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Gender Stereotypes In Mulan

1005 Words5 Pages

4 Instances of Gender Stereotypes Being Reinforced in Disney’s Mulan With the recent Disney movie Moana hitting theatres around the world, the movie has been met with many dazzling reviews and it wasn’t long before Moana was coined as the ultimate anti-princess. Looking back at Disney’s progress the past few decades, we can see an increase in the appearances such anti-princesses. But let’s be honest, when asked to name Disney’s strong female protagonists, Mulan is a given. The movie released in 1998 is arguably the first memorable Disney film featuring a badass female warrior. With action-packed scenes, a variety of songs and a determined heroine off to bring honor to her family, what’s not to love? Well, for a movie that revolves around …show more content…

She isn’t worth fighting for if she doesn’t look like this If you are a fan of the Mulan film, you should be familiar with the heavier emphasis on the “ideal” appearance of women in the song Honor to us all. But we simply cannot escape the “ideal” physical attributes that we are taught to aim for in society. “I want her paler than the / moon with eyes that / shine like stars” While these lyrics do not specify a specific body shape or look that a woman should adhere to, it does suggest that there is a general outward appearance they should have to be accepted by men and society. For children watching this film as they grow up, this can’t be the main message they are receiving - that they have to look a certain way to fit social norm. What a man supposedly wants Other than the previously mentioned theme of domesticity present in traditional femininity, there is also one of submissiveness. “My girl will think I have no faults” The men singing this expects the girl to be blindly accepting of him and he seems pretty confident of this

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