“What do you think of when someone says Barbie? You probably think of a stereotypical Barbie: blonde hair, blue eyes, and a tiny waist.” -- Amara Deanes, 6th grade
*Spoilers for the Barbie Movie ahead
What do you think of when someone says Barbie? You probably think of a stereotypical Barbie: blonde hair, blue eyes, and a tiny waist. You probably don’t think of a feminist or someone who supports women. You especially don’t think of a record breaking blockbuster. Well, the Barbie movie might change that.
Barbie was the biggest blockbuster of the summer, making over $1 billion at the global box office, surpassing Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. by $155 million. Barbie made Greta Gerwig the highest grossing female director of all time, beating Patty Jenkins’ record for Wonder Woman (2017). Barbie also broke another record: it made $356 million on its opening weekend, so it was the biggest opening weekend for a female director.
“Barbie's ticket sales were, of course, boosted by the “Barbenheimer” craze, which saw cinephiles flocking to cinemas for a double feature of Barbie and Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer, about the invention of the atomic bomb,” reported Teen Vogue.
Underneath all the stylized pink of Barbie is a movie with a message about feminism. Zara Quiter, 7th grade Literary Arts student says that, “Barbie's message was brilliant—it pointed out Mattel's mistakes and Barbie's flaws before we could, and delivered a strong feminist message perfectly at the same time.” Despite Barbie’s origins being non-feminist, and Barbie having an unrealistic body that is molded to the male gaze, the Barbie movie is fueling the rise of bimbo feminism and hyperfemininity.
Bimbo feminism is a type of feminism that supports things like hyperfemininity and is very multifaceted. “On TikTok, many women are in the midst of a “bimbo” renaissance, in which hyper-feminism is embraced.” explains NBC News.
Motherhood is also a strong message of the movie. “The story between the mother and daughter was far more powerful than any other plot line. Rhea Perlman's character… has a line toward the end of the movie about how mothers stand still so that daughters can look back and see how far they've come. That sentiment made me cry during the movie, and again afterward when I relayed my emotions to my daughters,” said Amanda Farmer, a 6th and 8th grade English and Social Science teacher at Oakland School for the Arts.
Towards the end of the movie, America Ferrera gives a monologue on the experience of being a woman in our society. The monologue describes the dual expectations in our society and the societal pressure that women and girls are subjected to. “The way the creators of the Barbie movie managed to incorporate so many struggles, problems, and challenges women experience in such a short amount of time is really impressive,” Zanthe Jones-Gerachis, 8th grade Literary Arts student says.
In the film, Barbie is learning about the real world, like how Sasha is discovering womanhood. When Barbie first meets Sasha, Sasha calls Barbie a “fascist” and a “bimbo,” saying that she’s been making women feel inferior since her creation. But, Sasha learns there is more to Barbie than meets the eye. Throughout the movie, Barbie and Sasha discover the multidimensional world of womanhood. They learn that women can be “weird, dark, and crazy,” as Ferrera puts it, while being hyper-feminine at the same time.
There are some debates on whether or not Barbie is a feminist movie. Many of the actors, including Margot Robbie, who plays stereotypical Barbie, have called it a feminist movie. “It’s not that it is or it isn’t. It’s a movie. It’s a movie that’s got so much in it,” said Robbie in an interview with Time Magazine.
“The movie really went into how girls have it harder than boys and that we need to stand up more,” explains Grace Russell, a 6th grade student in OSA’s Theater department.
Although, many Mattel executives say it is not a feminist movie, including Robbie Brenner, the executive producer of Mattel Films.
“This movie made an argument for positioning more/all women in power. While I like this sentiment--we need more movies that show different perspectives!--it feels a tiny bit like misandry,” argues Mrs. Farmer.
“Issa Rae, 38, who plays President Barbie, argues that the entire point of the film is to portray a world in which there isn’t a singular ideal,” reported Time Magazine. Many actors that Time interviewed said that they got on board with the movie because it would dive into the interesting and uncomfortable parts of Barbie and feminism.
Barbie isn’t just one thing or idea. Barbie is a feminist movie and it isn’t. Barbie is perfect and has every body type in the world. Anyone can be Barbie and Barbie be anyone. Just like bimbo feminism, Barbie is very multifaceted.
