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Saw this quote from one of my favorite feminist writers Liz Plank (who’s book For The Love of Men is fantastic). She really liked the movie but this was her major criticism. Curious what people think And while I delighted in the movie’s embrace of the hyper-feminine, and that it made me reflect on how I can participate in our society’s sexist derogation of it, the overall feminist takeaway of the movie was deeply distorted. The biggest oversight in my opinion is that the matriarchal system that’s presented in the film is one that ultimately marginalizes men. It upholds a flawed view of feminism, one that is often circulated by its detractors, where the goal is assumed to be the subjugation of men. This bogus girlboss take on female empowerment is about women doing what men have done to them, but true feminism is actually about dismantling those power structures and hierarchies altogether. In a true feminist world, Ken wouldn’t be relegated to "doing beach” and women wouldn’t be burdened with every single job! The feminist fantasy in the Barbie movie is a patriarchy that’s simply flipped. The movie suggests that in order for one gender to win, the other one has to lose, which is a myth created by the patriarchy. I worry the movie may be popularizing a dangerously distorted version of feminism that puts men down, when true feminism doesn’t put men in subservient roles— it sets them free. To be fair, towards the end of the movie, Barbie offers something closer to this vision of freedom when she apologizes to Ken for treating him as lesser (individually, not to Kens as a group) and suggests that he define his own identity without her, leading him to later sport a hilarious hoodie that reads “I am Kenough.” The path Ken is encouraged to go on is akin to the conversation that many of us have been prompting men to have about reimagining their own masculinity, and is what I was attempting to create with For The Love of Men. But this interaction stands in sharp contradiction with the entire premise and philosophy of the movie. This moment of compassion towards men is interrupted when one of the Kens asks if this means men can be on the Supreme Court now, and he’s told he could pursue a smaller lower court role. This suggests that the goal is not to win with men, but to get even with them. This vengeful definition of feminism is certainly enticing given how violently the cards are stacked against women, but I fear it simply gives more ammunition to those who want to discredit gender equality altogether. The movie offers false proof that feminism impairs men, when in fact no other social policy would collectively benefit them more. My concern is that it reinforces the concept of the gender war, which isn’t feminist at all, and is just inherently another product of the patriarchy.
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Jul 22, 2023 21:12
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| # ¿ May 22, 2024 00:31 |
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