Mulan: The Post-Feminist Princess


                                 "Let's get down to business to defeat the Huns"
Words every child of the 1990s can't help but sing along to; Mulan (1998) is one of Disney's most famous creations. Based on the Chinese legend of Hua Mulan, it tells the story of a young girl struggling with finding a place for herself in a patriarchal society that dictates that her only role in life should be that of the perfect daughter, wife and mother. Mulan is clumsy and struggles with fitting into the role laid out for her; so, when the time comes for her father, who is old and frail, to be conscripted to the Chinese army to fight the Huns, Mulan takes his place, joins the army and trains to fight – all the while pretending to be a man.
Post-feminism, while not particularly popular amongst academics, can be drawn upon in order to analyse Mulan. Some believe post-feminism to mean that society has moved past feminism and no longer needs it, while others think that it is another wave of feminism, following the second. Gill (2007) proposes post-feminism as a sensibility and puts forward the characteristics of this; a preoccupation with the body, the shift from women being portrayed as submissive and passive objects, to active and desiring sexual subjects, the notion of choice and 'pleasing oneself', the reassertion of sexual difference, the presence of irony and knowingness, and the makeover paradigm. To some extent Mulan portrays the post-feminist characteristics that Gill describes.
Mulan has significant ties to post-feminism; there is a strong focus on the body and makeover within this film. Gill (2007) links the makeover paradigm with a women's self-esteem, noting that for the makeover paradigm to take place the person must "believe first that they or their life is lacking or flawed in some way" (p.16); we see this in Mulan's disappointment in her meeting with The Matchmaker; she disappoints immediately by "speaking without permission", she is deemed "too skinny...not good for bearing sons", and fails to demonstrate the refinement the Matchmaker deems necessary in order to satisfy future in-laws.
This is reaffirmed in 'Reflection' when Mulan conveys her desire to be the perfect bride and daughter, but also acknowledges that this may never be possible for her. This belief that she is flawed leads to her decision to take her father's place; if she cannot be the perfect female, then maybe she will be a better male. Mulan's makeover transforms her into Ping, her male alter ego (shown here).
In addition to this, the body is featured heavily when Mulan reasserts sexual difference; this is significantly featured during the bathing scene, when Mulan insists that "just because I look like a man, doesn't mean I have to smell like one" (Mulan, 1998) and bathes in the lake, until the actual men arrive and we see the difference between Mulan's female body and the male body she is trying to imitate, shown below.

This contrast is the reassertion of sexual difference that Gill (2007) considers representative of post-feminism. Furthermore, we see the shift of the female into an active and desiring subject when Mulan makes the active decision to take her father's place, along with the decision to ride into the city in order to warn the Emperor about the Huns, and we see Mulan experience sexual desire for Li Shang when he emerges from a tent without a shirt. ​Irony is also displayed in Mulan due to audience knowledge of Mulan's gender, and more blatantly when she expresses that "I never want to see a naked man again", only for a horde of them to run past as she does, shown here. ​
Mulan as a post-feminist text is representative of both feminist and anti-feminist themes; the female is strong and assertive but at the same time ultimately returns to the home, to her patriarchal family and the role of the daughter. Gill does however suggest that the entanglement of these themes is a characteristic of post-feminist media culture. Mulan's post-feminist themes are significant when considering how the Disney princesses have evolved since 1937 and the release of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
More on Disney and Post-Feminism:
Cheu's (2007) work on Mulan is an in depth analysis of Disney's Mulan and the original poem "The Ballad of Mulan"; this can be found here.
The Huffington Post breaks down feminism and considers the Disney Princesses in a blog called 'Feminisney: When Disney Meets Feminism" by Sean Randall in 2016; you can find that here.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

YA Novels That Should Be TV Shows

Image
Last time, I wrote about TV shows that were inspired by and adapted from books and afterwards I realised that there are many books out there that deserve the same; I can’t count the times I’ve finished a book and thought about how perfect it would be to sit and watch as these characters lived out their lives on screen too. This list isn’t particularly long, nor is it up to date, as I can’t even remember the last time I picked up a book to read for pleasure, but here is a list of novels that I think would make excellent television shows, and why… 1.        The Fallen Series by Lauren Kate 17 year old Lucinda “Luce” Price is sent to Sword & Cross reform school, a fate she receives after being accused of murdering a boy. Missing her best friend, her parents, and her mobile phone, Luce doesn’t have the best start to her new school; she is surrounded by new people, doesn’t know who to trust and feels a deep connection with Daniel, a gorgeous, ...
Read more

Life Lessons TV Has Taught Me...Part Two

Image
Last time, I wrote about some of the more serious advice I've taken from my favourite shows; this time, I'm writing about things that sometimes seem insignificant but actually mean a lot, especially when you're a fan of TV, breakfast foods and crying... There are two kinds of people. “The only people in the universe who have never seen Star Wars are the characters in Star Wars and that's cause they lived them Ted, that's cause they lived the Star Wars.” How I Met Your Mother, 4x01 We’ve all heard this before, but when you think about it, it gets a little worrying how easy it is to divide the human race up. People who love Star Wars and people who have never seen it (because that’s the only way a dislike of the franchise is possible); those who believe in the supernatural and those who don’t; people who cover their chips in sauce (ugh) and those who have it on the side (as it should be); and even those who believe in love at first sight and people...
Read more

A Love Letter to Marvel

Image
There is so much to say about this huge franchise, from the detail and the depth of character, to the time spent on creating these masterpieces, that where to even start is baffling. I will forever and always love Marvel, their comics, their characters and their universe. While I am a fan of DC, I feel that they came much too late to the game of this generation of movies to be able to compete – throwing years’ worth of information into one 2-hour movie does not constitute an in depth backstory. Sorry, guys. Anyway. The Marvel Cinematic Universe is the true recipient of this expression of love, because in my excitement over the release of Captain America: Civil War – which is absolutely incredible – I re-watched every movie in the MCU, and loved every second. From the moment Robert Downey Jr. appeared on our screens as Tony Stark (Genius, Billionaire, Playboy, Philanthropist) I have been enamoured. Eagerly awaited the next release, gladly queued up to go and treasured every single...
Read more