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Mulan movie and gender roles
Mulan movie and gender roles
Mulan movie and gender roles
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1. Introduction
In Confucian thought, women had their purpose beside their men or within their households as mothers. However, the legend of Hua Mulan precedes Confucius. Mulan’s story had inspired early Chinese Feminists such as Qiu Ji to go against the society built to keep her space as a woman separate from the rest of the world. In modern times, Fa Mulan (from Disney) added more diversity to the usual Disney Princesses and gave westerners an image of Chinese culture.
The Disney film about Fa Mulan and the live action film about Hua Mulan by Jingle Ma ultimately chronicle the journey of Mulan and her service in the military but the films will have significant differences because of the different perspectives telling the stories. The changes of the female roles in China in the 21st century have their starting point with the story of Mulan because of her positive role in female identity later on. How Mulan changed the stigma about women over time may not have helped. Although Mulan is a legend, legends tend to shape some fields of thought in society. Changes in female structures in China took many centuries but I believe Mulan’s presence had an irreplaceable impact on the women in Chinese society.
I define Confucianism in the female role as follows: A woman’s duties pertain to her husband, the parents of her husband and the children birthed between she and her husband. A woman’s duties to her husband include but are not limited to, keeping him happy and full with good meals. Her duties to her husband’s family includes, but are not limited to, keeping his parents happy and adjusting to the rules of her governing mother-in-law and providing grandparents with grandchildren. A woman’s duties to birth children include, but are not...
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... to the Imperial City to warm her old friends of the imminent attack on the emperor, everyone ignored her. Hua Mulan did not face this same problem in the live action movie. When her comrades discovered her, they decided to keep their discovery to themselves instead of sending Mulan to her death. The only reason Fa Mulan remained alive in the movie was her heroic actions before her superior discovered her.
Works Cited
5. Confucianism
Since the core of Confucianism is the belief
6. Conclusion
References:
1. http://ww.chinapage.com/mulan.html
2. “Ode To Mulan” http://www.yellowbridge.com/onlinelit/mulan.php
3. “Mulan in Legends” http://www.ourorient.com/mulan-in-legends.htm
4. DVD Disney’s Mulan
5. DVD Jingle Ma’s Mulan
6. Lan, Fen. "The Female Individual and the Empire." Duke University. http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/4125407.pdf.
In the Disney movie “Mullan” we saw a great change in the theme of the role a woman plays versus what a man plays. During the scene where Fa Zhou is called to fight, Mullan overhears and interrupts. She tries to explain her father is ill, but she gets an insult make her family seem dishonorable. Mullan was subjected, she was treated equivalent to any other women. “Women are supposed to be obedient listeners with their heads facing to the floor just taking in what comes to them.”
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.
Although there have been women in China that have held positions of power and even lead in prominent positions, the history of the Chinese civilization has been one of male dominance. “Unfortunately, no level of leadership, education or social prominence for women has changed the patriarchal nature of traditional Chinese society (Perry 279).” Women in Chinese society are still considered to be a possession of the man or are looked upon as servants. Because they are seen in this manner, except for a few, women have not been able to contribute spiritually, politically or scientifically to Chinese society. It is to say almost for certain that women being constrained in this manner has prevented China from advancing to its full potential. The morale of a suppressive society is not one that encourages imagination, exploration or advancement. Although the Chinese in general are an efficient people, they have not continued their at one time rapid advances in technology. This is partly due to the fact that women have so often been kept to the side and unable to be involved in the same aspect as men are. Some may argue that the women influence in the home as a caregiver would have somewhat of an impact on their value and importance. However, in Chinese and many other societies, “homemaker” is thought to be the only role for women and not considered to be one of great value. It is not surprising that after thousands of years, the transformation of the Chinese society still reflects the patriarchal history of traditional China and the defining characteristics that define women in a submissive role to men. This paper will examine the attitudes and feelings toward women, give examples of women in leadership positions throughout the history of China, discuss their inability to bring forth change to the patriarchal society and the modern day status of women.
According to Confucian philosophy, a family that is run well demonstrates that the state is also governed well. Confucianism philosophy was upheld, demonstrating a patriarchal society with a great emphasis on societal class and rigid gender lines, traditions and customs with a heavy emphasis on male heirs to continue the legacy of a family. Comparing Li Ang’s novel, The Butcher’s Wife and Zhang Yimou’s movie, Raise the Red Lantern, Confucian philosophy is clearly represented and shown and the leading female characters battle the oppression forced upon them due to their inability to support themselves. Because Confucian philosophy implies women and daughters are treated as objects instead of human beings, daughters are raised as objects to barter and are never given the chance to learn to gain independence. Without independence, women are forced to depend on their fathers and or their husbands without a choice in whatever matter. Men in a patriarchal society victimize women and oppression of women is largely affected by the socio-economic structure of a male-dominated society. Some say, in order for women to become liberated in a male dominated society, they must gain economic stability. In my opinion, due to the socio-economic settings of many of the works we have read, the female characters do not necessarily need the financial stability to receive their freedom; these women utilize their own mind and bodies to gain power and liberation. The oppression of women can be better explained using Jean-Paul Sartre’s theory of existentialism and Simone de Beauvoir’s existentialist feminism theory.
Mulan tells that the story of brave Mulan. Mulan did not want her elderly father to fight in the war, so she disguised as a man and joined in her father 's army. Finally, Mulan defeated the Huns and Shan Yu (leader of the Huns) with her partners in barracks. This Disney film portrays the conflict perspective, feminism, and symbolic interaction perspective.
