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The story of Valentina Ramírez Avitia (1893-1979) has been told and retold in ways that reveal more about contemporary desires for revolutionary heroines than about the actual experiences of women who fought in the Mexican Revolution. Known as “La Valentina” and more recently as “the Mexican Mulan,” Ramírez has been commemorated in corridos, films, and even a popular hot sauce brand. Yet the romanticized narratives that celebrate her brief military service obscure a far more troubling story: that of a woman who served her country for five months, was summarily dismissed when her gender was discovered, and spent the remaining…