Gender roles in the movie Mulan

 Thesis:  there is a great distinction between masculinity and femininity in terms of gender roles and the difference has led to gender-stereotypes roles and gender socialization.  However, women are struggling with their rights by breaking gender stereotypes and showing the power of their voice.  

              Fa Mulan, the protagonist in the movie is the central figure who plays a significant role in presenting the themes of gender as performance and gender-stereotypes roles.  It is important to understand that Fa Mulan is a brave girl who shows a lot of interest in self-definition or in other words she wants to understand her self-identity. As a woman, she looks forward to being acknowledged by society and more importantly enjoy her rights as a woman (Marshall & Ozlem, 106).  However, as the Emperor requests each family to give one man who would participate in the war, Mulan enters in the war field and hides her identity. Unfortunately, her identity is revealed and she is humiliated.   This shows that there are gender stereotypes in the society and this creates a violation of human rights since women are discriminated in various domains like decision-making and access to resources (Marshall  & Özlem, 106).  The gender-based roles are socially constructed and the society has behavior patterns that are expected from men and women.

  Another thing that shows a difference in gender roles in modern society is the gender socialization or the norms and behaviors that each sex is expected to show.   Since Mulan's father could not join the war because of sickness, Mulan cut off her hair and took the weapons for war and join other men in the war.   Despite her effort to hide her identity and to develop a male appearance, she was rejected in the war since she was a woman and women cannot tolerate the pain and sacrifice in the war (Marshall & Ozlem, 107).  Despite the fact that Mulan wanted to prove that she is not only a housewife but also a warrior,   she was seen as a disgrace after the soldiers recognized her sex.  This shows that in societies, there is gender socialization or in other words, there are behavioral differences to group members.  During childhood,  individuals are taught to behave in certain ways with respect to their reproductive organs. Each sex is expected to adhere to certain norms, behaviors, and beliefs. For example, boys are expected to be loud whereas girls are expected to be quiet. This gender socialization creates gender stereotypes which creates a gap between masculine and feminine.

  Despite the gender-stereotypes roles in modern society, Mulan has shown that women are breaking gender roles and proving wrong the theory that ‘men are capable of defending the nation and that women are not capable of war’. She proves the statement wrong by saying that women are not domestic slavery but they are strong and can they can achieve more of what is expected from them.  Mulan is a strong female character and she is against the traditional masculinity (Marshall  & Ozlem, 123).  As a strong woman, she believes that she cannot live up to the constructed gender expectation but she must move beyond the comfort zone and act like a masculine. In the end, she saves China and fights for her father and for herself.  She very well knew that society expected women to behave in a certain way and fulfill certain roles but she believed that both men and women are responsible for serving the Emperor.   Even though the movie presented the gender-stereotypes that women go through, it has presented an important theme of breaking the gender roles and this shows that Mulan is heroin.

 Work cited

 

 Marshall, Elizabeth, and Özlem Sensoy. Rethinking Popular Culture and Media. Milwaukee, WI:

Rethinking Schools, 2011. Print.