After reading Weyler’s article "An Actor in the Drama of Revolution: Deborah Sampson, Print, and Performance in the Creation of Celebrity,” I could not stop thinking about how Sampson’s public persona reminds me of Disney’s manipulation of Mulan. Weyler describes how Sampson’s bending of heteronormative gender roles is only acceptable for the sake of patriotic duty. Once her patriotic is completed, she must return to unambiguous heteronormative behavior. Blurring the lines of gender is acceptable only if present to help a cause.
When reading this, I immediately connected it to Disney’s adaptation of Mulan. Despite being dressed like a man for most of the film, all Mulan merchandise after release of the film represents her as a “feminine” princess. She is rarely again represented cross-dressing, but instead as an eroticized geisha. The film also ends with a feminine heteronormative version of Mulan. After Mulan has saved China, the emperor offers her an honored position as one of his advisers. While a woman has never been given this honor before, Mulan rejects the offer. She instead goes back to her home to re-attain her role as daughter. The film also reinstates the gender norms it initially sought to break. Mulan fulfills her expectations as a woman, and marries instead of continuing as a political androgynous force.
It is amazing to me that this still occurs. Just a Sampson’s performance is only acceptable for a patriotic purpose, so is the case with Disney’s representation of Mulan. She is only empowered by cross-dressing if it serves a patriotic purpose. Even now, cross-dressing has to be justified so a community may feel comfortable about it. I just thought this was really fun to think about and now I can move on. :)
Your connection to the cross dressing of Disney's Mulan really resonates for me, because I just read Maxine Hong Kingston's "The Woman Warrior" last semester in Literary Criticism, which includes a retelling of Fa Mulan's story. Wikipedia has the original Ballad of Mulan:
ReplyDelete"Taking off the armour worn in wartime,
Attired myself in apparel of former times;"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hua_Mulan
If it makes you feel any better, even way back then girls had to stop dressing like boys once the battle was won. Too bad Disney didn't have the guts to rewrite the ending and keep Mulan as a warrior instead of reverting to the daughter role.
I know. :( I have Kingston's book but I haven't had a chance to read it yet. Did you like it? I've also found myself connecting Mann's representation of Deborah Sampson to Joan of Arc and how she is represented in Sainthood. All of these comparisons are so delicious, but also very distracting. Lol :).
ReplyDeleteKingston's book is amazing. It was on the Comps list for Fall and I actually wrote about it. You MUST read it.
ReplyDeleteIs that one of my pigeons? I think I misplaced a couple. Sorry. Send her home to roost with the other crazies in my head. :)
I loved Kingston's book so much - it was honestly my favorite selection from all the stuff we read in Literary Criticism. It is very powerful, and some sections are literally painful to read (you'll know what I mean when you read it). I photocopied the first chapter and mailed it to my sister in CA and made her promise to buy the book too.
ReplyDeleteAnd I know what you mean by delicious distractions - I keep finding all these wonderful sidetracks in the sources I'm reading and I have to keep reminding myself, not now, maybe later! I bet there could be a whole class structured around women in drag in literature that spans time and countries. Maybe Dr. Logan would teach it. :)
That would be the most awesome class ever! I would sooooo take it. By the way, THANK YOU so much for the source you left me. I plan on reading it tonight. You are all kinds of awesome Jay Jay!
ReplyDelete