What do you think of when someone says Barbie? You probably think of a stereotypical Barbie: blonde hair, blue eyes, and a tiny waist. You probably don’t think of a feminist or someone who supports women. You especially don’t think of a record breaking blockbuster. Well, the Barbie movie might change that.
Barbie was the biggest blockbuster of the summer, making over $1 billion at the global box office, surpassing Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. by $155 million. Barbie made Greta Gerwig the highest grossing female director of all time, beating Patty Jenkins’ record for Wonder Woman (2017). Barbie also broke another record: it made $356 million on its opening weekend, so it was the biggest opening weekend for a female director.
“Barbie's ticket sales were, of course, boosted by the “Barbenheimer” craze, which saw cinephiles flocking to cinemas for a double feature of Barbie and Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer, about the invention of the atomic bomb,” reported Teen Vogue.
Underneath all the stylized pink of Barbie is a movie with a message about feminism. Zara Quiter, 7th grade Literary Arts student says that, “Barbie's message was brilliant—it pointed out Mattel's mistakes and Barbie's flaws before we could, and delivered a strong feminist message perfectly at the same time.” Despite Barbie’s origins being non-feminist, and Barbie having an unrealistic body that is molded to the male gaze, the Barbie movie is fueling the rise of bimbo feminism and hyperfemininity.
Bimbo feminism is a type of feminism that supports things like hyperfemininity and is very multifaceted. “On TikTok, many women are in the midst of a “bimbo” renaissance, in which hyper-feminism is embraced.” explains NBC News.
Motherhood is also a strong message of the movie. “The story between the mother and daughter was far more powerful than any other plot line. Rhea Perlman's character… has a line toward the end of the movie about how mothers stand still so that daughters can look back and see how far they've come. That sentiment made me cry during the movie, and again afterward when I relayed my emotions to my daughters,” said Amanda Farmer, a 6th and 8th grade English and Social Science teacher at Oakland School for the Arts.
Towards the end of the movie, America Ferrera gives a monologue on the experience of being a woman in our society. The monologue describes the dual expectations in our society and the societal pressure that women and girls are subjected to. “The way the creators of the Barbie movie managed to incorporate so many struggles, problems, and challenges women experience in such a short amount of time is really impressive,” Zanthe Jones-Gerachis, 8th grade Literary Arts student says.
In the film, Barbie is learning about the real world, like how Sasha is discovering womanhood. When Barbie first meets Sasha, Sasha calls Barbie a “fascist” and a “bimbo,” saying that she’s been making women feel inferior since her creation. But, Sasha learns there is more to Barbie than meets the eye. Throughout the movie, Barbie and Sasha discover the multidimensional world of womanhood. They learn that women can be “weird, dark, and crazy,” as Ferrera puts it, while being hyper-feminine at the same time.
There are some debates on whether or not Barbie is a feminist movie. Many of the actors, including Margot Robbie, who plays stereotypical Barbie, have called it a feminist movie. “It’s not that it is or it isn’t. It’s a movie. It’s a movie that’s got so much in it,” said Robbie in an interview with Time Magazine.
“The movie really went into how girls have it harder than boys and that we need to stand up more,” explains Grace Russell, a 6th grade student in OSA’s Theater department.
Although, many Mattel executives say it is not a feminist movie, including Robbie Brenner, the executive producer of Mattel Films.
“This movie made an argument for positioning more/all women in power. While I like this sentiment--we need more movies that show different perspectives!--it feels a tiny bit like misandry,” argues Mrs. Farmer.
“Issa Rae, 38, who plays President Barbie, argues that the entire point of the film is to portray a world in which there isn’t a singular ideal,” reported Time Magazine. Many actors that Time interviewed said that they got on board with the movie because it would dive into the interesting and uncomfortable parts of Barbie and feminism.
Barbie isn’t just one thing or idea. Barbie is a feminist movie and it isn’t. Barbie is perfect and has every body type in the world. Anyone can be Barbie and Barbie be anyone. Just like bimbo feminism, Barbie is very multifaceted.
