We Did It, Barbie

Growing up, I did go through a phase where I enjoyed playing with Barbie dolls. Though, my imagination wasn’t quite as wild as what I think Ruth Handler, the creator of Barbie, was envisioning when she dreamed to life her iconic toy. I had one play house and a green VW Beetle car. I was almost obsessive about my doll’s outfits and I spent a lot of time arranging the furniture in the house. I think what I liked about it was acting out a future where I had more control over my home environment and, I guess, my life in general. 

I won’t trauma dump on you in this blog post, but for me, I didn’t spend a lot of time dreaming about a future career or even relationships through the actions of my Barbies. I liked pretending to have a stable and comfortable home. 

That is why I think I got so irked once my little sister became old enough that she too gained an interest in playing with dolls. Her approach was much different than mine. We’re talking kitchen furniture in Barbie’s bedroom. Matching outfits? Never heard of such a thing. She was definitely a Weird Barbie creator. If you’ve seen the new Barbie movie already (which I will continue to recommend furiously throughout the rest of this post), then you know all about Weird Barbie because of Kate McKinnon’s stunning portrayal.

My breaking point came on the first day of middle school. I had a new blue lunchbox which I was really excited to show off at school because it was the same color as my bike. I wouldn’t even put it in my backpack. I hug-carried that thing for the whole bus ride and into my locker. Lunchtime rolls around and I’m ready to flex. Imagine my shock when I unzipped the top to find that my little sister had replaced my usual sandwich with a bunch of naked Barbie dolls. 

Hangry, I vowed to never play with them again. In fact, I abandoned the lunchbox too. 

Fast forward, the year is now 2023 and we the people get a live action Barbie movie. Middle school issues aside, I was psyched to go see the movie, especially on the big screen. While I expected that I would like it, it far exceeded any expectations that I had. I laughed a lot. I got a little misty-eyed. And at one point I wanted to start a women led revolution. The full spectrum. 

While I do want to talk more about the movie, I first want to focus on it’s in relation to the 2011 documentary Miss Representation. In my mind, Miss Representation was a question and Barbie is a preliminary answer. 

If you’ve never seen the documentary, I highly recommend that too. The official blurb on their site says that the film “exposes how mainstream media and culture contribute to the under-representation of women in positions of power and influence in America.”

Miss Representation delivers some statistics that were shocking in 2011. Such as, in a survey, it was found that 52% of 13 year old girls admitted to being unhappy with their bodies. By age 17, that percentage jumped to 78%. One of the students interviewed in the film said that she first started worrying about her weight in the fifth grade… The fifth grade! 

Some critics of Barbie (the doll) have said that she contributes to these ill feelings towards body image, particularly at her debut. But the problem isn’t Barbie. The problem is digital imaging that has girls and women comparing themselves against an impossible standard. Unfortunately, that problem is even worse today than it was in 2011. Now, social media is way more involved. There are specific apps that can turn anyone into a photography editor and we have filters! Also, consider celebrities that curate a certain image possibly using ‘assets’ like cosmetic surgery. That is simply unattainable for us common folk. 

The documentary talks about it all as a vicious cycle. Advertising is made to teach men to strive for power and status. Women are taught to spend money on beauty to chase that impossible ideal. That leads to self-objectification which leads to negative repercussions like: depression, low confidence, low ambition, eating disorders, lower cognitive function and lower GPA’s. Those feelings trickle down into lower political efficacy for women because they are less likely to vote and less likely to run for office. 

In the United States, we’ve never had a female president. We also do not have paid family leave. Those were both bleak facts stated in 2011, that unfortunately still ring true today. I am happy to report that we have moved to an almost 29% female congress versus the 17% reported in the film. An improvement, hell yes, but enough to be satisfied, absolutely not. 

So then the question becomes, “How can girls be encouraged to grow up to beat this, to make a change?” Miss Representation suggests that a major driving force behind female disempowerment is the media that we consume. It seems like common sense right? If you can see a positive role model, you’ll be inspired to be like that person. Traditional Hollywood gives us the same female characters over and over again. Why? Because the same types of people are the ones writing and directing the movies. Only 14.6% of all US film directors are female. That is in contrast to the fact that nearly 50.4% of the entire population is female. 

Again, an underrepresentation of the true experience. 

Now back to the Barbie movie, which was directed by Greta Gerwig. Again, a preliminary answer to the question. There is so much diversity among the Barbies. Not only is she represented as being successful at a lot of traditional careers, such as doctor, but Issa Rae shines as President Barbie! Not only a female role model, but a person of color! 

One of my favorite scenes in the movie is when Margot Robbie’s Stereotypical Barbie encounters an old woman in the real world. It’s the first time she has experienced aging and when she points it out to the woman, she replies that she knows she is beautiful despite her age. 

What a moment! 

Women, as portrayed by the media, are often villainized for aging and here is this queen laughing at that notion. Everyone does it. It is impossible to avoid. So, why should your worth have to decline with your youth? Ugh, I love it so much. 

And I could continue on about the feminist themes that I think are truly groundbreaking, but I also want to take a moment to acknowledge what the movie does to support men as well. A consequence of turning women into objects is that we also teach boys and men to be emotionally underdeveloped. Ken is this exactly. In her pursuit to save her home and help women in the real world, Barbie is able to teach Ken that it is ok to feel and that he is ‘Kenough.’ 

Critics of the Barbie movie have droned on saying that it is too feminist or too leftist. I saw some schmuck say that it’s a movie about hating men. To that guy, I have to wonder if we were even watching the same movie. Barbie is empowering men and women! Just as women don’t have to fall victim to looking a certain way to hold value, men don’t have to identify as the very outdated and one sided description of masculinity. How freeing for all of us!

While I think the movie is brilliant and I will likely see it again, I do recognize that it still isn’t enough. We have to keep fighting. In my pink bubble walking out of that theater, I felt pure elation. Then the bubble bursts when you remember that Roe v. Wade was repealed. We still have never had a female president. I watched a TikTok recently where the interviewer asked people why they wouldn’t vote for one, and another woman (ANOTHER WOMAN) said it was because women are too emotional. That’s a very ‘put Barbie back in the box’ kind of perspective. 

So, let’s go! Go see the movie. Hype yourself up with America Ferrera’s all-too-real speech on womanhood. Find a role model. Be a role model. Let’s make changes so that the next documentary doesn’t have to say “it’s better, but not great.” We can sing “We did it!”