Summary
Mulan is a Disney film released in 1998 that tells the story of a young Chinese girl who is pressured by her family and by society, to live up to the pre-established gender roles that China expect women to portray as citizens living in the society. Bringing honor in fact to the family and to the society as a woman, only meant being an exceptional wife; one that is submissive, obedient, respectful, beautiful, and able to bare sons. While the men were the ones who had strength, were superior, brave, and went to war. While the women in Mulan’s society accepted these gender roles and expectations, Mulan constantly believed that there was more to being a woman than the stereotypical gender roles and characteristics that society boxes women into. Mulan in fact, breaks the dominant social norms related to gender seen in China, by proving that women have strength, are brave, courageous, and have the same worth as men, both in the film and in the real world.
