by: Chyng-Feng Sun
Before I even read this chapter, I knew that Disney's Mulan and its portrayal of Chinese society and culture was going to be torn apart!
First the positives as noted by Sun:
* Mulan was authentically Chinese in how her beauty was depicted
* the physical depiction of Chinese people didn't all look alike, sporting slanted- eyes and sporting pig-tails
* Mulan is not depicted as a princess or sexualized but as a heroine
* Mulan was not portrayed a damsel in distress waiting to be rescued or saved by
her Prince Charming.
Then Sun goes on the tear Mulan apart in it's perpetuating stereotypes of Chinese culture:
* the author points out that in order to 'put Mulan on a pedestal, the China of is the most oppressive, rigid, and sexist culture in the world of Disney animated
children's movies'.
* Disney perpetuates stereotypical gender roles in Chinese culture. Sun then goes on to point out that these myths are created through WESTERN MEDIA with
WESTERN EYES.
If you have never seen Mulan, here is a brief summary of the story:
Mulan is the only (female) child to Chinese parents. When her aging father is called to serve in the army, Mulan goes in his place. She cuts her hair and portrays herself as a young man and trains as such. Her true gender identity is revealed when she is injured in battle defending the life of Captain Shang, the equivilant of a drill instructor. Prior to her injury and the her gender being revealed, she was considered a hero because she saved Shang's life. Once her gender was revealed, she was then was deemed to be worthless simply because she is a woman.
In the movie, Mulan seeks the services of a matchmaker. This insinuates that the role of woman is to marry; the matchmaker further demeans Mulan, criticizing her as being too skinny (not suitable to bear sons). As Sun points out, Mulan is the victim of overt sexism!
So, as we analyze Disney and the sexist, racist and SCWAAMP values that seem to run rampant, we will continue to be called to recognize these issues in the media. The question remains: with this knowledge, how do we address these issues in the classroom? Media is a wonderful tool but far from a perfect tool!
https://asiasociety.org/education/women-traditional-china
An overview of women's roleshttps://asiasociety.org/education/women-traditional-china An overview of women's rolesSo, as we analyze Disney and the sexist, racist and SCWAAMP values that seem to run rampant, we will continue to be called to recognize these issues in the media. The question remains: with this knowledge, how do we address these issues in the classroom? Media is a wonderful tool but far from a perfect tool!
Great post Maria, here's a K-2 lesson plan that may be helpful when trying to teach analyzing gender stereotypes. However, you may need to tweak it for your little ones.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.tolerance.org/classroom-resources/tolerance-lessons/analyzing-gender-stereotypes-in-media
Thank you!
DeleteGreat post Maria! Thanks for sharing about Mulan and making me think about things that I didn't think about before!
ReplyDeleteHello Maria,
ReplyDeleteExcellent review,
Forcing female leads to function as physically imposing forces implies that traditionally male characteristics are necessary for women to achieve agency in the badass paradigm.
For the paradigm to work, these women must be physically strong and, if possible, they must defeat men in combat to prove how strong they are.
Disney took a gamble on Mulan -- she doesn't fit the princess mold, and most moviegoers had never heard of her -- and the end results are a bit mixed. The songs and supporting characters aren't particularly memorable, but the settings are gorgeous, and Mulan herself is one of a kind in the Disney canon (it's too bad that in the end she still needs to be married off to a "Prince Charming" who saves the day).
Regarding media and how it presents women, I do believe that media in general have come a long way since it was introduced early 1900's, but it still has a lot more work to do regarding gender equality and regarding how women characters are portrayed in these films.