why I hate Mulan 2020: a thread

throughout the movie, it was obvious that disney was trying to preach the message that "femininity is strong", which of course can be a great message if executed correctly, but it's not the message of Mulan's story (at least not the original)

Mulan is an ordinary girl. Yes, she's a little clumsy which I suppose could be considered "quirky" or something that makes her "not like the other girls", but overall she's pretty average and is just trying to live a normal life.

When she hears that her father is being called to fight in the war, she is obviously upset, because she knows he will die if he joins the fight. So, through her determination to save her father, she steals his armour and his sword, and runs away to join the army in his place.

In the army she trains to become a soldier, alongside the young men who have been called to fight as well. None of them are particularly skilled, but over the period in which they train, they all become strong and capable warriors.

Mulan's strength has nothing to do with her femininity.

Her story has nothing to do with her strength stemming from her femininity.
Mulan is not strong because she is a woman. She is not strong despite being a woman.

Mulan is strong because she worked hard to be strong. She is strong because she exercised good self discipline and worked diligently to cultivate her strength.

Mulan is strong because she put in a lot of effort to be that way, just like all the men who trained beside her.

Mulan’s story is about how women and men, despite their differences, are equals, and neither of the two is less capable than the other.

The last lines of the poem Disney’s Mulan is based on perfectly illustrate the meaning behind Mulan's story:

"the male hare bounds, here and there,
whilst the female has narrow eyes,
but when the two hares run side by side,
how can you tell the female from male?"

//rough translation, please let me know if I've made any glaring errors//

Mulan is strong.

She is not strong because of her femininity.

She is not strong because she is one of the lucky few capable of catching up with men.

Mulan is not trying to catch up with men.

Mulan is not a superhuman who has some magical gift that gives her the ability to “catch up” with men.

Mulan is not trying to “catch up” with men.

And she doesn't need to "catch up".

Because Mulan is not running behind men. She is running alongside them.

Her femininity is not what makes her as strong as the men around her.

It’s her determination to run alongside them.

My take away from Mulan is this:

Women do not need to catch up with men because women and men are equals.

Women and men are not rivals, they are not competing for first place.

(THE WAY THE POWER WENT OUT BEFORE I COULD FINISH THIS THREAD JDSJDJSJS)

They run alongside each other because life is not a race. At the end of the day, no one wins, and no one loses.

Femininity is not what makes Mulan strong. It is by the power of her determination that she continues moving forward.

Disney has watered her down, made her into some lame attempt to appeal to feminists who think women need to “become” equal to men.

But Mulan does not “become” equal to men.

She refuses the offer she is given to work under the emperor and serve the patriarchy. She doesn’t fight because it is her “duty”. She does it to save her father, the only patriarch she truly recognises.

Mulan is powerful, not because she is a woman, and not despite the fact that she is a woman. She is powerful because she worked hard to keep moving forward.

She does not work to “become” equal to men. She simply is.

Women do not need to work to “become" equal to men. They simply are.

Women are not working to catch up with men. They run alongside them.