Greta Gerwig, Director of the Barbie movie, thinks Barbie is a feminist icon to show womanhood is a superpower. The director’s take on the film is to showcase a new kind of feminist idol who can teach everyone to be a girl boss.
The Barbie movie was this summer’s massive box-office hit that features feminist qualities in a bubblegum pink world—participating in gender norms and unrealistic body standards raises the question: Barbie shows feminist rates by being her true self in the movie. Barbie is a career-inspiring woman stuck in a world where women are objects.
The film perfectly describes women’s intuition and how men are the higher archetype in the real world and women are treated as below them. Barbie is a strong female character who takes chances and doesn’t let any man control what she does in her independent life.
The Barbie doll is a feminist icon because today, many dolls are not just skinny but have a wide range of body and skin types since not all women look the same. It puts apart the criticism that the Barbie doll is fat-phobic and gives women eating disorders.
Women look for someone they can look up to who wants to be independent of their male counterparts. Is Barbie a feminist trying to speak for women to have career goals versus being supported by a male figure who controls them?
In 2010, A. Harringer presented results from a study in which preschool girls were given different game pieces: thin, average-weight. It tells how little girls are more interested in a slim Barbie doll than an overweight doll.
It shows the feminist qualities of showcasing the downfalls of body shaming and how it can lead to harmful realities of mental illnesses. Barbie, the doll herself, has a thin physique, but the actress in the movie version looks much healthier.
Barbie has been widely regarded as a successful summer movie release since The New York Times wrote after the movie’s release that Barbie is undoubtedly a woman young girls would want to be like, given the option.
The Barbie movie helped bring her back as not just a doll-turned-movie star but a vision of a woman fighting to be fearless.
The article then details why the original Barbie had low self-esteem, and today, they have made women feel equal in their own space. Another fact is why Barbie is a feminist icon in 2023, even though every girl wants to live in a world where everything is always perfect.
The Barbie movie continues to soar financially; many people enjoy the lovable doll returning in stores worldwide. By learning Barbie herself is a self-righteous queen despite gender norms, discovering your place in the world is the best thing for a woman in our own Barbie World.
