Introduction
Disney released the film Mulan in 1998 during the third wave of feminism, so perhaps this can explain why at first glance, Mulan seems to be a feminist film encouraging the individual empowerment of women. Despite positive feminist images, the film is not free from traditional gender stereotypes. While the film may be considered progressive by departing from the usual "damsel in distress" storyline, upon further analysis we see that it isn’t as feminist as it first appeared. Disney’s Mulan reinforces a binary understanding of gender stereotypes that privilege men over women. A stereotype is a, “misleading and simplified representation of a particular social group” (Ott and Mack 180). First, Mulan reinforces a masculine construction of gender. Next, the film emphasizes stereotypical feminine qualities. Thirdly, the film will be analyzed using the queer theory’s idea of gender performativity. Lastly, Mulan displays how hard it is to escape stereotypical gender roles. A result of these resilient stereotypes is often social oppression and disempowerment of those being stereotyped (Ott and Mack 180). Patriarchy, the idea that men’s interests are more important than women’s, is an example of this, and is shown throughout the film.
Reinforcement of Masculine Stereotypes
Mulan reinforces the stereotypical ideas of masculinity in the scene where the Captain sings the song, I’ll Make a Man Out of You (Mulan 1998). Masculinity is defined by power, strength, and activity (Ott and Mack 182). The lyrics, “Lets get down to business, to defeat the Huns. Did they send me daughters, when I asked for sons?” portrays the stereotypical representation of men because it asserts that they are the only gender who are worthy to fight. The goal of Captain Shang in the scene is to, “make a man,” out of the new recruits. This whole scene is very sexist because it is discriminatory towards women, asserting that being womanly is not acceptable in war. Instead, the "girly" recruits have to be transformed into men. This song in Mulan argues that one should strive towards being a "man", thereby successfully oppressing feminine traits. When the Captain sings, “(Be a man)
With all the force
of a great typhoon
(Be a man)
With all the strength
of a raging fire,” it is highlighting the stereotype that men must be strong and a force to reckon with. Thus, this scene highlights that stereotypically masculine traits are superior to feminine ones, thereby discouraging feminine behaviour.
Reinforcement of Feminine Stereotypes
On the other hand, Mulan portrays femininity as the binary opposite of masculinity. While men are seen as intelligent, strong, and powerful, women are portrayed as weak, vulnerable, and insignificant. Mulan reinforces the idea that, “being a woman,” constitutes being useless and unimportant. This is exemplified in an argument between Shang and Chi-Fu, when Shang says, “she’s a hero!” and Chi-Fu responds with, “she’s a woman! She’ll never be worth anything!” (Mulan 1998). While Mulan may seem like a feminist film because in the end she is seen as a hero, it must be noted that she was only successful because she was disguised as a man; emphasizing that success is a predominantly male trait. Mulan reinforces female gender roles in the song, You’ll bring honour to us all, in which Mulan is preparing to see the matchmaker who will turn her into a bride. This scene highlights the idea that women can only bring honour to their families by becoming a bride: a servant to a man who is only there to pour tea and be gracious. Thus, the film portrays the message that a woman’s main goal should be to find a husband, marry, and take care of the home. Watching this film discourages girls from a young age from trying to pursue a career, and instead makes them desire finding love and becoming a wife above all.
"A girl can bring her family
Great honor in one way.
By striking a good match
And this could be the day.
Men want girls with good taste, calm, obedient.
Who work fast-paced.
With good breeding and a tiny waste,
You'll bring honor to us all."
Mulan is also anti-feminist because it portrays a sexist image of what society values in a woman. The song, A Girl Worth Fighting For emphasizes that a woman, “worth fighting for,” would be beautiful, a good cook, and able to reinforce a man’s masculinity.
"That's what I said
A girl worth fighting for
I want her paler than the
moon with eyes that
shine like stars
My girl will marvel at
my strength, adore my
battle scars
I couldn't care less what she'll
wear or what she looks like
It all depends on what
she cooks like
Beef, pork, chicken
Mmm
My girl will think I have no faults,
That I'm a major find"
Then, Ping (Mulan) is asked what he would want in a girl in which he responds,
How 'bout a girl who's got a brain
Who always speaks her mind?
The men's faces show disgust and disappointment, and they reply with a solid, "NAH!"
This reinforces society’s expectations that a
woman should not be intelligent, but rather passive and brainless. The message that
this sends is that a woman should not strive to be knowledgeable, because she
only needs to know how to cook, look pretty, and stroke her husband’s ego. Once again, the film portrays the message that women mostly belong in the home as the "family nurturer" and nowhere else (Ott and Mack 184).
