The other day my boyfriend Cory and I decided to take a trip to the Mall of America. He has two daughters and we thought it would be fun to take them to stores such as Build-a-Bear Workshop and the LEGO store. Additionally, we of course had to spend time at the Disney store. As we marveled at the seemingly endless shelves of various princess dolls, we came to a halt as Cory made an interesting observation. He pointed out the fact that a doll based off of the Disney movie Mulan was wearing the fancy dress and heavy makeup from the prelude of the movie rather than the armor she sports throughout the majority of the film. We were both pretty disappointed by this discovery and here is why:

For those of you who haven’t seen the movie Mulan you should know that it begins with the protagonist Mulan wanting to bring her parents honor by being the picture-perfect daughter and bride. However, she ends up honoring them instead by going to fight for China dressed as a man so that her father doesn’t have to. She is a fierce warrior and ventures away from the classic Disney princess mold. While there is nothing wrong with wanting to wear dresses and dance around, Mulan is the role model for those little girls that want to chop their hair off and play just as hard as the boys. She is so inspiring because she breaks down walls by revealing gender roles and stereotypes that are so important for young children to see... So why does the doll not represent that?

While some may read this and say, “Who cares? It’s just a doll.” I think the Mulan doll reinforces gender stereotypes onto young children, regardless of how progressive the movie character is. Young girls watching this movie may relate to her being uncomfortable and unhappy in traditionally female attire, and may feel inspired by the fact that she accomplishes so much outside of her attire. How do you think those same girls feel when they go into the Disney store looking for their tough, warrior Mulan doll, and instead find that the only option is Mulan in a dress?

I’ve spent a couple days now trying to come up with the reasoning behind Disney’s decision with this doll, but I haven’t come up with much other than (once again) gender stereotypes win. If a child wants to play with a doll, she must be a girl, right? And she must want her doll to have long hair to brush and a fancy dress, right? Because no child could ever like dolls AND pants, right?

While I may be going off on a bit of a rant, I do honestly feel this is a real shame. Disney created a truly original and inspirational female character. I understand that the worth of a character isn’t all wrapped up in what he or she wears. However, when a whole song is dedicated to Mulan singing about how she doesn’t feel like herself when she is in that dress and makeup, it makes no sense to portray her that way in toy form. To the creators of these toys, shame on you. You owe it to all of those little Mulan fans out there to start making some dolls with pants. I know you’re capable, because the Shang "action figure" was right next to Mulan wearing armor. If you want to create such a kickass character, you should make a female doll who does and can keep up.