Introduction: A post-feminist approach towards popular media
Post-feminism is described as a continuation of the first, second and third-wave of feminism which highlights the contradictions and absences in all of those three movements. In post-feminism, the most important belief is that gender is not a fixed, stable notion. Instead, post-feminists are in favour of a society that denies rigid gender identities and roles. Furthermore, post-feminism functions as a critical way of thinking in which we can connect feminism to popular culture. In our current era, it is important to be aware of how the mass media and the popular culture we consume influence the representations of gender roles and identities. These media products have the ability to severely shape people's perspectives on gender and identity, specifically the younger generations like children, teenagers and young adults.
A great example of a post-feminist approach towards gender would be the representation of androgyny within popular culture. Androgyny is defined as someone who physically or psychologically shares both masculine and feminine elements. Androgyny is often expressed and recognizable by visual appearance; meaning via clothing, hairstyle, body language, cosmetics and body modifications. The ability and freedom to express oneself using these elements connects strongly with a punk lifestyle. Which, especially for androgynous women, can give a strong sense of empowerment and confidence within our patriarchal world. “Androgyny is a form of resistant politics, punk aesthetic and transgressive identification that not only destabilizes binaries but offers women and girls alternative modes of expressing gender identification outside of dominant and normative codes of femininity or masculinity” (Malone, 58).
This type of punk aesthetic can effectively be seen in The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (2011), where the character of Lisbeth uses her androgynous identity to survive in a violent, abusive, patriarchal world. However, androgyny is not exclusively bound by the punk lifestyle. A different type of androgynous representation can be seen in Disney’s Mulan (1998). Unlike Lisbeth, Mulan is not visualised through a punk aesthetic. Instead, she encapsulates the features of masculinity by crossdressing and talking and acting like a ‘traditional’ man. This results in her defying the cultural gender norms that are indoctrinated by her family, her country and the traditions of Asian culture.
The question that will be explored in this essay is: “How do Lisbeth and Mulan navigate in the patriarchal society by transgressing gender binaries and norms through the use of an androgynous identity?”. In order to critically discuss how androgyny is used as an empowering tool by these two characters, a formal analysis of both films, including their cinematography, editing, mise-en-scene and sound, will be conducted. Secondly, a cultural analysis of both films regarding the themes of gender roles, gender identities, patriarchy and androgyny will be done. This research will also briefly mention the reception of both films. Since both films are vastly different, aimed at different audiences and made in different periods, these factors will also be taken into consideration.
Overcoming a Patriarchal Society Through Androgyny - The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
Based on the novel of the same name and directed by the well-established filmmaker David Fincher, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is the American adaptation of the critically acclaimed Swedish film. The story follows Lisbeth Salander, a skilled computer hacker trying to solve the mystery of a missing woman. What makes Lisbeth’s character interesting is in the way she defies the status quo of what defines a woman. Lisbeth encapsulates a representation of androgyny with her punk appearance, attitude and behaviour. She has different alternative hairstyles throughout the film, wears dark colored (often leather) outfits, dark-smokey makeup, bleached eyebrows, multiple piercings and a nose ring. Her character is antisocial, distant and often aggressive, which is the result of her distrust towards people. “Lisbeth’s character, whose aesthetics transgress waves of feminism and complicate postfeminism as feminine, revealing in its assault a strategy for women and girls to cross and uncross gender boundaries and binaries inside and outside of representation through a practice of androgyny” (Malone, 59). Having been physically, sexually and psychologically abused by men, including her father, Lisbeth has found power within herself through her androgynous identity. In Lisbeth’s introductory scene where she meets with her (older male) employees, she acts distant and confident instead of trying to please them. This distant behaviour is highlighted by her avoiding eye contact and deliberately sitting at the far side of the office table. The framing of the over-the-shoulder shot, the long table, and the wide-angle-lens that’s used highlights this distance. These elements show how her androgyny gives her power in this situation, where a woman could easily be vulnerable to the abusive power dynamics in the workplace. In the scene where Lisbeth takes revenge on her rapist, the use of a low angle shot positions her as superior to her abuser. This conveys her androgynous gender performativity, specifically how this allows for personal empowerment and androgynous identity acceptance.
