Disney Heroes Vs Mulan

Although Mulan is the kick butt girl protagonist, a majority of the film consists of male characters. "A 2010 study found that the ratio of males to females in top-grossing G-rated (general audience) films is 2.57 to 1" (Smith). While Mulan saves China, she did not do it alone. Without the help of Captain Shang amongst other men, she is depicted most of the movie as a helpless girl caught up amongst the boys. There are still no instances where a Disney protagonist has been the hero without the help of a male counterpart. In every case, Disney movies before the current releases, have depicted women as frail and dependent, while the men being masculine and brave. Mulan can be applauded for being one of the few movies in which the princess isn't a delicate character that needs saving. "Pocahontas, Mulan, and The Princess and the Frog, had princesses who displayed more masculine than feminine characteristics in their three most frequent characteristics. This suggests a chronological movement towards a more androgynous princess" (England). Mulan was seen as a step towards equality for the way gender roles are portrayed in film, however, there are still huge aspects of women in media. Rebecca Collins, a leading woman in the movement for feminism, studies how gender roles in films effect the youth. She states, "If young girls do not see themselves reflected in media, this diminish their

Not only do Disney princesses result in bad self esteem, they also encourage passiveness and reliance on others. The feminine and vulnerable side of these princesses, reflect the reliance on their hero and true love. The Disney princess stereotype insinuates that girls should be sweet and submissive, and should fully rely on a male-counterpart. Conversely, new characters, such as Elsa (Frozen), Rapunzel (Tangled), and Merida (Brave), do not express this passive characteristic. At the same time, these princesses continue to need assistance to reach the desired solution. For instance, Princess Rapunzel still needed hero Flynn Rider, in order to navigate her to her parents throughout the movie. None of these princesses independently found a solution to the main conflict in any of these Disney films.

Apart from the stereotypes, recent Disney princesses have been counteracting the stereotypical images of a Disney princess. They are no longer waiting around for their prince to come and be with them. Instead, they are using their intelligence to achieve their dreams and aspirations. Also, they can be independent and that they don’t always need a man (Bowser n.p.). The portrayal of love in these films are different from the others. The characters are not focused in waiting for their prince. Rather, they were trying to achieve their dreams. In "The Princess and the Frog", Tiana pursues her dream in becoming a restaurant owner. She didn't need a male counterpart to be able to feel happy but only wanted to fulfill her dream to feel happiness.

Disney directly exposes the idea that young girls should make their main goal in life to find their prince charming, fall madly in love, and live happily ever after. Making young girls’ aspiration in life revolve around finding a man of their dreams “transfix[es the] audience and divert[s] their potential utopian dreams and hopes through the false promises of the images [Disney] cast[s] upon the screen” (22). Disney tells the audience that women need a man to be happy. Disney presents the idea that women are dependent on me. Just like in The Little Mermaid, Ariel goes as far as surrendering her voice, to a witch named Ursula, and abandoning her family in order to be with her prince. Ariel also trades in her life as a mermaid, drastically changes her body, and sacrifices her greatest talent all in order to win her prince. Disney sends the message that girls need to give up their talents and lives in order to be with a man. Disney suggests that a woman’s main priority is her lover, no one or nothing else. Disney effectively portrays women in a negative way, depicting them as weak and needy. No attempt to break the stereotypical gender roles of women are evident however, these stereotypes are growing as Disney instills this image of women in the minds of viewers.

In Mulan, Chinese traditional women are prepared to be these perfect women who go through training to be declared marriageable and to be declared marriageable they must pass a certain test to become the perfect wife in the eye of the matchmaker. Mulan’s mother and grandmother shared their experiences with the matchmaker. Mulan is expected to be a beautiful woman and a good wife but nothing else which is the way her family pressure her to conform to social norms. Throughout Mulan and other women entire life they are taught to be feminine, sweet, tender hearted, emotional, empathetic, focused on physical appearances, and bear children. These women grow-up believing their gender role is to get marry and bear children if they don’t then they will bring shame upon their family. Being marry is the only way a girl can bring her family great honor but this culture tradition doesn’t fit Mulan self-image. Mulan acknowledge that she can’t be herself, if she must live up to

Female Heroism in Disney Animation Analyzing “Disney Dolls,” Kathi Maio’s purpose in writing is to persuade her readers that all the young women in Disney are meant to be symbols and how the company’s target audiences want to portray women. She argues that films like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), The Little Mermaid (1989), Beauty and the Beast (1991) and Mulan (1998) all have an implied message towards women. Maio achieves to persuade that typically women in Disney are portrayed as a princess, queen, or a homemaker. When Maio mentions Aladdin (1992), she writes that Princess Jasmine is the only significant female character, then talks about cultural assumptions and internalizing racism, which is not significant to the topic of female

