The feminist perspective is an approach that is based on patriarchal systems that are based on the notion and practice of male supremacy. The concept of feminism is inspired by the desire to elevate the level of women in society and abolish restrictive policies that are formulated and implemented by and in favor of men and embraced by a patriarchal society (Smith, 57). In addition, feminism seeks to eradicate gender discrimination to ensure that individuals are allowed fair chances in society regardless of their gender. Traditionally, a majority of the societies were patriarchal and male dominance was accepted as the norm while the role of women was restricted to household chores (Crossley, 24). With the advancement of civilization, sociologists have developed feminism to bridge these gender differences and form a basis for an all-inclusive society.
Film summary
The setting of the film Mulan is at the time of the Sino Xiongnu War in ancient China, the war, which involved the Hans, protagonists, fight against the Huns, antagonists. In the film, the Huns invade the Hans by breaching the Great Wall. As a result, the emperor of the Hans gives a directive to all households to produce one man to join the army in preparation for a confrontation with the Huns. On receiving the order, Fa Mulan, a woman, realizes that it was inappropriate for her father, Fa Zhou, to rejoin the army considering his age and health. Even though it was against the law, Mulan leaves home donned in her father’s armor to join the other recruits at the training ground. Back home, Mulan’s grandparents pray to their family’s ancestors to protect her throughout the battle and return her home safe. At the recruitment and training camp, Mulan, now disguised as a man manages to get in the camp. Initially, her combat skills are wanting.
With the help of Mushu, a disgraced family dragon, and through intensive training, Mulan is able to improve her skills significantly. Mushu also guides her in her training on how to behave like a man. In a bid to test her prowess, Mushu fakes an order from the captain’s father requiring the captain to provide reinforcements to their other battalion in the mountains. Unfortunately, on arrival, they find that their battalion was ambushed and massacred by the Hans. On their way back, they are attacked by the Hans soldiers leaving Mulan badly injured on the chest. During wound bandaging, it is discovered that Mulan is indeed a lady. According to the Hans’ law, she was to be executed. However, the captain spares her but instead dismisses her out from the army. When the Huns take over the palace, Mulan, and three others gain entrance into the palace and contribute to taking down the Huns. Finally, Mulan returns to her people safely present the gifts she received to her father.
Relation of the Perspective to the Movie
The first scene where feminism is explored in the film is when Mulan disguises herself as a male to join the army. As mentioned herein, it was against the Chinese law for a woman to join the army and the repercussion of such an act was death. Women were regarded as the weaker gender and had therefore been forbidden from enlisting in the army. Mulan, however, was determined to save his aging father, a former war veteran, from having to rejoin the army again. Mulan knew that she was not going to be accepted if she went to the training camp as a woman. For this reason, she steals her father’s armor dresses in it and matches to the training camp ready to enlist in the war oblivious to the fact that she had limited combat training. Luckily enough, Mulan is able to pass as a man and enlist in the army without raising any concerns.
Unfortunately, Mulan’s deception was not going to go undetected despite being forced to unfairly struggle to suppress her gender. During the confrontation with Shan Yu, the leader of the Huns, she was badly injured on the chest (Cheu, 124). As a result, she needed to be bandaged to control blood loss through the wound. Unfortunately, the bandage also posed another potentially life-threatening risk to Mulan. It was going to expose her real identity to her colleagues and most importantly, to her captain. To sustain the injury, Mulan had launched a cannon attack on the Huns killing scores and leaving others too injured to right. The attack provoked Shan Li who attacked Mulan and injured her on the chest. These scenes depict how suppression and oppression of the female in society exposes them to risks such as lack of access to medical care.
On applying the bandage, it was discovered that Mulan was a woman and this puts her career aspirations in the army as a woman inhibited. Captain Li Shang had a responsibility of ordering her execution for deceiving everyone and breaking the law (Cheu, 127). Mulan’s act of bravery did not count towards condemnation for her deception. Luckily for her, Captain LI Shang chose to spare her life. The captain would not allow Mulan back into her battalion. She was cast out with no concern that she could be attacked and killed by the Huns in the mountains more so if they realized she was behind the fatal attack that they had experienced earlier on.
Mulan’s bravery did not stop with her deception to enlist in the army, she disguises herself again to enter the palace as a concubine (Poindexter, 128). The reasoning behind this act was that the Huns soldiers would not suspect any foul play. Concubines were accepted in the Chinese culture. More so, it was one of the accepted roles of women in society. Once they got into the palace, Mulan and her colleagues surprised and defeated the Huns soldiers who were caught unawares because they did not expect veteran-level combat skills from the concubines (Poindexter, 130). The three acts indicate that women in traditional Chinese society were relegated to lower cadres in the society and were not tasked with any major tasks.
Conclusion
Feminism strives to establish gender equality in modern societies and achieving such a major cultural change requires a lot of effort from different players in the community. Part of this achievement involves eradicating gender bias in the allocation of tasks. Gender limitations on the range of tasks that one should engage in should be abolished. The film depicts desperate attempts by Mulan to overcome these stereotypical gender limitations. Her commitment to save her father brings her to near-death experiences at least twice in the film. All her struggles to disguise herself as a man would totally be uncalled for if the traditional Chinese society gave equal chances to both men and women to enlist in the army. Besides, Mulan’s contribution to the success of the Hans surpassed that of her male counterparts in the army. Her bravery even in the face of death brought great success for the Hans and proved that women can be as valuable to the society as men.
Works Cited
Cheu, Johnson. Diversity in Disney Films. Jefferson, North Carolina, [etc.]: McFarland, 2013. Print.
Crossley, Alison Dahl. Finding Feminism. New York: NYU Press, 2017. Print.
Poindexter, Katherine. Disney's Mulan. New York: Random House, 2013. Print.
Smith, Dorothy E. The Everyday World as Problematic. Boston: UPNE, 2012. Print.
