The trainer of soldiers sings a song called “I’ll Make a Man Out of You,” and lists the qualities his soldiers must have to be considered a man. He sings, “We must be swift as a coursing river. Be a man. With all the force of a great typhoon. Be a man. With all the strength of a raging fire. Mysterious as the dark side of the moon.” When the trainer sings about a man having to be “swift” and full of “force” and “strength” he is perpetuating the male stereotype that men have to be hostile and strong while exerting “force” on other people. In addition to this, the notion that men have to be “mysterious as the dark side of the moon” promotes the stereotype that men have to be cold and not open with their feelings.
The lyrics in this song call into question any males manhood if they lack the qualities that the song includes. These stereotypes are ultimately harmful to young boys who see this movie, because if they aren’t truly full of "force" or "mystery" Mulan can make them feel like they are not a man.
Great post! I agree with you that this is totally reinforcing the male soldier stereotype. It reinforces the so called "tough guise" which I think is only recently being acknowledged, whereas the female princess stereotype has been decreasing for centuries.
ReplyDeleteI disagree with you about the reinforcing of male stereotypes. Yes the song talks about all of those requirements of being a "man" but Mulan's unit is full of all types of "men" and in the end they were all able to save China. Not all of the men are in good shape, or coordinated, or smart but they were all able to "get down to business to defeat the Hun."
ReplyDeleteI agree that there is a way of taking the song to be reinforcing male stereotypes but I always saw the song as actually making fun of/breaking male stereotypes. The leader sings of all of the qualities a man must have, and none of the soldiers quite meet all of them, yet they are all friendly, wonderful people who, as Simone said, save China. The audience loves Mulan's unit despite the fact that they don't meet the leader's, who symbolizes society in a way, standards of a man.
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