She talked when she shouldn’t, lacked in poise and refinement, and miserably failed her meeting with the esteemed Matchmaker. Instead of being refined and obedient, she was by nature a clumsy tomboy. Although she wanted nothing more than to bring honor to her family, she could see the disappointment in their eyes. Her inner turmoil was portrayed as she sang the words “Can it be I’m not meant to play this part? If I were truly to be myself, I would break my families heart.” She made the brave and risky decision to join the Imperial Army in her fathers place. As she raised the sword to cut her hair for disguise, the sword served as a phallic symbol which emancipated her from her most feminine attribute and released her to embrace her new self. At the end, she bravely showed authentic self to her community while using her fortitude, courage and strength to save the Emperor. The message she conveyed would have been very applicable to women who lived in America in the late 90’s. She broke gender boundaries, both in her appearance and actions. In addition, just like the American women who were the first to ship out alongside men, Mulan was also the first in her time to become a woman soldier. Mulan also mimicked American women’s attitude of being fierce, brave and not afraid to do what was normally reserved for
Disney promotes Sexism in Mulan. When the Chinese military begins to draft men, including Mulan’s elderly father, to fight against the invading Hun army, Mulan pretends to be a man and takes her father’s place in the army. This is important because this shows that Disney men do not see women as equals. Disney popularizes the use of drugs in this
...ero and the army members praised her. Just like when Shan-Yu was killed. Mushu gets the canon for Mulan and shoots it after Mulan pins Shan-Yu’s cape to the rooftop. After Mushu defeats Shan-Yu, he has achieved what he had set out to do, which is save Mulan and bring honour to past, present and future Fa families.
William Shakespeare once said, “[My] honor is my life; both grow in one; take honor from me, and my life is done.” The idea is touched upon in both the book Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston as well as Disney’s Mulan were family honor is more important than anything else. Mulan was directed by Tony Bancroft and Barry Cook, and produced by Walt Disney Pictures. The film Mulan retold the story of a woman warrior who took her father’s place in battle and became a savior of China.The movie uses many elements from the original story told in the chapter “White Tigers,” but adds many modern twists in order to make the story more appealing for a newer generation. In both stories of Fa Mu Lan the elements of sacrifice, silence and voice, cultural practices of ancestor worship and filial piety, and Chinese stereotypes are present.
When the emperor sent out a request to send the men in China to war, Mulan was scared. Her father was one of the many men summoned to fight....
As soon as Mulan started her army training she was pushed to her limits. She was even told to quit by her commanding general, nevertheless she persevered through training. Mulan is insanely amazing at problem-solving, instead of just shooting the leader of the Huns, she shot the mountain above them which plummeted onto the entire Hun army. The second time that the Huns were defeated, Mulan not only
Women have been in movies since they first started playing on the big screen, they have played an assortment of roles, the damsel in distress, the first one to die, the poor scullery maid who ends up a princess, the evil witch, etc. While some of the roles have shed bad light on women, for example being a femme fatale, other movies have set positive examples for the future generations. As time has changed, the Disney princesses have evolved with it, each princess becoming more outspoken and independent, influencing the young women of today to want to grow up to be just like them, “They enact a shift from the "princesses" of ballet to the "heroes" of sport. Heroism, egalitarianism and autonomy are slipped into the conventions of Disney princesshood” (Do Rozario, R.,C., 2004, para. 34). In Mulan the movie, Mulan saves her father by disobeying him, and taking his place in the war by doing that she ended up saving her whole country. Disney isn’t telling young women to disobey their parents; they’re showing them that while you may be a girl, you can be brave and succeed.
Mulan seems to be a feminist film which encourages individual women to take care of themselves. However, the film is not free from traditional gender roles. While the film may be progressive by removing the "damsel in distress" plot, further analysis shows it isn’t a feminist film at all. Disney’s Mulan reinforces a black and white societal role of gender that privilege men over women. In contrast the poem is incredibly progressive, it shows a woman fighting just as well as men and men accepting her as a powerful warrior not being jealous of her power. The poem removes gender roles whereas the Disney movie reinforces them.
The legend states that Hua Mulan lived during the Northern Wei dynasty. She is a mythical figure from ancient China portrayed in the Chinese poem, Ballad of Mulan. Though both princess warrior show and movie, The Legend of Hua Mulan and Disney’s Mulan have different character personalities and reasons of going to war. The Legend of Hua Mulan is straightforward and seeks to depict Mulan as a warrior. Disney’s Mulan, however, depicts Mulan as trying to prove her parents wrong and bring home a man as in all Disney movies. This shows that Hua Mulan is a better role to girls that Disney’s Mulan.
Like many oral legends, there are many different interpretations and versions of Mulan. The earliest recorded version was a short poem written between 386 and 533 A.D. titled Poem of Mulan. This poem is essentially simplified into, ‘Mulan is a typical Chinese girl who goes to war for her father and wins but then comes home and goes back to being typical’ (Mulan vs. The Legend of Hua Mulan 2). Disney's version includes many details not included in the original poem. For example, in the poem, Mulan returns to doing her womanly duty after willingly revealing herself to her comrades. The reason these details are changed and others are added is to make the story more Disney-esk. Without adding and changing details, Mulan would barely even pass as a short film. In Disney's version, the head of the Huns, Shan Yu, rallies a massive army with intentions to invade China and overthrow the emperor. Upon receiving this news, the emperor sends out a notice to each village ordering one man from every family to join the war effort. The legend of Mulan depicts the roots of the story differently.