Tampon Boy
A story about taboo, bias and love during the 2000s.
It all started with…
… a 10-year-old Chinese boy, Po, who doesn’t know what a tampon is. One day, he comes across his mother’s tampon and discovers it’s actually a magic wand that can make things disappear. Po falsely believes the magic is from himself and tries to find the best way to wield his power without knowing what chaos it can cause by revealing tampon power to the world.
Why do tampons have magic?
Magic power in this universe manifests through the power of speech.
The items/religious objects that people openly worship, like crosses, peach wood swords, holy grails, etc. have the power of Yang, which means these magic items manifest in clear public miracles.
The items that people ignore or even have disgust for (while these items may have been worshiped in some secret moment of history) have taboo magic. These items manifest their power strongly and directly, but there are seldom situations where people realize the miracles that occur around the items are related to them.
In the first chapter,
Po travels with his father, Edgar, to what’s supposed to be a beautiful a foreign island, Edgar tells him that the ocean will be blue, but it is dark and gray. Po is upset until he meets a new friend, Tetsuko, who suffers from domestic violence. Together, they found the tampon magic and their turbulent adventure began here.
Finding a Personal Voice within the Family Oriented Society
Besides deconstructing taboos around female hygiene products, Tampon Boy is a narrative that delves into the vast changes in Asian family structures during China’s era of industrialization and urbanization, and the conflict between non-traditional families and society, highlighting the self-regulation and coping mechanisms of children from different family like Po and Tetsuko who find themselves caught between traditional and new cultural norms during the 2000s in Asia.
Po’s Family
Po
Po is the protagonist of Tampon Boy. He is quite observant for a kid at his age. However, his father Edgar will always find a way to make Po lose control.
Po had a strong sense of right and wrong and always strived to make things right. In the first chapter, Po was determined to keep his promise to his best friend Qiang—to give him a photo of a blue ocean with a palm tree.
Edgar
Po’s father. Edgar yearns for material success and will do anything for Po except respect his personal boundaries.
Job: Travel Agent
Po’s Mama
Mystery woman, she is the “female version of Mr.Bean,” according to Edgar’s description.
Tetsuko’s Family
Tetsuko
Tetsuko is the secondary hero, who lives on a volcanic island. As the daughter of a local guest house owner, her father wanted a son, but got her instead. Tetsuko is a panda maniac, she sees Po as a little monkey who has a panda on his camera.
Job: student.
Tetsuko’s Mama
Gentle. She has a small bicycle with a children’s safety seat that Tetsuko no longer fits in.
Job: Full-time housewife and manager of the guest house that Tetsuko’s family owns.
Tetsuko’s Father
Always drunk, frequently violent
Job: Fisherman, also a guest house owner
