Journal-A person I would like to meet in the past

Have you ever seen the image of a Chinese heroine riding on the horse, yelling and killing Xiongnu like a real man? Or do you remember the song” Who is that girl I see? Staring straight back at me? When will my reflection show who I am inside?” Mulan was a young woman who disguised herself as a man to take her elderly father’s place of in the army, and I really feel like meeting her if I could travel back in time. I am a member of our basketball team, therefore I sometimes feel like I battle with others on the horse, too. Mulan, to some degree, is my reflection.

The hardships before Mulan turned herself from an ordinary woman into a heroine must include a lot of sacrifice: freedom, fighting brothers, youth…But the final choice she made was to give up the military promotion and went back home to show her filial piety. Most important of all, she is a rare case about a “woman” being mentioned in any ducument. It occours to me of the unfairness between genders. In the past, either in Chinese or Western culture, women had no position comparing with men. Even in nowadays, there are still many stereotypes in our society. Let me tell you a story: once upon a time, a pair of father and son had a serious car accident, and the father unfortunately died. The only thing the father asked before he passed away was to save his only son. So the hospital engaged the most authoritative doctor to operate, but the doctor shouted out loud:“ Oh, I can’t do this! He’s my son!” upon seeing the patiant. What’s wrong with this story? Weird, isn’t it? One may wondered, wasn’t the father already died? Why did he showed up as a doctor? The doctor is a female! See? We often fall into stereotypes unconciously. And the other true story is about an Arabian woman who was raped, but unexpectedly, she was the one to be blamed by the public and was whipped because of it.
I am here because of the speech freedom I got and the gradual raise of feminism in the society. It’s also my honor today, standing here and delivering my speech while it would be an impossible mission in ancient China.

Mulan would be an inspiring figure I would like to meet in the past. She stood out to prove that we girls are not weak; we are as capable as men. She was a pioneer, who represented the strength and courage of women. If I could travel back in time to meet Mulan, I would tell her about how women’s position have been improved now. Although playing basketball may be considered as a masculine activity, I knew I am good at it, and no one can oppress me. Just like Mulan’s story, as long as I am capable of doing something, there’s no way for me to give it up or have my head down. And I bet she would not mind if I invited her to play one on one if she knew how to play basketball! I think it would be the time my reflection shows who I am inside after I meet Mulan.