Barbie Discourse Returns: A Feminist Failure
The Golden Globe awards happened earlier this week. While I have never cared much for awards shows, nor did I watch the Golden Globes, the award show reignited admiration and praise for the breakout movie of the year “Barbie”— which gives me an excuse to talk about it.
Barbie has been widely praised by people on the left (and various other political persuasions, including Rep. Matt Gaetz (R), but the left seems to give it more public praise) for its feminist messaging. I’ll put my cards on the table: I didn’t hate Barbie. I thought it was a fun and flirty summer film appealing to childhood nostalgia. But the feminist message? It missed the mark for me.
The Four Phases of Feminism
The feminist arc, as I see it, goes through four phases.
Basic rights—Women can vote, work, and are legally held more or less in equal standing to men.
Lean-in feminism—Women tell each other that to be successful they must act more like men. Look professional, you’re not “bossy,” you are assertive and confident, you can do anything a man can do, etc.
Femininity is good, actually—This is a reaction to lean-in feminism, saying that women do not need to act more like men to succeed, instead institutions need to change to cater more toward women. Think studies about how the office temperature should be higher because women are less productive at work when they are cold, Title IX reform on college campuses, pushes for pay transparency so women can ensure they are making equal to their male coworkers, etc. This is the era where women return to loving pink and anything a man can do a woman can do better.
Equality—The final stage of feminism is one where men and women are seen as collaborators instead of adversaries. There is both acknowledgement and celebration of the general differences between men and women, and an acceptance of those that fall outside of gender norms. Being a woman can look however you want it to look.
In each of these phases, there is a counterculture consisting of women who don’t fit in. There are women who think that women should not have voting rights, there are women who would rather be homemakers than join the workforce and “lean-in”, and masculine women who don’t conform to feminine ideals. Even when we reach equality there are conservatives who do not want to accept those who fall outside of gender norms and progressives who will always consider men oppressors rather than collaborators.
Stuck in Phase Three: “Femininity is good, actually.”
I would argue that we are largely in phase three of feminism in American life. In academic circles, the idea of lean-in feminism was widely rejected and critiqued in the 2010’s as the focus turned more to social justice and “equity” for minorities.
By and large, women have succeeded in the workplace. Women now outnumber men in the college-educated workforce and the proportion of women to men serving as government officials, CEOs, and college presidents continues to rise. While women remain significantly underrepresented in fortune 500 CEO roles and governorships, as Richard Reeves points out, there are more female fighter pilots than male kindergarten teachers, which may indicate women spread out across different industries more than men. Women are also overrepresented in fields like teaching, healthcare, and publishing. It is also true that men tend to seek out positions with more social standing as sources of self-worth which may include positions such as a political leader or CEO, while women are more likely to look to relationships as sources of self-worth.
That being said, women are in more leadership roles than ever and a quick search of “women in leadership” will turn up articles praising women leaders. The tone is different from that of lean-in feminism though. Rather than being targeted toward women, the articles are targeted to men saying things like “women excel in soft skills” and imploring them to empower women in the workplace, saying underrepresentation is due to barriers, bias, and microaggressions that industries must address. There are dozens of Ted Talks and scholarships emphasizing that women should be proud of their gender in their field and proudly display pink toolboxes. And, of course, the explosion of the diversity, equity, and inclusion space supports the idea that the tone has shifted toward telling society to change for women’s needs and desires rather than the other way around.
There are still some remnants of lean-in feminism ingrained in today’s society. For example, women still tend to put off or decide not to have children, in favor of focusing on career goals. However, motherhood is still an expectation that most women contend with, and in many ways the feminist picture includes having it all—a high-status job, a loving spouse, and being the perfect mother.
Case Study: How Trans Issues Stem from Phase Three Feminism
I would even go as far as to argue that the trans movement is circumstantial evidence of phase three feminism. There has been a sharp rise in recent years of biological females identifying as trans or nonbinary. After reading much about the issue I don’t think it’s unreasonable to assume there is some element of social contagion going on. First, let me say, I believe trans people have always existed and for some medical transition is the right choice. However, looking at social contagions in the past, we know that teen girls can be more susceptible because they tend to be more socially attentive (see: the girls who got Tourette’s from TikTok). I imagine there is a mixture of genuine trans identities being more accepted and social contagion driving the uptick in trans-identifying young people, now how much is contagion versus genuine is an answer I am not qualified to provide. However, if the social contagion theory is true to any degree, a question remains: why are so many young people uncomfortable in their gender?
