Thoughts on Barbie

When the Barbie movie first came out I'll be the first to admit I was a bit ambivalent. I wasn't a big Barbie fan as a child and I do think that in many ways historically the concept of Barbie has served to perpetuate the idea that women have to meet societal beauty standards. But people started to ask me if I'd seen it (which seemed odd to me) and then I started to see memes on social media about the film and my interest was piqued. It helped that Greta Gerwig is already a legend so when yet another friend asked about it, I decided to go. Armed with a Meercat 2 for 1 Wednesday ticket and a tub of popcorn, we took ourselves off to the cinema.

By the time I watched the film that day I had already read a number of articles and opinion pieces about it. Phrases like feminist propaganda, anti-men and super-woke were as prolific as joyful, empowering and enlightening. There seemed to be camps within the camps if you know what I mean. Both conservatives and progressives seemed to both love it and hate it. Too feminist, not feminist enough. 

It may be obvious of you've read anything else I've written, but I do identify as a Christian feminist (Christian being my pronoun) so I guess full disclosure, that is the lens I viewed the film through. Some conservative Christians say that phrase is an oxymoron but I see plenty of feminist behaviour in Jesus and plenty of evidence throughout the Bible pointing to intended equity between the sexes so I'm at peace with it. 

So can I just say first up that Barbieland is NOT a feminist utopia. If that is a person's takeaway then they have a very poor understanding of what feminism is. A feminist utopia would mean complete equality between the sexes. In that respect the film relies heavily on people understanding that it is satirical and many have unfortunately missed the point and villainised feminism in the process. Barbieland is ruled by women, they hold all the jobs held by the world to be the 'most important'... President, doctors, judges etc. This seems to be a sticking point with outrage aimed at this seeming exclusion of men. But of course it's just a satirical reflection of the 'real world' and let's not forget that it is only the very recent history that women have held any of those roles and there incidentally still hasn't been a female American president. The film intended to shine a light on the ridiculousness of the idea that one sex is excluded from anything. The irony of it all being that it takes turning it on its head for it to become significant. In this, the reactions to Barbie by some PROVE Barbie's point in real time. 

There are two speeches within the film which are really important. One by Sasha (the daughter of the woman who ultimately brought Barbie on her mission) where she denigrates Barbie and everything she stands for, accusing Barbie of setting back feminism 50 years. It's not a bad speech to be fair and the accusation that Barbie perpetuates ridiculous feminine ideals of beauty is honestly not wrong. This cuts Barbie to the quick because Barbie is in fact 'stereotypical Barbie' which means her only function was to look pretty, mirroring some of the problematic views of women in the 'real world' . The Barbies with jobs came a little later so in fairness, Sasha had a good point.

The second speech by Gloria is arguably the most commonly quoted speech of the summer. It cuts to the heart of the 21st century woman's experience. I've included the speech at the bottom of the page because honestly, it's worth a read. 

The major criticism I see in anti-Barbie content is that it pits men against women. And genuinely, I don't think it does. All the film does is shine a light on an existing issue in society and magnify it to make it obvious. The reactions, which I've frequently seen to be vociferous, violent and angry, including from Christian men, has demonstrated exactly why this issue still needs to be highlighted. 

The Christian response, in my opinion, should not be to viciously point at women as instigators of temptation, playing on men's propensity for lust. This only serves to dehumanise both men and women.

In all fairness to angry Christian Barbie commentators, I don't think as Christians we are going to find loads of content for discussion. For one, it's just way too polarising and there are more useful discussions to be had about how equality is signposted to in the Bible rather than Hollywood. I've seen far more ugliness in the words of Christian Barbie commenters than in the secular world and that is disturbing in itself. 

I'd rather consider what it is that causes a film like this to be created and address that. Inequity in our current society, built on the history of a millennia of oppression has resulted in women feeling at risk and objectified. It's not hysteria, it's reality. It's ancient and perpetuated gender stereotyping initiated at the fall with original sin and a battle we have been engaged in ever since. 

 

"It is literally impossible to be a woman. You are so beautiful, and so smart, and it kills me that you don't think you're good enough. Like, we have to always be extraordinary, but somehow we're always doing it wrong.

You have to be thin, but not too thin. And you can never say you want to be thin. You have to say you want to be healthy, but also you have to be thin. You have to have money, but you can't ask for money because that's crass. You have to be a boss, but you can't be mean. You have to lead, but you can't squash other people's ideas. You're supposed to love being a mother, but don't talk about your kids all the damn time. You have to be a career woman but also always be looking out for other people.

You have to answer for men's bad behavior, which is insane, but if you point that out, you're accused of complaining. You're supposed to stay pretty for men, but not so pretty that you tempt them too much or that you threaten other women because you're supposed to be a part of the sisterhood.

But always stand out and always be grateful. But never forget that the system is rigged. So find a way to acknowledge that but also always be grateful.

You have to never get old, never be rude, never show off, never be selfish, never fall down, never fail, never show fear, never get out of line. It's too hard! It's too contradictory and nobody gives you a medal or says thank you! And it turns out in fact that not only are you doing everything wrong, but also everything is your fault.

I'm just so tired of watching myself and every single other woman tie herself into knots so that people will like us. And if all of that is also true for a doll just representing women, then I don't even know."