In 2009, Disney launched their first black princess ever in the movie “The Princess and the Frog”. The black princess, however, spends most of the movie as a frog. She was a poor princess and her mother worked for white people. This enforces the stereotypes that African-Americans are majority poor or part of the lower class. There was also a gender stereotype since the princess was still helpless alone and needed a man to help her launch her dream of opening up a restaurant. “While some critics and audiences may argue that disney made good on eliminating the most overt representations of sexism and racism in the princess and the frog, others may argue that the company likewise failed to counter Micheal claim that disney films and theme parks tender as a norman rockwell painting.” In this article Breaux concentrates on the representations of the historical crossing of race and gender in Disney's The Princess and the Frog and black women in animated film in the USA. It explains more on how Disney and Pixar studio executives and animators to use The Princess and the Frog to respond to its critics claims about the perpetuation of sexism and racism in its animated features. It has three important sections which explains how Disney attempted to answer criticism about the absence of African Americans and mothers in its films, the presence of physically over-sexualized and emotionally prince-dependent, and the representations of animated black women in the history of film and Disney's rewriting or sanitizing of African American history and denial of its and our nation's racist past. In Mulan (1998), she is struggling with the image that her family and society have established on her. She must be presentable as a bride to uphold her family honor. However, when her aging father is called upon to military service when the huns invade, Mulan takes it upon herself to act like a man and take her father’s place. Mulan is trying to make something of herself without obtaining male companionship. Mulan doesn’t adjust with traditional views of feminine behavior. Rather, she challenges these views. Mulan cares more about justifying her duty and saving her father than romantic connections. Mulan definitely had the greatest

Merida is faced with her mother's constant pressuring of having to find herself a prince, a tradition Merida has never believed in. In attempt to persuade her mother's way of thinking, Merida almost gets her mother permanently changed into a bear with the use of witchcraft. By the end of the movie, Merida is able to fix things by fighting a monstrous bear on her own and learning to deal with her flaws. This movie does not revolve around the belief that a princess has to find true love in order to accomplish her goals. Merida overcomes her goals through her own actions, without the help of a knight in shining armor.

From the minute one is born the division between genders is placed. The phrases “act like a lady” or “be a man” become everyday practices and lifelong slogans. Fairy tales are always focused on women who play the beautiful damsel in distress persona and on men who play the handsome knight coming in to save them. Whether you are female or male, it is important to remember that these fixed characteristics placed on genders are never to be reinforced. In a world full of gender stereotypes, the Disney movie Mulan challenges the societal construct of masculinity and femininity by proving that gender roles are not fixed traits, but socially constructed views that can be changed.

Another stereotype given to women in Disney movies is that every story ends with the princess falling in love with her perfect prince charming and living happily ever-after together. It is inevitable for any Disney woman not to fall in love in the end. The Disney women know exactly what the desire in a man, so that when they meet, or see them, for the first time, they know that they are in love. In the 1992 movie Aladdin, also directed by Ron Clements and John Musker, “Aladdin, a street urchin, accidentally meets Princess Jasmine, who is in the city undercover” (The Internet Movie Database). Aladdin, the

When most people think about Disney movies, their mind often goes to the stereotypical princess movies in which the protagonist wears a pink ball gown. Time and time again these princesses must fight their way through the story in a luxurious ball gown in order to end up with a prince. However, there are many Disney movies that work to challenge these gender stereotypes. The movie Moana is a recent example of a Disney production that works to break the imposed stereotypes placed on children from an early age.

The legend of Mulan, the Chinese woman warrior, was first presented in an annonomous poem called “the Ballad of Mulan” which dated back the 6th sentury Tang Dynansty. The poem was written in five segments; each one represents Mulan’s origin, experience in the battlefield, and also sense of obedience to her family. The legend lives on as it is passed from one generation to other generation through diverse versions such as storytelling, poem, and movies. Ultimately, the ballad takes on a new form when it was adapted into a 1998 Disney animated feature. This is the first time Disney has drawn on an Asian

Disney princesses are saved by the prince; this portrays the idea that men must represent the warrior and tough character, while the women are believed to be fragile and dependent. Maleficent represents a dichotomy that is not widely used within the cinema, in which Maleficent becomes the hero of the film. Unlike many other Disney films, this film portrays the woman as a powerful individual, she is not afraid of fighting in order to save her land and will not give up until she achieves her goal. Her courage is illustrated when King Henry (Kenneth Cranham) wants to invade Moors, the realm that Maleficent rules, and she stays strong and does not let them take over her world. She did not hide from them, instead she confronted them, and was willing to protect her world with her own life. Additionally, she is not depending on a male character to come and save her, instead she uses her own strength, intelligence, and courage, and becomes the savior in the film. (More examples) (More

Mulan, in fact, has more in common with male Disney leads than the female Disney leads. Mulan is a thinker. She 's resourceful, like Aladdin. She is quick to act, like Eric (from The little Mermaid.) And she sacrifices herself for the sake of others, like Hercules. She also speaks her mind, even in a culture that does not allow such a thing. She doesn 't waste time pining about "will I ever

Little girls everywhere spend their childhoods watching the princesses portrayed in Disney movies, dreaming about the day they too will meet their prince charming. They see how Sleeping Beauty is woken up by a prince, Cinderella marries a prince, Sleeping Beauty turns a beast into a prince, and countless other instances of a girl just like them meeting their perfect man. Disney is infamous for their outdated illustration of gender roles. Mulan is one of the first Disney princess movies in which, instead of waiting for her prince, the heroine actually saves the day, or in this case, China. Mulan makes a variety of statements about gender roles that can be examined through many