Now, this is Mulan. Of all 12 women, she is the most influential for me. Here’s the thing, I’m mixed with Chinese and Scotch-Irish. I grew up around Chinese culture but never felt fully apart of it. My dad was born in Taiwan but was adopted by Americans. So, he couldn’t teach me Mandarin but he did teach me the “Kung Fu Fighting” song. The closest he could get me to China was plugging in the Mulan movie. (I was too young for Joy Luck Club and no other Asian Americans movies had been invented yet). Mulan was the only reason I knew to be proud of my differences. When kids at school asked me why I looked “different.” Why my dad was brown when I was pale. Or if was adopted - I knew not to be embarrassed. Because Mulan was proud of her family. So I was proud of mine
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Here’s the other thing. I hated princess movies as a little kid. I refused to watch a girl be kidnapped by a beast. And I knew Pocahontas wasn’t really a happy ending. But Mulan wasn’t a princess, she was a hero. Even at 7, I knew I liked dressing like a boy sometimes, and a little later, I knew I wanted to kiss girls (as well as boys). In my strict Christian school, they told stories about how all of that was a sin. Mulan was the only story that told me that was ok. That I was okay. That I could bring honor to my family, not by hiding who I was. but by being who I was.
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Here’s the other thing. I hated princess movies as a little kid. I refused to watch a girl be kidnapped by a beast. And I knew Pocahontas wasn’t really a happy ending. But Mulan wasn’t a princess, she was a hero. Even at 7, I knew I liked dressing like a boy sometimes, and a little later, I knew I wanted to kiss girls (as well as boys). In my strict Christian school, they told stories about how all of that was a sin. Mulan was the only story that told me that was ok. That I was okay. That I could bring honor to my family, not by hiding who I was. but by being who I was.
