Speech essay

In the Disney movie Mulan there are many situations in which the parents can be an example of a style of parenting. There are three main forms of parenting styles; authoritarian, permissive, and authoritative. Mulan’s parents show the concept of an authoritarian parenting style which leads her and her parents to have a conflict. Rather than her parents submitting to her desires, or being both demanding and responsive, her parents impose rules and expect obedience from their child. The authoritarian style of parenting is said to be the "hard" parenting style. The beginning of the movie the audience notices the various examples of this authoritarian style that is imposed by Mulan’s parents. As a result of Mulan’s parents imposing the authoritarian style she suffers an identity crisis that is described by Erikson’s stages of psychological development.
The movie begins with Mulan waking up and her having to complete her chores, just as her parents have expected her to do so. Aside from doing the morning chores Mulan had a very important meeting with the match maker that same day. Here Mulan is expected to be a "perfect wife" needing to know the ways to pour tea and being liked by her in laws. She basically needed to know how to be a house wife and mother. Unfortunately her parents do not believe in her but coming from the typical authoritarian Chinese culture they still need to impose these expectations on their children. After the Emperor calls out for one man from each family to go to war, Mulan "acts out" when her sick father is called. She interrupts her father from receiving the scroll, an act that is not expected to come out from a daughter. Her father says "you have dishonored me" because she was out of line. Later on that day, during dinner Mulan speaks out again about her father going to war which finally leads to her own father saying "I know my place, it's time you know yours". This is the ultimate dishonor for Mulan, she has broken all expectations from her parents.
As a result of her mishaps and continuing dishonors, Mulan feels as if she does not fit in her home and has failed everyone in her family. She has nothing else to lose and decides to take her father’s place in war by pretending to be a man. She is suffering the identity crisis of her adolescent years as described by Erikson. She is confused about what her purpose is since she cannot complete her Chinese tradition of being a woman. She begins to test a new role different from her original identity, and realizes that she is actually good at being a man. She realizes that she does not have to fulfill the expectations of her family. She found a way to integrate her new role to create her own identity. She comes home with honor to her family along with her new identity of a strong intelligent woman. Mulan overcomes the conflicts with her family and her identity.