimes to fit in? And of course the difficulties with changing her menstrual rags were not included in any movie, which leaves us to wonder just what she did to stay hidden from those around her. It would not have been easy for her in the ditches to remove, clean, change and dress herself quickly during her period. And what was her excuse exactly for needing to go to the bathroom frequently?

If technology was more advanced back then, she would’ve loved the idea of a disposable and biodegradable tampon. She could’ve changed and disposed of them so quickly, discreetly and environmentally safely. They would’ve been much less obvious than the rags she would've been using.

In battle she probably never thought twice about getting blood on her trousers, who has time when you are protecting your head from being sliced off? But I’m sure for her training, socializing and resting times her period would have been a cause for stress. Perhaps Mulan trained so hard she skipped her periods but gained a six pack, making her disguise all the more convincing! Of course the Mulan movies are wrapped up nicely in a short time frame but the traditional story of Hua Mulan took place over twelve years!! Her time in the army was over a decade long and yet her fellow warriors had no idea she was a woman until the war was declared over and she returned to her traditional dress. Clever stuff!

There is incredible bravery in her act, not just to go to battle to save her father, but also to delve into an unknown environment, surround herself with utterly unfamiliar things and talk and know in herself she can hold level ground in a climate where women were considered in every way inferior. Would Mulan’s bravery extend to using tampons? This is an interesting test for our time travelling tampon postie! In modern day China, only 2% of women use tampons.

Had the young warrior been introduced to tampons back then, could she have encouraged China’s women to do the same?  Would she have been the leading example of how comfortable tampons were, allowing her freedom to use her full strength and flexibility?

Did we mention that it’s also completely clean and safe to use before marriage? Let’s leave it to our trusted postie to offer her the product and our brave warrior to make her choice.

What Disney’s Mulan captures is how little was thought of women’s skills and ability outside childbirth. Thank you, Mulan, for kicking some butt and showing up as a strong, glittering jewel rather than a soft flower, like your name, Magnolia, requests of you.

Where do you think our time travelling postie should travel next?

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