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Gender Roles In Disney's Film Mulan

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Currently, widespread stereotypical views regarding masculinity and femininity divide occupations in a society. Liben et al. (2014) state that the older demographic strongly believe that certain societal roles are only appropriate for a particular gender (P.145). This is strongly evident in the 21st century since men represent the workforce while women manage domestic affairs (Charlebois, 2012, P.201). The general public is also unwilling to accept positions that deviate from these stereotypes and criticizes people that do not conform to these standards (Hoffman et al., 2000, P.496). As a result, society perpetuates the ideology that every individual should adapt their societal role on the basis of their gender.
The society constructed in Disney’s film Mulan (1998) strongly mirrors the gender-based division shown by the research on the field. The film clearly depicts the ideal housewife when Mulan’s elders prepared her to facilitate a childbearing role. The song “Honor to us All” also highlights the gendered separation of roles by constructing the image that honorable men should “bear arms” while honorable women should “bear sons”. The matchmaker also rebukes Mulan because she failed to satisfy and …show more content…

Tepperman (2011) defines role conflict as the situation encountered by a person that has to “satisfy the demands of two […] contradictory roles” (P.115). Clearly, role conflict is difficult to manage because an individual cannot completely devote their resources on a single objective (Cinamon, 2010, P.83). According to Moore (2009) however, role conflict only occurs if a particular individual is not able to make compromises in order to successfully satisfy differing demands (P.43). As a result, it is possible to attend to conflicting roles if an individual sacrifices or postpones certain activities in favor of a more pressing

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In the movie, Mulan, by Tony Bancroft and Barry Cook, they use the character, Mulan, to represent feminism and gender roles of women, such as bringing honor to their family through marriage, and how women are deemed to be “inferior” in the eyes of men, for example, when women are not able to participate in war, allowing Mulan to act and fight for what she believes is to be right. Although having a feeling of superiority over women, men tend to act more based on pride and honor than what they believe is to be just, thus making them seem unruly and disgusting. During the ancient Chinese Dynasty, many of the women were looked down upon, making the men have a feeling of superiority over them. Men are usually portrayed to uphold the family honor

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