THE REPRESENTATION OF FEMINIST IDEOLOGY IN THE
CHARACTERIZATIONS OF FA MULAN IN DISNEY’S MULAN (1998) FROM THE
PERSPECTIVE OF RADICAL FEMINISM
By
Ni Kadek Meri Listiani
1612021090
English Language Education
ABSTRACT
Feminism is an ideology that develops extensively owing to women's awareness of the
importance of gender equality between women and men. This vast development affected many
industries, including the entertainment industry. Walt Disney begins to follow the development
and raise feminism as the theme in his work. Disney developed their films by putting a message
to support the feminism movement. This study aims at identifying the representation of
feminism values, especially radical feminism in the characterizations of Mulan in Disney's
Mulan (1998) by using textual analysis. The result of this study indicates that Mulan has 30
general characterizations and 8 characterizations identified as a radical feminist. Those general
characterizations of Mulan are brave, protective, athletic, strong, frank, boyish, helpful,
persistent, subversive, independent, loyal, diligent, responsible, shy, sensitive, fearful, weak,
clumsy, cunning, gullible, affectionate, soft-hearted, curious, decisive, smart, reckless,
rebellious, impolite, troublesome, and resourceful. Furthermore, the radical feminist
characterizations depicted by Mulan are independent, persistent, responsible, protective,
boyish, brave, resourceful, and strong.
Key words: Disney, feminism, film, radical feminism
