Female Gender Identity in the Adaptation of Disney Live-action Film Mulan

Xu Qingli; Shi Ying

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ellc.20200503.16

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Female Gender Identity in the Adaptation of Disney Live-action Film Mulan

Xu Qingli, Shi Ying

Published in English Language, Literature & Culture (Volume 5, Issue 3)

Received: 21 August 2020 Accepted: 2 September 2020 Published: 21 September 2020

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Abstract

The Disney’s 2020 live-action Mulan is remade from its 1998 animated one whose box office globally grossed 304 million. Both movies are based on Chinese “The Ballad of Mulan” that a young woman disguised as a man to join the army about 1500 years ago. The 2020 Mulan movie is adapted to strengthen Mulan’s motto “loyal”, “brave” and “true” as a warrior, spill Li Xiang into Chen Honghui and Master Tung, replace Mushu with phoenix, and create two female role：Mulan’s sister Xiu and a witch Xianniang for views of new era from the 1998 animated film. These changes are analysed from a perspective of female gender identity to conclude that “loyal”, “brave” and “true” motto will push women to be engaged in social fairs and take more social responsibilities, omission of Li Xiang is helpful for women to break their hidden Cinderella complex, Phoenix, a female symbol, rather than a dragon, a male, is better to be Mulan’s guardian, and Xianniang, the villain in the movie, is pessimistic for women to take their place in the world, showing her power as a woman in a negative way. These adaptations reflect more independent gender identity of females.

Published in	English Language, Literature & Culture (Volume 5, Issue 3)
DOI	10.11648/j.ellc.20200503.16
Page(s)	112-115
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Gender Identity, Mulan, Female

References

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[2]	B. Tammy and J. Kitzinger. (2008) Promoting women in the media: The role of SET organisations and their science media communicators, Research report series for UKRC No. 4. Bradford: UK Resource Centre for Women in Science, Engineering and Technology.
[3]	Brocklebank, L. Disney's "Mulan"—the "True" Deconstructed Heroine? Marvels & Tales, Vol. 14, No. 2 (2000), pp. 268-283. Wayne State University Press.
[4]	FAO, Rome (Italy). Women, Population Div. eng (1999). Agricultural Censuses and Gender Considerations - Concept and Methodology. Rome, Italy: Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations. available online.
[5]	Little, W., McGivern, R., Kerins, N. (2016). Introduction to Sociology – 2^nd Canadian Edition. https://opentextbc.ca/introductiontosociology2ndedition/chapter/chapter-12-gender-sex-and-sexuality/
[6]	Prentice, D. A. and E. Carranza (2002). What Women and Men Should Be, Shouldn’t Be, Are Allowed to Be, and Don’t Have to Be, the Contents of Prescriptive Gender Stereotypes. Psychology of Women Quarterly, Volume 26, Number 4, December 2002, pp. 269-281 (13). Wiley-Blackwell (publisher).
[7]	Davis, A. M. (2007) Good girls and wicked witches: Women in Disney’s feature animation. John Libbey Publishing.
[8]	The Flowering Plum and the Palace Lady: Interpretations of Chinese Poetry (The Ballard of Mulan By Han H. Frankel, Yale University Press, 1976. https://kevinjamesng.com/2015/06/22/finding-mulan-the-ballard-of-mulan/
[9]	CHEU, J. (ed) (2013) Diversity in Disney Films: Critical Essays on Race, Ethnicity, Gender, Sexuality and Disability.
[10]	Dunders, L., & Streiff, M. (2016). Reel Royal Diversity? The Glass Ceiling in Disney’s Mulan and Princess and the Frog. Societies 2016, 6, 35; doi: 10.3390/soc6040035 www.mdpi.com/journal/societi
[11]	Cook, J., & Hasmath, R. (2014). The discursive construction and performance of gendered identity on social media. Current Sociology 2014, Vol. 62 (7) 975–993 sagepub.co.uk/journals Permissions.nav.
[12]	Dowling, C. (1981). The Cinderella Complex: Women's Hidden Fear of Independence/.

