Status and Gender in Mulan
“Status is central to all complex mammal societies, humanity included.” Using Edward O’Wilson’s definition of status, I analyzed the Disney movie Mulan. Status and society control what is believed to be acceptable behavior, physiques and occupations of males and females. In Mulan, the protagonist portrays a woman in a role which exemplifies a nonconformist to these conventional standards. In order to maintain status, both in her family and in society, Mulan embarks on a journey of self-discovery based on altruistic intentions. Gender biases dictate everyday behavior and aspirations. These standards, known as gender roles, are society’s way to affix certain traits and mentalities to males and females. Society has
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In Chinese culture, the main purpose of women was to marry and bear many sons- a quintessential Chinese wife. In an attempt to fulfill this expectation, Mulan goes into town, where her mother and grandmother transform her appearance into what is seen as a beautiful potential bride. In order to bring honor to her family and gain status with her parents, she must be judged as a worthy bride by the matchmaker. We begin to witness the development of Mulan’s altruistic intentions. In the lyrics of the song during this part of the movie, “Honor to Us All,” (Mulan 6:28) the line, “Ancestors hear my plea, help me not to make a fool of me, and to not uproot my family tree, keep my father standing …show more content…
Society portrays army men as perfectly fit models, whereas in Mulan we see the lanky, chubby, and diminutive Ling, Chien-Po and Yao who seek status within the armed ranks. O’Wilson describes this phenomena when he says, “In traditional societies the fitness of individuals is...correlated with status” (Wilson 146). The three soldiers do not fit the picturesque physique a soldier should possess and are therefore overlooked as being useful in battle. Mulan befriends this rag-tag group of three because they are all commonly seen as the underdogs of their troop. Motivated by the desire to attain status within the army, Mulan and her three colleagues work together to devise a plan to defeat the advancing Hun army and save
The initiation begins with the road of trials for Mulan. Mulan encounters the road of trials when Captain Li-Shang’s troops realize they are the only ones that can save their country; consequently, the troops follow the Huns to save their livelihood. Mulan is found vulnerable during this time, but she prevails and finds her inner warrior. The road of trials makes her become determined to fight to save her homeland. Moreover, Mulan goes through the stage of meeting her soul mate, Li-shang, when he discovers that his father is dead. Mulan’s feelings for Li-Shang encourage her to move forward in her journey. It makes Mulan fight even harder to get rid of her enemies. Additionally, Mulan enters a god-like state. This occurs in Mulan when the Emperor and the entire citizens of the country bow to Mulan. Finally, Mulan becomes self-assured that she truly is a hero after recognizing how special she is when she receives the sword of Shan-Yu and the crest of the Emperor after she saves his
In her call to adventure, Mulan can not help but try her best to protect her dad and his honor. When the news about the war is announced, and how every family must send their most fit boy to serve, Mulan calls out against the
Mulan, being the only woman in the army, comes across many tests that she has to pass to keep her secret. She overcomes the insecurities of thinking that she will never amount to what her family wants of her. The movie “Mulan” follows the basic hero’s journey. None of the steps are missed and everything is pretty clearly laid out.
The Disney movie, Mulan, is a fantastic movie that depicts gender-stereotyped roles, socialization of gender roles, and consequences of over stepping one’s gender role. Both males and females have a specific role in the Chinese society that one must follow. Mulan made a brave choice pretending to be a man and going to war against the Huns in place of her father, risking serious consequences if she were to get caught. She broke the socialization of gender roles and could have been faced with very serious consequences of her actions. The Chinese society in Mulan exemplifies the typical gender roles of males and females, the consequences of displaying the opposite gender role, and showed what the society expected in males and females in characteristics and attitudes.
...nist ideas. They suggest that women are good for only household chores and that they are not very intelligent. In fact, Mulan herself refutes these stereotypes through her quick thinking and advanced battle techniques, yet they still insist on carrying though.
In Walt Disney Pictures’ Mulan, Disney attempts to retell the story of Chinese heroine, Hua Mulan, who is described in the Chinese poem, The Ballad of Mulan .The legend begins by telling the story an old man, who has no elder sons, who has been called up to fight in the Chinese army. Knowing that her father will likely face death, Mulan concedes to fight in his place and pretend to be a man, unbeknownest to her fellow soldiers. The movie builds off this premise as we are told the fictional account of Mulan’s life from before she took her father’s place to after.
Set in the Northern Wei dynasty of China, the gender roles of China were simple as depicted through song in Mulan. “We all must serve our Emperor… a man by bearing arms, a girl by bearing sons.” Mulan’s one and only role in life is to marry a man, who she is deemed fit for and to bear many sons and tend to the home. She is to live a life of homely domesticity. This is perhaps one of the most obvious motifs that don’t shine a nice pretty light on Mulan. Mulan has to go to a beauty salon in order to meet the matchmaker and “bring honor” to her family. At the salon, Mulan is mercilessly soaked in a freezing bath, has her hair tied up neatly, her waist laced up, and is overloaded with excessive make-up and jewels. The potential brides, Mulan included, are thus made to look like “cultured pearls, each a perfect porcelain doll.” According to the beauty specialists, “A girl can bring her family great honor in one way, by striking a good match.” They preach that “Men want girls with good taste, calm, obedient, who work fast-paced, with good breeding and a tiny waist.” This demonstrates heg...