However, the argument is also made that the way Lisbeth situates herself within society is still “mediated through a determining male gaze” (Mollegaard, 350). So, what the film reflects is that although Lisbeth can be seen as a post-feminist heroine, her identity is still shaped by the male-dominated society. How Lisbeth emancipates herself from the violent male gaze is through her punk aesthetic; her tattoos and piercings, her clothes filled with gaps and cuts and her spiky do-it-yourself hairstyles. Her body modifications “agitate and challenge the male gaze” (Mollegaard, 351). By creating an alternative visual beauty through her body modifications, Lisbeth screams her threatening unique identity to the world. While she is mostly empowered by her androgynous identity, there are also moments when she uses the traditional beauty norms to give herself the upper hand. For example, in scenes where Lisbeth wears dresses, purses and conventional wigs and make-up, she gains power in specific environments and becomes less visibly present. Subsequently, the framing in these scenes centralise Lisbeth and the use of a warm color palette contradicts the usual colder, blue-dominated color grading that is visible when she is reflecting her true, androgynous identity. These techniques show how she is more embedded within the society when she’s adopting a stereotypically feminine attitude. Here, the movie cleverly conveys the idea that women, when they act and look as a woman is expected to, are seen as less of a threat and therefore ignored. That is mostly why Lisbeth goes across the conventional ideals of femininity and establishes a safe place for herself in society through androgyny.
It is important to note that the film is mostly directed to an adult audience, which is why violence is a very predominant theme in the film. The post-feminist power of the film comes from its realistic and authentic representation of the cruel behaviour of abusive men. That is why in the post-feminist discourse, the reception of the film is quite reflexive, in the way that most people -especially women- can relate to the violence that they see on screen and reflect upon the power of gender performativity like androgyny, in order to defy societal constraints around gender identities.
Transgressing Cultural Gender Norms Through Androgyny - Mulan
Walt Disney Pictures have been often criticised for their representation of women since second-wave feminism emerged, in particular regarding their “Disney Princesses''. Recent analytic research concluded that even though many of their protagonists are females, male characters outspeak the female ones in almost all Disney movies (Guo, 2021). The same problem exists in their casting, which is severely male dominated. Responding to this criticism, Disney made progressive changes to their representation of women during their Renaissance period (1989-1999), which is most noticeable in The Little Mermaid (1989) and in the 1998 film Mulan. Mulan’s inclusion of androgynous elements makes it unique inside Disney’s filmography. The film tells the story of a Chinese teenage girl who struggles with her identity. She does not fit into the expected image of a feminine woman and therefore decides to join the army, where she pretends to be a man in order to protect her elderly father. The protagonist, a 16-year old girl called Mulan is told to bring honor to her family by marrying a man. In the musical sequence of “Honor To Us All”, Mulan is bathed, clothed and prepared like a doll by matchmakers who make her into their view of the perfect image of a woman. The lyrics of the song express that Asian cultural traditions indoctrinate the idea that honor is only possible through a marriage that preserves the family’s legacy. In another musical sequence (“Reflection”), Mulan sings “I will never pass for a perfect bride or a perfect daughter.” She tells the audience she’s trapped in a place where she’s not the girl the world wants her to be. In a striking visual representation of this trap, she looks at her own reflection but doesn’t recognize herself. This shot, combined with the sounds and lyrics of the song, not only functions as a plot device but also carries a subtle metaphor about the struggles of gender identity for teenagers.
After this painful realization, Mulan decides to run away from her predestined life and pretends to be a man to go to war. This is where Mulan starts to embody an androgynous identity. As soon as Mulan arrives at the army, her walk, her clothes, her hairstyle, her voice and her overall behaviour and attitude changes towards masculine. Her interactions with the other soldiers show how men are stereotypically perceived and defined by society. By doing this, the film cleverly includes the idea that gender norms apply to men as well. Mulan transgresses these gender norms by embracing an androgynous look, while still using feminine features to get out of situations. As a result, Mulan comes to represent a fusion of femininity and masculinity for the rest of the film. Regarding male gender norms, the film also bends these in the scene where the soldiers cross-dress as women and use hand fans to distract guards. During the film’s climax, Mulan disarms the villain using that same object, which is ” an important symbol in the films’ visual language” (Hough, 8).