This scene would encourage women to possibly “dumb”
themselves down, since men do not care to have a woman who he can hold a
conversation with. Thus, logic is solely a masculine trait, not to be possessed by women (Ott and Mack 185).
In a broader sense, this scene takes away any
empowerment women have received since being allowed to have an education. It
brings us back to the days in which women stayed at home to cook while men went
out to university, sending the message that education of women is useless.
Queer Analysis and Gender Performativity
Taking a detour towards another lens of analysis, it could be argued that queer theory would actually praise the film Mulan. Using the queer theory’s idea of gender performativity, it can be argued that Mulan is a film about gender performance. The film highlights Butler’s idea that gender is not an inherent set of traits, but rather it is performed (Ott and Mack 209). Acting as a female, Mulan is cleaned, polished, and taught how to gracefully pour tea. Unfortunately, Mulan does a terrible job of performing as a female. Thus, we can see that she has trouble with this gender performance. When performing as a man, Mulan is taught how to walk, spit, and act tough. This is where the song, I’ll Make a Man Out of You plays, reinforcing that the act of being a man must be taught by someone who already knows how to play the part. In the video below titled What's Your Name, Mulan performs as a man using a deep voice and being aggressive. Eventually, Mulan is successful in performing as a man, gaining the ability to fight and fit in with the other men. On the other side of the gender spectrum, in another scene, Mulan’s male friends dress up as females and flirt with the Huns to save the emperor, notably with the song Make a Man Out of You playing in the background (video titled, The Best Scene in Mulan, below). They succeed in this gender performance and rescue the emperor, once again showing that gender is a solely a bodily act. The film reinforces Judith Butler’s claim that gender is only a bodily performance because it shows that the line between male and female can be taught and consequently acted out. Therefore, the film Mulan shows that gender roles are not static, unchanging behaviors, but are rather culturally defined, and changeable. This is a positive message to anyone who feels uncomfortable acting as a certain gender, because it shows them that they can easily switch to the other gender simply by performing it.
Reinforcing the Resilience of Stereotypical Gender Roles
The film Mulan also reinforces that gender roles are resilient and very difficult to break out of. After saving the Emperor, Mulan is offered a powerful job in his kingdom, representing a stereotypically male position. Instead of breaking through the glass ceiling and discouraging gender roles, Mulan instead returns home to be an obedient daughter. This reinforces the idea that women can sometimes play the part of the hero, but after all is said and done, they must return to the household. To make a connective to history, this expectation reminds us of what women had to do after World War 2. While the men were away fighting, the women joined the workforce, but once the men came back, the women were forced to go back into the private realm. Similarly, when Mulan returns from the war with the sword of the enemy and the crest of the Emperor, she should have been considered a hero. Instead, her grandmother says, “Great, she brought home a sword. If you ask me she should have brought home a man” (Mulan 1998). Mulan saved all of China, but what remains important to her family is solely bringing honour to the family by becoming a bride. As a woman, her heroic efforts were not appreciated; but as a bride, she brings honour to the family. This highlights that even if women can be successful in masculine terms, what really matters overall is conforming to their feminine gender roles. This reminds women of their stereotypical role in society, and gives the message that deviating from these set roles is useless, suggesting how deeply entrenched in society these stereotypes are. A critical explanation for these sexist stereotypes is that the dominant male class maintain them to keep females oppressed (Mack and Ott 180). Therefore, the ending scene below could possibly be Disney's way of telling women to stay in the household and maintain stereotypically feminine roles.
Conclusion
In conclusion, despite some feminist images, Mulan is not free from traditional gender roles and stereotypes. In fact, the film may actually be more detrimental than other Disney films because it conceals gender inequality by concealing it within overarching messages of female empowerment (Ott and Mack 191). The song, I’ll Make a Man Out of You, strongly reinforces stereotypical male traits, while, A Girl Worth Fighting For, highlights feminine traits. On the other hand, queer theorists would praise Mulan because the film confirms that gender is simply a bodily performance by showing viewers that gender is teachable. At the end of the film, Mulan continues to portray female inferiority by highlighting that women are only considered successful when they have found a husband, despite any “masculine” successes or heroism. Throughout the whole movie, the emphasis is on Mulan’s gender roles, not her goals to save China or save her father’s life. Therefore, Disney’s Mulan reinforces gender inequality by portraying messages to viewers that confirm the idea that females are inferior to males, and that feminine traits will always be subordinate to those of the superior male class.
Works Cited
Mulan. Disney, 1998. Film.
Ott, Brian, and Robert Mack. Critical Media Studies . Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010. Print.
Ott, Brian, and Robert Mack. Critical Media Studies . Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010. Print.