Language, gender, and patriarchy in Mulan: a diachronic analysis of a Disney Princess movie

Abstract Movies can implicitly promote social and ideological norms on a mass scale, making them powerful socialization agents, especially among children. However, Hollywood movies are no longer confined to the influence of American ideals, as media companies now have consider growing markets such China. With this in mind, paper explores portrayal gender, power, gendered roles across two versions Disney’s Mulan (1998 2020). Specifically, it male-coded female-coded characters’ talk for portrayals gender enactment assigned through conversational strategies content talk. Findings indicate subtle shift distribution “dominant” discourse between versions, despite characters being framed dutiful wives, brides-to-be, and/or mothers both movies. 2020, portrayed more “feminine” their talk, while characters—particularly Xianniang—are “masculine”, further highlighting recent trend nuanced Disney Based these results others, argues that still primarily associated with heteronormative service patriarchal world, has undergone changes may reflect Chinese influences.