Come On Barbie, Let's Go Party?

As a note, I wrote this as a stream-of-consciousness post. So the structure and the points may be all over the place. To paraphrase The Fresh Prince, "I'm a little confused, but I got the spirit. "

So I watched Barbie – bc ofc I did, it's Barbie! Did you think I was going to miss an opportunity to be the most feminine version of myself?! pshaaaaw – And I have mixed feelings.

Because I can't tell if Barbie promotes a brand of feminism is as plastic as the doll that inspired the movie. Or if the film is a direct criticism of that brand of feminism. Part of me struggles to believe it is the former because it flies in the face of the very first lesson that Barbie learns; that representations of matriarchial power and female competence and ambition do not automatically translate to the existence of and the embrace of these things by the wider world. And that there are wider forces at play that prevent the vision that Barbie represented from coming to fruition. 

But I'm getting ahead of myself. First, what is plastic feminism? 

I came across the term through verilybitchie's YouTube review of the Barbie film. And they used it to refer to the artificial and malleable nature of Barbie's feminism. Rather than comprising the essence of the film, Barbie's feminism is the pink and pastel-shaded coating. It is not complicated. It is not nuanced. Just like plastic. 

Though the film embraces feminist thinking – through its depiction of and celebration of female relationships, its passing of the Bechdel test, its criticism of the patriarchy and its recognition of the impact of power structures on personal identity in soothing pinks and pastels – it does not go beyond these surface level critics. It does not explicitly acknowledge the necessity of intersectional feminism; even though the other protagonist is a Latina woman, Barbie-land's President is a black woman and we see Barbieland as a multiracial society. Specifically, the ways in which these racial identities alter your experience as a woman and complicate feminist discourse - which has been historically resistant to platforming and amplifying the validity of these experiences. While it acknowledges the irony of an all male-board setting the standard for female aspiration and ambition (through the all-male Mattel board), it also characterises these men as fundamentally incompetent and, therefore unthreatening. Even though incompetence can, and has been, weaponized against women in order to get us to bear more of the burdens. But, to my mind, the film's biggest flaw was that it barely even offers a solution beyond acknowledging that life, as a woman, sucks. 

Let's take the film's climax as an example. When America Ferrera's character monologues about the cognitive dissonance of being an "empowered" woman in a patriarchal world, I felt vindicated. But this feeling disintegrated as soon as it became clear to me that acknowledging this dissonance would be the way the Barbies were set free from the patriarchy. Because this is patently false. Being aware of the double consciousness that defines my existence as a black woman in a white, male-dominated world is not enough to rid myself of the effect that domination has on me. That power is, by its very nature, systemic, structural and systematic. Thus, an individualised solution of self-empowerment will not work if the ocean in which I swim is designed to overwhelm me. At best, it may provide me with the tools to better ride the wave, but it will not stop that wave from coming. As we saw with the Kens at the end of the movie. Even though the Barbies were quick to acknowledge the Ken's oppression in their matriarchal society, they did not change the existence or mechanisms of that society which led to their dissatisfaction and suffering. In fact, not only were the Barbie's quick to restore the status quo after their insurrection, but they were quick to put the Kens back in their place as second-class citizens. Putting them on a path to, the narrator sardonically states, "have as much power in Barbieland as women have in the real world."

And I wonder if this was the point of the movie. I wonder if the movie was an implicit endorsement of today's plastic and performative feminism - a movement that seems to care more about the dialectic of fists and pencils than of actual systemic and structural change for, perhaps, valid and invalid reasons – or if the movie was designed to criticise that very brand of feminism and the heights it can achieve. 

Given the fact that it was released by a major studio and backed by major corporations that are not incentivised to rock the boat, my money might be on the former. But given Greta Gerwigs' credentials (think Lady Bird and Little Women), my money is on the latter. After all, art can hold two conflicting ideals together and still be cohesive, coherent and impactful. 

And yet, I still feel let down by the film because I can't tell. I can't tell if it satirizes modern, popular and corporate feminism that tells women to be grateful because "we've achieved so much." I can't tell if it condemns or embraces the brand of feminism that advances individual solutions to systemic and structural problems. And I'm not sure if it matters if I can decipher the riddle that is this movie. Or if this is the point. 

Perhaps Gerwig was making a point about the necessity of plastic feminism in empowering women to embrace and revel in all aspects of, not just their femininity, but their humanity. After all, this film wasn't just about Barbie learning about the wider world, it was about Barbie learning about what it means to be human. And that was to feel everything. Happiness. Rage. Frustration. Melancholy. Hope. Fear. Even if those feelings overwhelm you. 

The only thing I'm sure of is that Barbie helped me remember what it was like to be a kid again. To have grand visions for my future that were not limited by reality, but were wholly personal. To wear the clothes I wanted to wear, without policing my body. To simply exist in a female body, without worrying about who was watching me or about who might not take me seriously. I didn't realise I'd forgotten what that feels like until I joined into the Barbie hype. And while Barbie may advance a plastic, surface-level feminism, it may also be the kind of feminism that encourages women to figure out who they are, and who they want to be. 

I think my favourite thing about the hype has been the different interpretations of Barbie-core I've seen in the last three months. Hyperfeminine Barbie. Androgynous Barbie. Masc-leaning Barbie. Punk Barbie. Island Girl Barbie. Desi Barbie. Afro-Barbie. Quiet Wealth Barbie. Stoner Barbie. Cottage-core Barbie. Soft Girl Barbie And, of course, stereotypical Barbie.