Mulan Gender Roles

Within today’s society, the issue of equal rights and equal treatment of others is a heavily focused on topic. However, with time and effort by civil rights, the rift among gender and race have diminished compared to decades ago. This change in belief, from white male supremacy to diverse equality, was a turning point for the world. Decades ago women’s rights did not exist, they were not allowed to vote and were to become housewives while the husband worked to support the family. Within the last few decades, civil rights groups contributed their efforts to reduce both gender and racial stereotypes of both men and women. However, in current media there are influences in which viewers are reintroduced to stereotypes that are still being fought

According Xie, a man’s role is to lead and resolve conflicts within his family, for “the traditional Chinese family has long been characterized as patriarchal, patrimonial, patrilineal, and patrilocal, putting women at a severe social disadvantage relative to men” (Xie). In the beginning of Mulan, Fa Zhou, Mulan’s father, is called with the other men of the village to serve in battle once more. Through this acceptance he fulfills his gender roles as the protector of his family and to China. The willingness to sacrifice himself for his family brings honor to the family name. Moreover, a Chinese male is the decision maker within a family and the wife’s ideals will not be considered (Xie). For example, on the night before he leaves for training the couple is shown as shadows in the window, when trying to console his wife before he leaves for training, she pulls away from him. Another example of male gender roles is the soldiers, especially Captain Li Shang, who is portrayed as a strong and confident leader. Within the movie the soldiers are shown as strong and ready to fight for their country in which shows the honor of manliness and bravery. Therefore, based on these instances along with many others, Disney’s Mulan uses stereotypical roles of men in