Preview

Women And Pleasing The Matchmaker In Mulan

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
139 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Women And Pleasing The Matchmaker In Mulan
In the beginning of the Walt Disney Picture, Mulan (1998), it shows women in Mulan’s village helping her get ready to meet the “matchmaker”. The matchmaker arranges marriages for both women and men. Throughout the song the women in the village explain different qualities that Mulan should possess in order to impress the men and the matchmaker. Repeatedly the women state by portraying all these characteristics and pleasing the matchmaker she will “Bring honor to us all”. In China, during the Han Dynasty, it was a cultural norm at Mulan’s age to marry and bear children. While the men were at war the women would take care of the children, which were always preferred to be male. The only way for women of Mulan’s age to bring honor to her family

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    As a child a woman submits to her father, when married she submits to her husband, and when windowed she submits to her eldest son. Traditional beliefs are stated in a biography of the mother of Mengzi. In her own words she states the duties of a Chinese woman; “-to cook the five grains, heat the wine, look after her parents-in-law, make clothes, and that is all!..”. Chinese woman have no ambitions outside of the house, only to submit and do their duties for their men which in so in very opposing to the woman of the Roman Empire. Woman of Rome are seen to be “like a child”. As a child she is under the authority of her paterfamilias, when marries she’s under the jurisdiction of her husband’s paterfamilias. Unlike the woman of China, they are highly dependable on a male guardian to protect her needs and interests. Although, in both civilizations, the social standing of a woman remains depending on the level of hierarchy they belong…

    • 699 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Perhaps one of the more interesting ways in which women display honorable behavior is the way they bring up their daughters. Women had strict duties around the household, these duties included cooking food, cleaning and caring for the house its guests and most importantly the family. To raise a daughter with the ability to take care of all the duties of the household was a strong sense of honor for the women’s family. “Bushi women, however, had no such custom. Most having been raised to devote themselves singlemindedly to the duties of a housewife, had no hobbies or pastimes.”(Women of Mito Domain, 142) Women’s focus was on the family and a submissive existence to serve, however possible the betterment of the family. With the responsibility of the house and family at a women’s highest duty, her main focus is to serve as best possible.…

    • 1189 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    “The Ballad of Mulan” comes from the fifth or sixth century. It was written in a time when China was divided between the north and the south (Hamby). If Mulan actually existed, she would have lived during the Northern Wei dynasty. She joined the army and prepared to…

    • 776 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    It strengthened the Confucian ideal for a woman to be confined and subjugated by men. The control of women’s mobility not only assured her chastity, but also prevented her from running away or seeking help in the neighborhood. As a result, women must be passive and accept every whim and desire of her husband. In most cases, women were only treated as sex objects for men’s satisfaction. Women are being dehumanized. Because of this gender inequality, men are allowed to have as many concubines as they want, while women should always be loyal to their husbands.…

    • 4926 Words
    • 20 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Mulan's Stereotypes

    • 798 Words
    • 4 Pages

    When Mulan finally meets the Matchmaker, the Matchmaker observes Mulan on how she acts and speaks. She makes Mulan recite the Final Admonition, which states “Fulfill your duties calmly and respectfully. Reflect before you act. This shall bring you honor and glory.” The only purpose for Mulan or any women is to bring glory to the family by marrying a person who will help the family, not destroy its reputation. Women are to act fairly and wisely and know how what actions they are acting. By following all these rules, glory will come to all women. This is also further proven in Alexander M. Bruce’s journal, “The Role of the "Princess" in Walt Disney's Animated Films: Reactions of College Students,” where he claims that the role of Disney Princess…

    • 798 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Women's Roles Before 1500s

    • 1165 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Women were also blamed for the problems and conflicts in divions do jealousy and Millis. In Qin time it was against the law for a man to beat a woman, because it allowed the woman to be somewhat protected. They also married at a very young age in Han time which was thirteen to seventeen years of age. The women had to also comfort, bath, and feed and respect the in-laws of the man, because it was a “Domestic Regulation” according to Bella Vivante, “Women’s…

    • 1165 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Medieval Women Roles

    • 1063 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Noblewomen, on the other hand, had different roles with the acquired power they were given. Instead of being housewives, noblewomen, often wealthy women who married powerful men, lived in castles. Their main role was to bear her husband’s children, mainly boys, to continue the family name so the child can inherit their lands. Women were usually married into noble families at the age of thirteen or fourteen. Since they were married young, most noblewomen bared a child for their husbands each year until their mid-thirties (Eastwood 6).…

    • 1063 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    In early imperial China, the way of life was very different than it is in China today. Men were known to have taken care of the fields. Women were to stay at home and to their woman’s work. Their work consisted of sewing, weaving, spinning, and embroidery. This is the Confucian way of how to be a good woman. Although, it was not necessary for these jobs to be done year- round; many women also had the job of tea picking. In that time, people believed that women who picked tea would turn out to be good woman and caused them to be better respected through their hard work (Lu).…