I do believe young people who identify as trans or nonbinary experience genuine distress, and I don’t think it is out of the realm of possibility that this distress may be due to the lack of acceptance for gender nonconformity. Philosopher Kathleen Stock and others have spoken about homophobia in the trans movement; the idea that a child who doesn’t conform to gender stereotypes and may ordinarily turn out to be gay might today be encouraged to transition. When the social justice spaces of phase three feminism push for women's rights, there necessarily is a kind of flattening of what a woman is. All women are portrayed as being on the same page and wanting the same things, so they have bargaining power. This leaves little room for those who don’t conform, those who look at dresses and makeup and “soft skills” and perhaps even dating men and see those as completely foreign. If children grow up in an environment where “women want this” and “women are good at that” but the child does not identify with this or that, but does grow up being told that they can be nonbinary if they don’t “feel like a woman” is it any surprise that teen girls began to identify with that label? It is a label that quickly signals to the world “I am not a woman, so do not compare me to your feminine ideals.”
Before the trans movement really took off, I believe we were in phase three feminism, moving steadily toward phase four: true equality. Now, I am not so sure. Instead of moving from a celebration of femininity to a state of accepting all women, we have side-stepped that and said as a society those who are not feminine aren’t really women (unless they are masculine but still feel like a woman, but no one can seem to define what “feeling like a woman” means).
Barbie is a Symbol of Phase Three Feminism
It is clear to me that the creators of Barbie took great strides to make Barbie inclusive and diverse. We see Barbies of all different races and body sizes, even a trans Barbie. Yet, I noticed there was no masculine Barbie. With the exception of Weird Barbie all of the women had long hair and makeup and wore sparkly accessories. Many wore dresses, and the whole movie is an ode to the color pink. In some ways, this makes sense. Barbie has always played up gender roles—Barbie is the peak of femininity—and it’s meant to be empowering (see: all the versions of career Barbie). Barbie is meant to speak for every woman—and therein lies the problem. Barbie excludes those who don’t conform to gender stereotypes because it’s hard, near impossible, to represent everyone and further it would kill the us versus them tension between the Barbies and the Kens if there was, god forbid, nuance. I understand that Barbie intentionally plays into stereotypes to prove a point and I do think stereotypes can be fun when they’re joked about with some self-awareness, but the problem is Barbie’s point doesn’t land.
Barbieland starts out the movie run by women, then is taken over by men, and in the end, Barbie apologizes to Ken for overlooking him so much and they shift to a government with representation for men and women. Sounds like phase four feminism, right? Not exactly. Close to the end of the movie, Ken cries and Barbie explains to him that he needs to figure out who he is without her and then the women agree to give the men equal representation in the government. Remember that Ken is supposed to more or less represent all men since the movie is a commentary on feminism. While I have no issue with men crying, I would argue that most men do not deal with problems by crying and having a woman explain the solution to them. Most men, I would argue, talk through their problems while working toward a common goal, like building or fixing something with their hands. That is not a hard and fast rule, certainly some men cry, and that is okay, but in my opinion the Barbie movie projected the idea that men should concede to a feminine way of dealing with their problems. It is more common for women to talk it out amongst their friends, but that isn’t the norm for men, and that’s okay too. And then, of course, there is the problem of the women allowing the men in Barbieland equal representation while still clearly looking down on them as less intelligent.
Just like there are four phases of feminism, the same is true for men, except in reverse.
Patriarchy—Men have all of the social power, while women fight for basic rights in response.
Toxic masculinity—Women do better and better in the workplace and begin to resent that men did not have to earn the same rights. As a reaction to lean-in feminism, masculine traits are labeled as toxic. Now, men are expected to start doing “the work” to earn the respect of women.
The feminization of men—This is “the work.” Women are now in positions of power and recommend men learn to understand women and encourage diversity by being more feminine. Go to talk therapy, cry, value others’ feelings above preserving the freedom to offend. Again, none of these are bad per se, but they aren’t typically masculine ways of processing the world.
Equality—We begin to have a conversation about male loneliness and healthy masculinity. We acknowledge that feminizing strategies do not solve the male mental health problem for most men, and we create new strategies, knowing that having good men benefits men and women in society.
So, here’s where the Barbie movie missed the mark—they only reached phase three of feminism. Female femininity was celebrated at the center of the film (to the exclusion of masculine women) and the message to men is they should take on feminine problem-solving strategies to be celebrated as well (to the exclusion of men who solve problems in a different, but still healthy manner). But in a truly healthy society, we need feminine and masculine. In an equal society, we appreciate that both perspectives are of value as are those that fall outside of the traditional gender roles and perspectives.