Seminar paper from the year 2021 in the subject Gender Studies, grade: 1,0, University of Luxembourg, language: English, abstract: Gender and its meaning are often discussed by anthropologists, feminists, and other researchers. However, the way that each defines the word gender is very different and there seems to be no fixed definition as to when one identifies as man or woman. This problematic, that there are so many different definitions for gender, Judith Butler takes as the center of her work, and tries to explain what they understand behind the notions of sex and gender. I will therefore base my analysis on Judith Butler’s "Gender Trouble", published in 1990. Butler’s approach is very interesting, as it brings in the notion of culture as well. And because Butler brings in culture, and culture is the subject of anthropological research, I will take some ideas of Lila Abu Lughod’s "Writing Against Culture", published in Recapturing anthropology: working in the present. The anthropological approach will only lead to a better understand of how culture and gender are so similar, as they are both not innate. The fact that gender is not innate and has to be learned, or as Judith says performed, will be the key idea that I will represent in this paper. The idea that gender is performed and is a social construction, is clearly represented in Walt Disney’s "Mulan". I will, therefore, use this movie to prove the point that I am aiming to elaborate. My point is that any individual can perform different gender identities and that individuals are able to change their gender. So, gender is not related to the sexual organs or chromosomes one has, but gender is simply a behavior that adapts to its environment and is fluid.

Seminar paper from the year 2007 in the subject American Studies - Culture and Applied Geography, grade: 1,7, University of Osnabrück (Institut für Anglistik/Amerikanistik), course: Introduction to Gender Theory, 28 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: 'How can they tell if I am male or female?' With this last line of 'The Ballad of Mulan' the (anonymous) author raises the gender question already in the 6th century. In this essay, I would like to analyse The Representation of Gender in Walt Disney's 'Mulan', using the structure of the movie to focus on The Protagonist Fa Mulan, the Treatment of Women and the Depiction of Men. Additionally, the inquiry concerning the Meaning of Song Texts in Disney's 'Mulan' appears useful as these always play an important role in conveying movie themes. In order to establish a connection to the seminar on which this paper is based, I will illustrate how the movie is a good example for Judith Butler's theory of Gender as Performance. Last but not least, I would like to show the Influence of Disney's 'Mulan' on Society because fairy tales and movies '[...] do influence the manner in which children conceive the world and their places in it [...]'. Drawing the 'Conclusion', I will try a careful approach to find out if Disney's 'Mulan' might even be considered as a feminist movie. (...)

Masculinity without men. In Female Masculinity Judith Halberstam takes aim at the protected status of male masculinity and shows that female masculinity has offered a distinct alternative to it for well over two hundred years. Providing the first full-length study on this subject, Halberstam catalogs the diversity of gender expressions among masculine women from nineteenth-century pre-lesbian practices to contemporary drag king performances. Through detailed textual readings as well as empirical research, Halberstam uncovers a hidden history of female masculinities while arguing for a more nuanced understanding of gender categories that would incorporate rather than pathologize them. She rereads Anne Lister's diaries and Radclyffe Hall's The Well of Loneliness as foundational assertions of female masculine identity. She considers the enigma of the stone butch and the politics surrounding butch/femme roles within lesbian communities. She also explores issues of transsexuality among "transgender dykes"--lesbians who pass as men--and female-to-male transsexuals who may find the label of "lesbian" a temporary refuge. Halberstam also tackles such topics as women and boxing, butches in Hollywood and independent cinema, and the phenomenon of male impersonators. Female Masculinity signals a new understanding of masculine behaviors and identities, and a new direction in interdisciplinary queer scholarship. Illustrated with nearly forty photographs, including portraits, film stills, and drag king performance shots, this book provides an extensive record of the wide range of female masculinities. And as Halberstam clearly demonstrates, female masculinity is not some bad imitation of virility, but a lively and dramatic staging of hybrid and minority genders.

Essay from the year 2015 in the subject Film Science, grade: 2:1, University of Portsmouth (University of Portsmouth), course: English and Media Studies Bsc, language: English, abstract: Animation holds the power to create a narrative of hidden connotations and therefore the ability to distort reality from fairy-tale. This power has led to animation becoming a key way to express ideologies that go against hegemonies. One of the revolutionary narrative discourses in targeting feminist ideologies is that which redefines traditional characteristics of femininity. In discovering the influences on media culture and its development we can be drawn to Disney, as a hugely influential and globally popular animation company, specialising in targeting children with the ability to draw adults into its deeper more sinister relations. Disney’s 1998 film "Mulan" (1999), is a westernised adaptation of the Chinese tale of Hua Mulan, a legendary figure from ancient Chinese culture about a girl who took her weak fathers place to fight in the army, as a ploy to save him from almost certain death.

Progress towards gender parity is hindered by unconscious ways that hypermasculinity is valorized at a symbolic level. By deconstructing how social and textual phenomena as well as social structures contribute to gender performativity, we can elucidate hard-to-discern patterns that perpetuate hegemonic masculinity. The subliminal elevation of symbols of hypermasculinity excludes both women and non-gender conforming men. By delving into these symbolic meanings that operate subliminally, we can more effectively debunk beliefs that “real men” fall within narrow parameters of masculinity. There remains much to explore in terms of hidden pressures for men to constrain their expression of emotions, project an appearance of hardness, and equate violence with power, to name just a few persistent facets of toxic masculinity. While abstract forms of inculcating hypermasculinity are difficult to identify, interrogating their role in masculine performativity will result in a more comprehensive understanding of impediments to gender equality.

Mulan, the warrior maiden who performed heroic deeds in battle while dressed as a male soldier, has had many incarnations from her first appearance as a heroine in an ancient Chinese folk ballad. Mulan’s story was retold for centuries, extolling the filial virtue of the young woman who placed her father's honor and well-being above her own. With the publication of Maxine Hong Kingston’s The Woman Warrior in the late 1970s, Mulan first became familiar to American audiences who were fascinated with the extraordinary Asian American character. Mulan’s story was recast yet again in the popular 1998 animated Disney film and its sequel. In Mulan’s Legend and Legacy in China and the United States, Lan Dong traces the development of this popular icon and asks, "Who is the real Mulan?" and "What does authenticity mean for the critic looking at this story?" Dong charts this character’s literary voyage across historical and geographical borders, discussing the narratives and images of Mulan over a long time span—from premodern China to the contemporary United States to Mulan’s counter-migration back to her homeland. As Dong shows, Mulan has been reinvented repeatedly in both China and the United States so that her character represents different agendas in each retelling—especially after she reached the western hemisphere. The dutiful and loyal daughter, the fierce, pregnant warrior, and the feisty teenaged heroine—each is Mulan representing an idea about female virtue at a particular time and place.

Although its early films featured racial caricatures and exclusively Caucasian heroines, Disney has, in recent years, become more multicultural in its filmic fare and its image. From Aladdin and Pocahontas to the Asian American boy Russell in Up, from the first African American princess in The Princess and the Frog to "Spanish-mode" Buzz Lightyear in Toy Story 3, Disney films have come to both mirror and influence our increasingly diverse society. This essay collection gathers recent scholarship on representations of diversity in Disney and Disney/Pixar films, not only exploring race and gender, but also drawing on perspectives from newer areas of study, particularly sexuality/queer studies, critical whiteness studies, masculinity studies and disability studies. Covering a wide array of films, from Disney's early days and "Golden Age" to the Eisner era and current fare, these essays highlight the social impact and cultural significance of the entertainment giant. Instructors considering this book for use in a course may request an examination copy here.