Ultimately, by dressing, talking and acting like a man, her identification with androgyny becomes more than just a physical representation. It opens many doors for Mulan; first she saves her father, then her country, and finally herself. The film teaches its younger audience that real honor comes from creating your own gender identity, no matter what the world has to say.
After the movie was released, Disney stopped producing their “princess” films for ten years. Within that period, not much changed for androgynous representations in mainstream cinema (Guo, 2016). Over time though, Mulan has proven to be an important and influential mainstream film for the representation of androgynous characters specifically aimed at children. “Whilst gender role portrayals in children’s media continue to be problematic, a possible progression exists towards less narrow representations of gender” (Hine, England, Lopreore, Horgan & Hartwell, 2). Children are very perceptive and vulnerable to outside influences, so a more fluid representation of gender and an introduction to the idea of androgyny as an identification to transgress gender norms shapes future generations and contributes to the post-feminist popular culture.
Conclusion: Timeless Androgynous Heroines
If there’s one central idea that binds both The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and Mulan together, it can be found within the uniqueness of both protagonists’ gender identity. Lisbeth and Mulan’s stories have remained relatable and relevant over time, not because of the many different versions that have been created, but thanks to their incredibly strong transgressions of the problematic gender norms of our world through androgyny. Their stories come from different cultures, they use completely different aspects of masculinity and femininity and the target audiences differ severely; and yet these two heroines are connected in pain and empowerment. Where Lisbeth finds both comfort and power in her punk lifestyle, Mulan searches for strength in masculinity and crossdressing. Disney’s film uses their effective musical sequences, straightforward dialogue, illustrations and animations to convey this androgyny. David Fincher’s adaptation uses costume design, make-up, color grading, framing and impressive acting to convincingly present Lisbeth’s punk androgynous features.
Both worlds presented in these films are patriarchal, which unfortunately coincides with our current reality. Considering the fact that Mulan is specifically aimed at children, this might prove to have a problematic effect psychologically. This calls for further research into
the effects of facing children with our harsh reality instead of using imaginative fantasy. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo shows even more of the pain that women experience in our world. For it’s young-adult audience, this can be both healing and triggering. Similar to Mulan, psychological research in regard to its targeted audience can prove to be enriching, specifically relating to the realistic depictions of rape on-screen.
Lastly, the awareness of the Americanization of both of these stories must be addressed and looked into further. The process of Americanization and cultural appropriation happens often in mainstream media products. Disney has been criticized for this in the past and continues to get mentioned when this problem is discussed. Unfortunately, due to the small scale of this research, this issue will be left open for future analysis. To conclude, both of these stories of young females exploring their androgynous identity have shown us how different cultures and genders can clash but eventually connect via a transgression of the status quo. In our ever-changing world, the voices of these heroines will forever harmonize our pain.
Bibliography
1. Guo, Jeff. 2016. “Analysis | Researchers Have Found a Major Problem with ‘The Little Mermaid’ and Other Disney Movies.” Washington Post, January 25, 2016. Accessed June 10, 2021.
2. Hine, Benjamin, Dawn England, Katie Lopreore, Elizabeth Skora Horgan, and Lisa Hartwell. “The Rise of the Androgynous Princess: Examining Representations of Gender in Prince and Princess Characters of Disney Movies Released 2009–2016.” Social Sciences 7, no. 12 (2018): 245.
3. Hough, Soren. “How Disney's ‘Mulan’ Brazenly Challenges Gender and Sexuality: Features: Roger Ebert.” Features | Roger Ebert. Accessed June 9, 2021.
4. Malone, S. (2014). Androgynous punk as postfeminist signifying strategy of transgression within subcultures: Punk aesthetic as gender de[con]struction in the trilogy film series The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and the anime series Kino’s Journey.” Contention: The Multidisciplinary Journal of Social Protest. 2(1): 57–68.
5. Mollegaard, K. (2016). “Signs taken for warnings: Body modification and visual pleasure in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.” Journal of Popular Culture. 49(2): 347–366.
6. Shapiro, Amanda. “‘I’ll Make a Man Out of You’: Carnival and Gender Roles in Disney’s Mulan.” sites.williams.edu, November 14, 2017
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