Is Barbie a Feminist?
Children across the nation are taught ideals of female empowerment and mobility through the accomplishments of Barbie. While Barbie is a household name, it became even more widespread with this summer’s “Barbie” movie, directed by Greta Gerwig. Released the same day as “Oppenheimer,” many saw this as the perfect representation of femininity and masculinity being played out in theaters. The inherent competition between these two movies brought high viewership to both. According to Statista, “Barbie” grossed over $635 million in the North American box office and $1.44 billion worldwide, as of October 25, 2023. With these high viewership numbers, one could argue that Barbie effectively advanced feminist ideals to a widespread audience. However, some critics state that “Barbie” did not bring the message far enough. In fact, “Barbie” is criticized for only representing the stereotypical, idealized female body, despite the creators trying to move beyond these beauty standards and be more inclusive. In my opinion, while “Barbie” should have taken the message further to truly make a significant impact on the feminist movement, there is value in how “Barbie” shared feminist ideals with such a large audience, including some who would not typically see a movie expressing these opinions.
If you were unable to see the movie this summer, here’s a quick review. The Barbies live in a seemingly perfect world centered around them, where each Barbie has a different role, ranging from President Barbie to Nobel Prize Winner Barbie to Doctor Barbie. However, Stereotypical Barbie notices imperfections in herself and experiences existential thoughts regarding life and death. To fix this, she travels to the real world with her boyfriend Ken, who is unimportant in Barbieland. While Barbie is jarred by a horrible patriarchal society, Ken finally feels seen. When they return to Barbieland, with human Mattel employee Gloria and her daughter Sasha, the Kens transform Barbieland to a similar patriarchal society where the Barbies are relegated to second-class roles. This is incredibly harmful to Barbie’s sense of self-worth, but Gloria and Sasha give Barbie a convincing speech about societal expectations of women to motivate her to steal Barbieland back from the Kens. The movie ends as the Barbies regain power in Barbieland, but start to treat everyone as equal citizens.
Children across the nation are taught ideals of female empowerment and mobility through the accomplishments of Barbie.
This movie attempts to advance feminist ideals and argues that society places oppressive expectations upon women. It successfully represents women, people of color, and differently-abled individuals who are constricted in a society built for and by able-bodied white men. For example, Barbieland’s President is Black female actress Issa Rae, Doctor Barbie is played by transgender actor Hari Nef, and other members of the LGBTQ+ community, Alexandra Shipp and Scott Evans, have several onscreen moments. This is crucial in making viewers everywhere feel represented. Further, as explained by Business Insider, there are several differently-abled Barbies throughout the movie, including one Barbie who uses a wheelchair and another Barbie who has a bionic arm. However, this inclusion does not go far enough. As argued by 13-year-old Sasha, Barbie continues to set completely unrealistic beauty standards. Physical Barbie dolls have long maintained these expectations, and unfortunately the movie does not differ from them. Further, Barbies and Kens of different races all had the same traits; no one was represented with any unique characteristics or culture, and no messages about race or racial issues were shared. Lastly, differently-abled Barbies are given few speaking parts, representative of the way these individuals are ignored or silenced in our real world.
“Barbie” fails to address how women of color are affected in different ways than white women as a result of their intersecting identities, and the movie should share much stronger feminist, racial, and disability messages. Nevertheless, “Barbie” does a relatively good job of addressing certain societal issues and has the important effect of making people feel seen, represented, and respected. Further, it brings very important mental health struggles into discussion. Depression, death, and questioning one’s life purpose are often things that are confined to very private, emotional discussions. These are not openly discussed topics, especially for women of color, like Gloria, who are expected to conceal their emotions, work through their struggles without assistance, and are often not supported.
Another benefit of the release of “Barbie” is its effect on the social and employment mobility of women. According to the Blue Banner, a survey by Resume Builder showed that 53% of viewers believe that “Barbie” has improved their view of women in the workplace. Others stated how Barbie shed awareness on patriarchal influences in the workplace. While “Barbie” had the potential to share stronger messages, at the very least it provided a safe space for people, regardless their race or gender, to wear pink, potentially cry at some sentimental mother-daughter moments, and form a community of kindness, support, and friendship.
Emily Gordon ‘25 studies in the College of Arts & Sciences. She can be reached at emily.gordon@wustl.edu.