Stereotypical Barbie, Stereotypical Feminism
My friends got me to see the Barbie movie this weekend and it didn't make me cry but it definitely made me think about the Feminist Movement.
I had zero interest in going to see the new Barbie movie. Just like I missed out on the phenomenon that was the Titanic movie in 1997 (seriously, I’ve never watched it), I was happy to let Barbie and all of its hot pink marketing pass me by. My girlfriends insisted I go, and I am not mad that I saw it. I am a Communications, Culture and Media Studies scholar, so I felt like if nothing else I can think about what the movie says about society and feminism. I didn’t LOVE Barbie the way some people have gushed on about it, but I didn’t hate it either. It was an opportunity to go out and enjoy time with my friends, but it did make me stop and think about where the fourth wave of feminism is heading.
I don’t consider myself a “Barbie girl.” Yes, I had Barbies growing up, but they weren’t the toy I reached for, and they did not hold my interest. I only had Black Barbies, my mother only let us play with Black dolls because she believed strongly that when we play make-believe, we imagine ourselves as those characters and she wanted me to see myself in the toys I played with (thanks, Mom). But just like with the movie, there was always something about Barbie that just didn’t sit well with me. Barbie didn’t inspire me as a child. Barbie wasn’t who I wanted to emulate, so she wasn’t the toy I reached for every day.
I realized as they kept calling Margot Robbie’s Barbie character Stereotypical Barbie, I was also watching what I consider Stereotypical Feminism. When you think of Barbie, Margot Robie’s depiction is what you think of as Barbie. Barbie is blonde, white, had a ridiculous body shape and is considered the perfect woman. Feminism is pretty much the same. Stereotypical Feminism is usually the kind of feminism I see publicly. It is based on the needs and concerns of mostly White women without really scratching beyond the surface to touch on issues minority women face. It can be performative and superficial while simultaneously claiming to fight for the rights of all women. The Barbie movie tried to give you a diverse group of Barbies that were all varying body sizes and races, but do people really think of those versions of the dolls as Barbie? The imprint of Stereotypical Barbie is tattooed on the brains of our society, and I wonder if we have fully embraced that Barbie can be any woman because women are not meant to embody Stereotypical Barbie.
When you think of Barbie, Margot Robie’s depiction is what you think of as Barbie. Barbie is blonde, white, had a ridiculous body shape and is considered the perfect woman. Feminism is pretty much the same.
In the movie, Gloria (a mom who loved Barbie, played by America Ferrera) gives a monologue about how hard it is being a woman to snap Stereotypical Barbie out of her Ken induced stupor (you can read it here) and I am pretty sure it’s part of what brought people to tears (not me). I watched and realized immediately; oh this is that trigger that made women cry. The director, Greta Gerwig has said in interviews when Ferrera gave that monologue everyone was crying, thinking of their own monologues. All I thought was, it’s even more than that when you’re a working mom, or a single mom, or you add race to your womanhood, or you’re a transgender woman, or you’re gay…the list could go on. That monologue is what society already knows and felt like as a feminist call, it could have been so much more. If this monologue was given in the real world, no one would actually listen because it was coming from a woman of color. I know that’s a pessimistic view of the world, but it is a reality I’ve seen repeatedly. Watching the Barbie movie just reminded me of how Stereotypical Barbie wasn’t for me when I was growing up and she still wasn’t for me now.
If this monologue was given in the real world, no one would actually listen because it was coming from a woman of color.
The world of Barbie dolls today has grown. Barbies have all kinds of body shapes and varying skin tones and styles. There is actually a Barbie for so many types of women, not just Stereotypical Barbie. I never fully connected with Barbie because I never saw myself in Barbie. Perhaps if I had the chance to buy a Barbie with an athletic body and wildly curly hair when I was younger, I might’ve embraced my own figure and hair sooner. Perhaps Barbie is the movie you need to see to make you think more about how much the world needs to change in order for women to live better lives. Or perhaps Barbie is the movie you need to just laugh with your friends. My hope is that as young boys and girls see more diverse representation in the toys they play with, in the books they read and, in the movies and tv shows they watch, they’ll see everyone as a Barbie and not just a stereotypical representation of women. And maybe the feminist movement can start to see the same thing too.
Thank you, Dana, for the "review" of Feminism 2023. I hated Barbie as a child because she represented the wealthy kids in my neighborhood of which I was excluded. She also embodied all the negatives that came with being poor, fat and not interested in dressing up in fashionable clothes (which we couldn't afford). Barbie also did not represent the women in my life. I remember crying as a child that the black girls didn't have black dolls (1950s) and Barbie just made it more obvious then. And I can not get started about how women are still objects of admiration IF they look like Barbie. Thanks again!
very well said. thank you - you put my jumbled thoughts into coherent words, which gives me something solid to think about