Suggested roles of all types set the stage for how human beings perceive their life should be. Gender roles are one of the most dangerous roles that society faces today. With all of the controversy applied to male vs. female dominance in households, and in the workplace, there seems to be an argument either way. In the essay, “Men as Success Objects”, the author Warren Farrell explains this threat of society as a whole. Farrell explains the difference of men and women growing up and how they believe their role in society to be. He justifies that it doesn’t just appear in marriage, but in the earliest stages of life. Similarly, in the essay “Roles of Sexes”, real life applications are explored in two different novels. The synthesis between these two essays proves how prevalent roles are in even the smallest part of a concept and how it is relatively an inevitable subject.
Gender stereotypes are common in the United States today, even though many men and women have been working hard to defeat it. The task is made difficult however, when society in general implants the idea of gender roles into the mind of a child. Two authors, Judy Mann of The Difference and Bernard Lefkowitz of Our Guys face the issue of gender roles and stereotypes, and how they affect our lives today.
Not being able to fight for her country as a girl, she decides to make herself look like a boy in order to go and fight in the place of her dad, as her dads “son”. Mulan goes out and shows that it doesn't matter what gender, everyone can accomplish what they want to accomplish. If there is something that someone has the mind set on doing, they should do it. Everyone has to sh...
As The Legend of Hua Mulan depicts a girl going to war in place of her father, the Disney Mulan introduces Mulan as a disappointment to the parents, and she therefore tries to prove herself; this makes Disney’s Mulan slightly weaker in her personality. As seen in the Disney’s Mulan, the character of Mulan is shown as one who is outspoken and forward thinking. The viewers are therefore able to tell she does not have a clue of how to present herself in medieval Chinese society. On the contrary, The Legend of Hua Mulan is skilled at martial arts and sword fighting; she has a manlier character. Since Mulan is seen as a disappointment to her parents, she tries to redeem herself by taking part in the war. Having never left the village before, Mulan has no idea of combat and how weapons work. This means that Mulan has less knowledge of fighting, and she is not going to war to help her society. Wei Mulan has the “smarts” and skills to fight in combat. All of her training in martial arts, sword fighting, and archery give her the skills she needs to do well in combat. She is going to war as a “filial duty.” In addition, as both texts have to present Mula...
The symbolic interactionism is a theory concerned with the ability of humans to see themselves through the eyes of others and to enact social roles based on others’ expectations. In the film, Mulan’s abilities as a woman were not be accepted and recognized before she joined the army. For example, at that time, she was defined as a weak woman and helpless daughter. Although she worried about her old father, no one thought that she could help her father, and no one respected her thoughts. Her label made her only needs to obey and wait the results of war. However, when she came home after the war ends, her label also changed. This is because she met other’ expectations and played men’s role successfully. She mastered more capability like fighting a battle. Her label also became a hero and her family guardian. From the beginning to the end of the film, Mulan’s identity and label changed a lot because of her changing
She pretends to be a male and fights for her country. When her fellow soldiers find out she is a female, she is kicked out of the military and said to have disgraced her family. The ballad is completely opposite from this story. In the ballad Mulan makes her way through the ranks in the military. When she made it home her family was excited and supported her.
The classic Disney movie, Mulan, is often praised as a film involving feminist empowerment, but upon closer look just the opposite appears to be true. The classic storyline includes Mulan, a young Chinese woman, taking over her fragile father’s place in the Chinese army, disguised as a man named Ping. She trains among the other soldiers, becoming one of the very best with her accompanying guardian dragon, Mushu and a cricket her grandmother gave her for luck for the matchmakers by her side. She ends up saving all of China by revealing that the Huns are back and invading the country, and is honored as a hero. This movie breaks away from the typical damsel in distress princess story by having a single woman save all of China. However, on Mulan’s journey she faced extreme female shaming, and experienced stereotypes attempting to belittle her; all
Mulan reinforces the traditional ideas of masculinity in the song, “I’ll Make a Man Out of You” (Mulan 1998). The lyrics, “Let’s get down to business, to defeat the Huns. Did they send me daughters, when I asked for sons?”(Mulan, 1998) portrays the traditional gender roles of men; it claims that male is the only sex that is able to fight. The goal of this scene is to “make a man” out of the new recruits. The movie Mulan asserts that being feminine is detrimental to the war effort. Instead, the docile, feminine recruits have to be transformed into men. This song in Mulan argues that one should strive towards being a "man";