Aquatabs Celebrates Women’s History Month: Historic Female Adventurers

By: Jessica Miller

History is not recorded objectively. Rather, it is dictated by social standards and circumstances. Although these social standards are constantly moving and shifting as time marches forward, there seems to be a common thread that strings historical studies, societies, and cultures together. This common thread is the watered-down truth of women’s history. Despite the fact that women, as a group of people, have a rich and vibrant history, this history has very often been overshadowed in favor of men’s history, which is often seen as the default in historical fields. 

A major example of one of these historical fields would be in the history of explorers and adventurers. A disproportionate amount of well-known household names in exploration are men, such as Christopher Columbus, Sir Walter Raleigh, and Lewis and Clarke. This is due to the fact that exploration and adventure was considered for a majority of modern recorded history to be a masculine concept, a precursor to the other very masculine concepts of conquest and colonization, when that need not be the case. 

This Women’s History Month, Aquatabs would like to shine a spotlight on a few select women that have been glossed over in our history books and that have paved the way for women in exploration and adventure today!

Gertrude Bell, “Daughter of the Desert”

Gertrude Bell (1868-1926), fondly remembered as the “Daughter of the Desert” due to her exploits in the Middle East and Arabia, was an English Victorian explorer who rose to prominence in the early 1900s. She was a particularly single-minded and free-spirited woman, especially in her day when women were not allotted the social status to be single-minded or free-spirited. 

Not only was she an explorer who spent most of her time traversing the deserts of the equatorial line, but she was also a reporter and archeologist. She was an accomplished journalist in the areas that she visited, reporting on events such as the creation of the country of Iraq and the Armenian Genocide. She was also increasingly important in political affairs in countries that England had prominence in. For example, she was invited to the 1921 Cairo Conference in which the British and Ottoman Empires debated over who would claim ownership over Syria. 

All of her life’s work culminated in the creation of the Baghdad Archeological Museum; a museum created with the purpose of displaying the artifacts Bell and her associates found in the Middle East while also keeping those artifacts in the Middle East with the cultures that created them in 1926. These days, the Baghdad Archeological Museum is formally known as the National Museum of Iraq and holds significant cultural artifacts that date back 10,000 years.

Fanny Bullock Workman, “Explorer-Suffragette”

Fanny Bullock Workman (1859-1925) was an American cartographer, geographer, mountaineer, and author in the early 20th century. Not only was she well-versed in exploration and adventure throughout the globe, being the first woman to climb the Himalayas, but she was also incredibly prevalent in the American Women’s Suffrage movement. She made strides in how women were perceived: what they could do, how they could do it, and breaking the bounds of female stereotypes.

Workman had started mountaineering with her husband in the early 1880s and joined many hiking and climbing groups in New England. By 1886, it was reported that more women were present in these clubs than men. Workman and her husband were the first Westerners to climb through the Himalayas and reach all seven peaks where Workman was the first woman to climb the Himalayas. When she reached the highest peak, she was famously photographed with a “Votes for Women” placard.

Workman made her life’s work not only from famously climbing where no woman had dared climb before, but also by writing her experiences down in prose. Workman and her husband jointly published the book Through Town and Jungle, a narrative account of their trips throughout Southeast Asia, including photographs of their adventures. All of these achievements led to her being the first woman to be inducted as a Fellow into the Royal Geographical Society, where she is still revered today.

Junko Tabei, “Do not give up. Keep on your quest.”

Not all notable historic female adventurers are ancient. There are plenty of women from the past century who have achieved even greater heights! This is meant metaphorically and physically in the case of Junko Tabei. Junko Tabei (1939-2016) was a Japanese adventurer who dedicated her life to the art of mountaineering after the age of 40, realizing that she wanted to spend her life doing what she loved.

Tabei spent her entire life mountaineering as a hobby; she was extremely invested and passionate about what she did, which led her to be the first woman to climb Mount Everest, reaching all Seven Summits across multiple countries in 1975. However, it was no easy feat. Tabei was accompanied by 14 other women on the treacherous climb up the mountain, not only because these other women wanted to climb the mountain themselves, but also for safety’s sake for the climb up the Seven Summits is extremely precarious. Tabei herself became entrenched underneath the snow at one point and had to take a two-day recovery period before being able to lead her group to the summit of Mount Everest. This is where Tabei became the first woman to reach the peak of Mount Everest, as she was the only woman from her group to traverse up to the very top of the mountain.

Tabei’s interest in mountaineering does not only stem from a place of loving adventure and exploration of the natural world. It also comes from a deep need to subvert traditional, conservative views of women. Tabei wanted to exist beyond that social status; she wanted to be seen and represent Japanese women who were more than what society had deemed them as. Tabei dedicated herself to ecological and social justice after climbing Mount Everest by organizing fundraisers, classes, and climbing expeditions for those in need up until her death in 2016, where she leaves us her famously inspiring quote, “Do not give up. Keep on your quest.”

Aquatabs: Drinking Water Anytime, Anywhere

The historical feats that these women have accomplished are extremely impressive, not only for the accomplishment itself, but because the journey to those accomplishments were extremely dangerous and precarious. Many people have died trying to accomplish what these women have and that fact, while it can be chalked up to bad luck, can also be attributed to not being prepared.

Being prepared when going out mountaineering, exploring the seven seas, and distant lands is paramount to personal safety, and the most important eventuality to be prepared for is the probability of not having fresh drinking water. Business Connect is dedicated to the goal of bringing clear drinking water to new and seasoned adventurers and explorers alike at affordable prices. Aquatabs is a product that fills this niche.

Aquatabs are small tablets that can be administered into any water source and transform that water into fresh drinking water in a short amount of time. Aquatabs come in a variety of sizes, ranging from the 49mg, preferable for a shorter adventure, to the 397mg packs, which are preferable for a longer trip. The tablets also come in different size packs, ranging from 10x packs to 100x packs based on your need as an adventurer.

Beyond Women’s History Month

History is an incredibly biased study. The stories most often told include those who had the most social power. Women have traditionally not been a part of that social standing, leading to them being omitted or glossed over in history.

Women in history are not passive beings and contain the same complexity and multitudes as their male counterparts. This Women’s History Month, and every month, we at Aquatabs would like to shed light on the historical women who paved the way for the explorers and adventures of today. Next time you find yourself in nature, take a moment to breathe in, slow down, and notice how freeing our natural world is, the inspiration that comes from its lack of bias, and the opportunity that it provides for change!

To find out ways that you can start your outdoor adventures, you can visit the Aquatabs website, as well as our shop to find products geared toward exploration and adventure! Start your journey to become the next great female adventurer today!