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APA Style

Xu Qingli, Shi Ying. (2020). Female Gender Identity in the Adaptation of Disney Live-action Film Mulan. English Language, Literature & Culture, 5(3), 112-115. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ellc.20200503.16

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ACS Style

Xu Qingli; Shi Ying. Female Gender Identity in the Adaptation of Disney Live-action Film Mulan. Engl. Lang. Lit. Cult. 2020, 5(3), 112-115. doi: 10.11648/j.ellc.20200503.16

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AMA Style

Xu Qingli, Shi Ying. Female Gender Identity in the Adaptation of Disney Live-action Film Mulan. Engl Lang Lit Cult. 2020;5(3):112-115. doi: 10.11648/j.ellc.20200503.16

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@article{10.11648/j.ellc.20200503.16,
  author = {Xu Qingli and Shi Ying},
  title = {Female Gender Identity in the Adaptation of Disney Live-action Film Mulan},
  journal = {English Language, Literature & Culture},
  volume = {5},
  number = {3},
  pages = {112-115},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ellc.20200503.16},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ellc.20200503.16},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ellc.20200503.16},
  abstract = {The Disney’s 2020 live-action Mulan is remade from its 1998 animated one whose box office globally grossed 304 million. Both movies are based on Chinese “The Ballad of Mulan” that a young woman disguised as a man to join the army about 1500 years ago. The 2020 Mulan movie is adapted to strengthen Mulan’s motto “loyal”, “brave” and “true” as a warrior, spill Li Xiang into Chen Honghui and Master Tung, replace Mushu with phoenix, and create two female role：Mulan’s sister Xiu and a witch Xianniang for views of new era from the 1998 animated film. These changes are analysed from a perspective of female gender identity to conclude that “loyal”, “brave” and “true” motto will push women to be engaged in social fairs and take more social responsibilities, omission of Li Xiang is helpful for women to break their hidden Cinderella complex, Phoenix, a female symbol, rather than a dragon, a male, is better to be Mulan’s guardian, and Xianniang, the villain in the movie, is pessimistic for women to take their place in the world, showing her power as a woman in a negative way. These adaptations reflect more independent gender identity of females.},
 year = {2020}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Female Gender Identity in the Adaptation of Disney Live-action Film Mulan
AU  - Xu Qingli
AU  - Shi Ying
Y1  - 2020/09/21
PY  - 2020
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ellc.20200503.16
DO  - 10.11648/j.ellc.20200503.16
T2  - English Language, Literature & Culture
JF  - English Language, Literature & Culture
JO  - English Language, Literature & Culture
SP  - 112
EP  - 115
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2575-2413
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ellc.20200503.16
AB  - The Disney’s 2020 live-action Mulan is remade from its 1998 animated one whose box office globally grossed 304 million. Both movies are based on Chinese “The Ballad of Mulan” that a young woman disguised as a man to join the army about 1500 years ago. The 2020 Mulan movie is adapted to strengthen Mulan’s motto “loyal”, “brave” and “true” as a warrior, spill Li Xiang into Chen Honghui and Master Tung, replace Mushu with phoenix, and create two female role：Mulan’s sister Xiu and a witch Xianniang for views of new era from the 1998 animated film. These changes are analysed from a perspective of female gender identity to conclude that “loyal”, “brave” and “true” motto will push women to be engaged in social fairs and take more social responsibilities, omission of Li Xiang is helpful for women to break their hidden Cinderella complex, Phoenix, a female symbol, rather than a dragon, a male, is better to be Mulan’s guardian, and Xianniang, the villain in the movie, is pessimistic for women to take their place in the world, showing her power as a woman in a negative way. These adaptations reflect more independent gender identity of females.
VL  - 5
IS  - 3
ER  -

