{"id":270,"date":"2016-05-18T16:51:11","date_gmt":"2016-05-18T20:51:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/engl117s16\/?p=270"},"modified":"2016-05-18T16:56:04","modified_gmt":"2016-05-18T20:56:04","slug":"disney-makes-a-man-out-of-her","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/engl117s16\/uncategorized\/disney-makes-a-man-out-of-her\/","title":{"rendered":"Disney Makes a Man Out of Her"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Mulan<\/p>\n

In spite of her mighty kick towards knocking down pre-established gender roles in a patriarchal society, Fa Mulan ultimately winds up and misses, landing right back where she started. The modern retelling of an old Chinese folktale<\/span> dating back to the Northern Dynasty (Brocklebank 277)<\/span>, Disney\u2019s animated movie <\/span>Mulan <\/span><\/i>depicts the titular character in her efforts to break free of societal roles and expectations by fighting in her injury-plagued father\u2019s place against the invading Huns. Familial honor is a highly held virtue in Chinese society, which incites Mulan to represent her ancestors despite knowing that impersonation of a soldier is an act of treason punishable by death. <\/span>Mulan <\/span><\/i>was widely marketed towards its audience as a movie that shows men and women have equal possibilities of being heroic. The New York Times review claims, \u201c<\/span>Disney takes a sledgehammer to the subject of gender stereotyping in \u2018Mulan\u2019, a film that not only breaks the cross-dressing barrier but also ratchets up the violence level for children’s animation\u201d (Maslin)<\/span>. Unfortunately its efforts were flawed. <\/span><\/p>\n

Mulan <\/span><\/i>perpetuates male dominance in gender binaries despite its (unsaid) promise that identity does in fact move beyond gender. Males are still held in a superior position in respect to females. Even a movie that is marketed as a heroine\u2019s journey towards gaining acceptance by breaking inhibitory societal expectations, it fails in delegitimizing the gender binary because \u201cmale\u201d actions- swinging a sword, providing protection for your country, being a strong soldier- are all done when characters are portrayed aesthetically male. The perpetuation is subtle, created\u00a0by certain cinematic choices made by the director, editor, producer, and other high position roles in the movie-production hierarchy. In her essay, \u201cVisual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema\u201d, Laura Mulvey convincingly describes certain cinematic codes that creates the voyeuristic gaze of a woman (Mulvey 403). We see a female only through her relation to a male. In Mulan, <\/span><\/i>both certain songs (with their extremely masculinized titles and lyrics) and the subtleties in facial distinctions between genders sustain this gaze, maintaining the repressive gender stereotypes. The hidden message is Mulan can only do what she does under the guise of a man. She isn\u2019t a true heroine, but a masculinized female hero who learns how to spit and punch like a man in order to make an impact. Despite its promise,<\/span> women are not empowered in the movie. Its reality is that women have to be masculinized in order to feel and be seen as empowered.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

In <\/span>Mulan<\/span><\/i>\u2019s society, the differences between honorable actions done by either gender are polar opposites. Men bring honor to their family by being a soldier while women do so by marrying a man with high social status. Simply put, honor comes when men are active and when women are passive. Indeed, Mulan brings honor to her family, but does so in an atypical way. Sparked by her decision to join the army, she breaks through stereotypes and brings honor by \u201cbeing manly\u201d. <\/span><\/p>\n

The facial differences between Ping (her male counterpart<\/span>) <\/b>and Mulan is astonishing. Carol Clover states, \u201cthe perceived nature of the function generates the characters that will represent it\u201d (Clover 13).\u00a0The facial characteristics that the movie displays for Ping\/Mulan sustain the notion that gender is defined by predetermined functional roles. Although Mulan can be \u201cmanly\u201d, she actually has be a man<\/span><\/i> in order to do so. The aesthetic representation of certain actions and\/or decisions will influence the movie\u2019s character depiction of choice; Mulan will attempt to be \u201cwomanly\u201d, while Ping does \u201cmanly\u201d things. Disney\u2019s motive is that since Mulan cannot conform to gender stereotypes, she should be displayed as a man who will be accepted in society. Disney can spin a message about being progressive but is unconsciously maintaining conservative mindsets regarding the strength of gender through its aesthetic depictions being explicitly paired with the said characters actions.<\/span><\/span>
\n\"Screen\"Screen<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/b>Sex proceeds from gender, not the other way around\u201d (Clover 13). The subject of breaking gender stereotyping does not happen because females adhere to feminine actions (like when the women are lining up to be presented to the matchmaker), and vice versa. And the females that are characteristically \u201cun-female\u201d, such as the matchmaker- who is extremely dominant, assertive, and commanding, unlike most women- appears man-like. She has a beard.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Screen<\/p>\n

In <\/span>Mulan, <\/span><\/i>identity comes from gender. Disney\u2019s hopes backfired because the characters specifically look their part, undermining the message regarding equal potential for being heroic in regards to gender. In the scene when Mulan describes the qualities of a women as, \u201c<\/span>quiet and demure, graceful and polite, delicate, refined, poised- punctual\u2026 something a \u2018proper\u2019 young woman should possess\u201d (Davis 195), her feminine characteristics are extremely prominent. She has long slender fingers, an angular face, a thin waist, and narrow, slanted eyes. Pairing demeaning female characteristics with a brushed up and glossed over version of a female does not exactly sell the message that women can be empowered. Rather, it sets the tone that women are trying to assimilate themselves into a society which does not have any functional use for them, changing their outward appearance to feel more accepted. They are stand-ins and fillers that occupy space but offer little of their own. <\/span><\/p>\n

Now compare these aesthetics to Ping, a more manly and buff version of Mulan. The perceived appearance of Ping generates his function. He has a rounder and stronger jawline, rounder eyes, and has significantly more mass than Mulan. Thus, he appears in the scenes when the security and wellbeing of China is being protected: becoming the top soldier in Shang\u2019s class and single-handedly destroying the majority of the Hun army. He can do those things because he is a man, further corroborating that purpose is directly correlated with appearance.<\/span><\/p>\n