Warrior Women in Context: Mulan as an Example of the Warrior Woman Motif
Robert Chapman-Morales
This context essay starts with Dugaw’s assertion that the Warrior Women ballads are examples of something that occurred historically: namely women disguising themselves as men and fighting in wars throughout history. To explore this idea, this essay will examine the Mulan legend to show the ways in which she defied Chinese cultural expectations to arguably be one of the most well known woman warrior of our time. Interestingly, Mulan’s story is told as a ballad, the content of which has been preserved as legend and has carried on into modern culture in Disney’s rendition of the story. Initial research shows that the legend is possibly based on historical truth, which brings up a set of questions that this essay will explore. First, if this story is true, why has it been ascribed to more of a legend and fictional story? Is this a way to take something problematic for the culture (a woman warrior showing more prowess than the male warriors and being one of the sole reasons for success in the wars she fought in) and creating enough mystery to take away the reality of the story? How does this story compare to other Warrior Women ballads? Lastly, can the story be seen as a critique of western culture (where women warriors are an anomaly) when compared to the Huns (a culture in which women participating in wars was not out of the ordinary). This essay will start by examining the ways in which the Mulan story helps us to understand Dugaw’s idea that women warriors was historically not something out of the ordinary. The essay will then move to examining the cultural problem of warrior women defying the idea that only men could display prowess in a war setting and how the culture found ways to dismiss these stories to uphold preconceived notions. Then, the essay will show how ballads and legends are ways in which we can see that gender ideas and perceived weaknesses are in fact cultural constructs of western culture. Finally, the essay will examine the culture of the Huns to show an example of a different culture with different ideas of gender and the role of women in wars. The essay will finally examine the question of why cultures that view women equally in the war effort are commonly portrayed as enemies in the stories we receive in western culture. Ultimately, the goal of this essay is to highlight another example of a ballad and story of Warrior Women and compare cultures. However, the essay will also ask readers to begin critically examining the ballads they read to look for ways in which the motif of Warrior Women critiques cultural constructs of gender and the potential of marginalized members of society. Ballads are meant to be read for enjoyment, but given the intended audience and the playful style of composure, one would be amiss not to see a sharp critique of hegemonic practices and the absurd idea that one’s actions are viewed differently based on one’s perceived gender and the clothes one wears.