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Author Information

Xu Qingli

Foreign Languages Department, Zhanjiang Preschool Education College, Zhanjiang, China
Shi Ying

Foreign Languages Department, Zhanjiang Preschool Education College, Zhanjiang, China

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APA Style

Xu Qingli, Shi Ying. (2020). Female Gender Identity in the Adaptation of Disney Live-action Film Mulan. English Language, Literature & Culture, 5(3), 112-115. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ellc.20200503.16

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ACS Style

Xu Qingli; Shi Ying. Female Gender Identity in the Adaptation of Disney Live-action Film Mulan. Engl. Lang. Lit. Cult. 2020, 5(3), 112-115. doi: 10.11648/j.ellc.20200503.16

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AMA Style

Xu Qingli, Shi Ying. Female Gender Identity in the Adaptation of Disney Live-action Film Mulan. Engl Lang Lit Cult. 2020;5(3):112-115. doi: 10.11648/j.ellc.20200503.16

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@article{10.11648/j.ellc.20200503.16,
  author = {Xu Qingli and Shi Ying},
  title = {Female Gender Identity in the Adaptation of Disney Live-action Film Mulan},
  journal = {English Language, Literature & Culture},
  volume = {5},
  number = {3},
  pages = {112-115},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ellc.20200503.16},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ellc.20200503.16},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ellc.20200503.16},
  abstract = {The Disney’s 2020 live-action Mulan is remade from its 1998 animated one whose box office globally grossed 304 million. Both movies are based on Chinese “The Ballad of Mulan” that a young woman disguised as a man to join the army about 1500 years ago. The 2020 Mulan movie is adapted to strengthen Mulan’s motto “loyal”, “brave” and “true” as a warrior, spill Li Xiang into Chen Honghui and Master Tung, replace Mushu with phoenix, and create two female role：Mulan’s sister Xiu and a witch Xianniang for views of new era from the 1998 animated film. These changes are analysed from a perspective of female gender identity to conclude that “loyal”, “brave” and “true” motto will push women to be engaged in social fairs and take more social responsibilities, omission of Li Xiang is helpful for women to break their hidden Cinderella complex, Phoenix, a female symbol, rather than a dragon, a male, is better to be Mulan’s guardian, and Xianniang, the villain in the movie, is pessimistic for women to take their place in the world, showing her power as a woman in a negative way. These adaptations reflect more independent gender identity of females.},
 year = {2020}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Female Gender Identity in the Adaptation of Disney Live-action Film Mulan
AU  - Xu Qingli
AU  - Shi Ying
Y1  - 2020/09/21
PY  - 2020
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ellc.20200503.16
DO  - 10.11648/j.ellc.20200503.16
T2  - English Language, Literature & Culture
JF  - English Language, Literature & Culture
JO  - English Language, Literature & Culture
SP  - 112
EP  - 115
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2575-2413
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ellc.20200503.16
AB  - The Disney’s 2020 live-action Mulan is remade from its 1998 animated one whose box office globally grossed 304 million. Both movies are based on Chinese “The Ballad of Mulan” that a young woman disguised as a man to join the army about 1500 years ago. The 2020 Mulan movie is adapted to strengthen Mulan’s motto “loyal”, “brave” and “true” as a warrior, spill Li Xiang into Chen Honghui and Master Tung, replace Mushu with phoenix, and create two female role：Mulan’s sister Xiu and a witch Xianniang for views of new era from the 1998 animated film. These changes are analysed from a perspective of female gender identity to conclude that “loyal”, “brave” and “true” motto will push women to be engaged in social fairs and take more social responsibilities, omission of Li Xiang is helpful for women to break their hidden Cinderella complex, Phoenix, a female symbol, rather than a dragon, a male, is better to be Mulan’s guardian, and Xianniang, the villain in the movie, is pessimistic for women to take their place in the world, showing her power as a woman in a negative way. These adaptations reflect more independent gender identity of females.
VL  - 5
IS  - 3
ER  -

Copy | Download