    • 621 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Apworld Essay

    • 1000 Words
    • 4 Pages

    During this time period many women were determined to be submissive to their husbands in marriage—their whole lives were depended on their husbands. Women were even seen as economically inferior to their husbands as the Legal Code of the Qing dynasty from China legislates. It mandates that all of a woman’s dowry should belong to her husband’s family, suggesting that in this Chinese society a women’s entire life, all the way down to her personal belongings are wrapped up in her husband. (5) Usman dan Fodio, a member of the Muslim Sufi brotherhood whose conservative religious thoughts indicate women’s inferiority to men, locates the responsibility of teaching women the truth of God in men; in doing so, he infers that women lack the intellectual ability to understand their own religion. (7) Moving forward in history, Simone de Beauvoir, the leader of New Feminist movement during the 20th century offers a vivid portrait of women having no authority of their own lives as “man is her whole existence”. She uses her language to evoke sadness and sympathy from pointing out the unjust reality to her readers. (9) The absolute superiority that males demonstrate through marriage give them control of women in all aspects of life therefore viewing them as the “weaker sex”. This cultural phenomenon has been continued through present day’s families as…

    • 1000 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    !Kung and Nisa

    • 1236 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Women, although still equal to men have a great responsibility of taking care of the family. In the !Kung tribe, the sex of the child does not matter, but in certain cultures, “A mother’s influence is thought to pose a threat to her son’s masculinity or ability to attain full male status, and boys are separated from their mothers to counteract this feminizing influence (Shostak, 1981, p. 214). The only time that the boy child is being separated from the mother is when there is a ceremony called “Choma” being held for the boy around the ages of fifteen and twenty.…

    • 1236 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Women In Ancient China

    • 881 Words
    • 4 Pages

    (Shelton 20) Boys were sent to school in order to learn about agriculture, warfare, Roman traditions, and public affairs for their future careers. ("Women in Ancient Rome”) Girls were supposed to stay at home and learn how to raise a family and care for the household. In China, especially in the rural communities, a girl’s education (or lack thereof) was very similar in practice; however, sometimes in wealthier families, young Chinese girls were taught how to read and write by their father. Women in this time period also invented a secret written language only for women called nu shu, which created an opportunity to share thoughts, feelings, and works of art or literature with other women in the community; this is one of the reasons why we have much more insight into the ancient Chinese woman’s life than the ancient Roman woman. However, no matter how educated they managed to become, these women were not allowed to take the imperial exams and therefore couldn’t have a career as a scholar or politician. (“Ancient China: Daily Life of Women”) This practice was reflected in Rome where, also in very wealthy families, fathers would sometimes send their daughters (as young as seven years old) off to school with the boys. However, the outcome was the same,…

    • 881 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Although the conditions for Qing women, especially upper class ones, were slowly improving (there is some evidence of female writers, poets, and painters), women were still seen as far second-class and subordinate to men and had few, if any, rights. They were not allowed to divorce their husbands, and they could be sold into slavery or prostitution if their parents or husband so desired. Footbinding, a practice in which a girl’s feet are broken and her toes slowly folded under the soles of her feet in the hopes that she would become more marriageable, was a common practice. Concubinage was also commonplace, as was infanticide of female children. These practices show how a woman was judged in society—her worth was determined by her beauty, her ability to be married off for a good price, and her ability to bear male children. Like the structure of society and family life in Qing China, the place of women in society was based on Confucianism; Confucius’ teachings explicitly subordinated women to men. For example, an old Chinese proverb that has been passed down through the centuries is, “The most beautiful and talented daughter is not as desirable as a deformed…

    • 1188 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In China, before the revolution, women were held subservient to men. Women were expected to work in their kitchens and in the fields, and make their husband’s lives comfortable and easy. Therefore, women were not showed the respect or appreciation their deserved from their hard work because it was simply just expected of them. This idea of inferiority and subservience is shown multiple times throughout the novel between Wang Lang and his wife O-Lan. Especially when he disparages her housework, and has an affair with a concubine.…

    • 87 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    During 960-1300 C.E., women were not allowed to attend school and do other things they were allowed to do when the Tang ruled. Once again, men took over and women’s rights were taken away. Compared to Tang times, women were less active in politics and less commonly seen on the streets. On the other hand, women’s rights to property were relatively secure in Song times. Older women were often very powerful within their families and girls left their families when they married. As long as they gave birth to sons, they would eventually gain a respected place in their family. Their life may not be very different from Tang women’s, but they still lost rights and some overall…

    • 947 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    During the Victorian Era, society’s view on women, courtship, and marriage differed immensely from today’s views. In the nineteenth century, women were held to a higher and stricter standard. Women couldn’t talk to men without being introduced, they couldn’t leave the home without a chaperone, they had to look their absolute best, and many more restrictions. Back then, a woman’s main goal or career was to get married and their role in society was within the home. In order to reach that goal, girls were trained, during their childhood, to speak in foreign languages, how to cook and clean, learning how to sing and to play musical instruments.…

    • 261 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays