Shan Yu finds out, at the very end, that Mulan is a woman, and does not seem shocked by it. Instead, Mulan is just the soldier that defeated his army in the mountains, a worthy foe for him to chase and try to kill. He could easily have expressed shock at the fact that it was A WOMAN who killed his army, but he declines to do so.

I think the writers of Mulan were aware that the infantilization of women is a disease of settled, rich societies. While no women are seen among the Hun army that marches on a poorly disguised Chang'an, surely the Huns must be familiar with the idea of women playing important roles in war and politics. Shan Yu's rise to power may well have been assisted by an astute and brave wife, much as Genghis Khan's rise a thousand years later would be.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3925291&forum_id=2#35658492)

men were warriors and hunters and they sometimes had many wives. women prepared food, made clothing and took care of kids and shit. women were still inferior to men as "full participants"

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3925291&forum_id=2#35661004)

(of course then roman SHREWS started dying their hair blonde and talking about muh barbarian women's lib

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3925291&forum_id=2#35660273)