Debunking Common Misconceptions About the Barbie Movie

First, I LOVE the Barbie movie. But that’s not how I felt after my first viewing.

Reading comments by misogynists on the Internet prior to seeing the film, I was expecting ground-breaking feminism. After all, this film must be really ‘radical’ if it has so many people in such a tizzy. However, I was crushed to learn that the central theme was basically, ‘Hey, what if men and women had equal rights – if that’s okay?’

To me, the movie was ‘feminism 101’ or ‘introduction to feminism’ or even ‘feminism for dummies.’ And yet this is what our nation considers to be ‘controversial.’ I’m sorry, women and men having equal rights is….. CONTROVERSIAL?!

I realized that if this simple, well-made, very unoffensive movie could provoke such an uproar from men and women alike, then this country really, really hates women. As someone who considers herself at the ‘graduate level of feminism,’ I am constantly shocked and appalled by how behind our country is when it comes to equal rights, especially in comparison to every other first world nation.

Nevertheless, we persist.

And I believe that one of the most powerful catalysts for positive social change is education (formal and informal). Specifically, I encourage fact-checking and debunking common myths about misunderstood concepts, such as Barbie. So, let’s address some common misconceptions about the Barbie movie:

First, I would like to know the rationale behind this thought. Is it because men are not the main characters? Or… what?

In the Barbie movie, were any men verbally or sexually assaulted, kidnapped, or murdered? No. However, all of these acts of violence happen to women on a daily basis. Thus, it would seem obvious that Barbie Land doesn’t ‘hate’ men, but American society sure hates women.

So maybe – just maybe – the issue that needs to be addressed is our society’s active hatred of women, rather than getting our panties in a wad about films that don’t feature men in lead roles. But wait, wasn’t Ken a lead role anyway? (Even when it’s about women, everything is still about men).

This myth is brought to you by the opening scene in Barbie, which cleverly pays homage to ‘A Space Odyssey.’ As you recall, the girls see Barbie for the first time and start smashing their baby dolls. It is hilarious! It’s funny! You’re allowed to laugh, Karen!

And here’s another not-radical-but-somehow-is-considered-radical perspective: not all women want to be mothers! Since choosing to forgo motherhood is a valid decision, why can’t that position be represented on the big screen? Barbie is not anti-mother, but even if it was, who cares? There are so many women who do not aspire to be mothers, and that is perfectly fine!

I am not sure where this opinion comes from, especially since the dolls are relatively asexual. They don’t even have genitals!

Nevertheless, I’d like to point out that gender and sexuality are social constructs. There is no ‘woman’ or ‘man’ outside of the context of society. Sex exists and ‘male’ and ‘female’ exist independent of society, but gender and sexuality can only exist within a society since they are social constructs. Without society, we are all gender fluid pansexuals. And that’s not a bad thing!

Conservatives like to talk about what’s ‘natural.’ My friend, what’s ‘natural’ is having zero gender expression and being attracted to all humans, regardless of gender.

Moreover, since Barbie exists in the context of society, it actually upholds gender and sexuality constructs.

Again, I do not understand the logic behind this one. If someone could explain the reasoning, then I could craft a more targeted response. In the meantime, I’ll go with what I know, which is that one of the actresses in the film is a transgender woman. However, her real-life gender and sexuality is not mentioned or relevant to the Barbie film.

I have to conclude that it is simply the casting of a gender minority that folks find ‘pushes the transgender agenda.’ In essence, this is asserting that transgender folks shouldn’t be cast in movies. To me, that seems like an ‘agenda’ intended to harm gender and sexual minorities by stripping them of their livelihood.

Ooof. This one hurts. First, we need feminism. This is an indisputable fact. But don’t take my word for it. Let’s consider the evidence:

In 2023, men still outearn women. In fact, Will Ferrell earned $4 million for his minor role in the Barbie movie compared to America Ferrera, one of the leads, who made $2 million. Kate McKinnon earned $800k and Issa Rae earned $200k. It seems that the Barbie Land mindset couldn’t make it past the pastel pink sets to the actors’ salaries.*

Next, America Ferrera’s monologue succinctly captures the societal struggles of being a woman. If you feel we ‘don’t need feminism,’ go rewatch this.

On top of income disparity and societal pressures that women face, every single aspect of our society is designed for men. For example, just this morning, I was explaining how buildings are cold because men run hotter than women, and they prefer the cooler temperatures. Literally every detail and convenience in every day society is orchestrated with men in mind.

Lastly, women do not have bodily autonomy in most U.S. states. I don’t understand how anyone can look me in the eye and claim that women ‘don’t need feminism’ when you can’t even terminate a pregnancy in the state of Florida, even if the fetus is not viable and poses a danger to the mother. At this point, you are literally punishing people who want to have babies.

If you want to read more about this, check out my blog post on Roe. (FYI: I’ve received a lot of hateful comments and spam on this post, but your engagement boosts my blog’s popularity and ratings, so hate away!)

Ken was a doll. Ken does not have a personality. He assumes the role of whoever is playing with him. I suppose in this film, the child who was playing with him decided to give him a fun and carefree personality. Newsflash: not all men are – or need to be – masculine. Likewise, not all women need to be feminine.

Moreover, assuming all men need to be masculine is promoting ‘toxic masculinity,’ which actually harms men as well as women. When men are taught ‘boys don’t cry’ and ‘man up,’ they learn to suppress their emotions. What happens when you bottle things up? They explode.

Men’s mental health is a complex and serious issue. Pressuring men to be masculine exacerbates the problem.

This is where I found the salary information:

https://www.hindifact.in/2023/07/barbie-cast salary.html#:~:text=Barbie%20Movie%202023%20Actors%20And%20Salary&text=America%20Ferrena%2C%20who%20plays%20Gloria,million%20for%20a%20Barbie%20Movie.

Also, this is an informative article.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jul/20/barbie-movie-republicans-reaction