Like most people, I watched the highly anticipated “Barbie” movie with my family last weekend. While its release has garnered outrage and criticism from viewers and critics, it has also received an outstanding amount of attention and support worldwide, changing the mindset and ideology of many.
With that in mind, along with seeing promotions for the movie everywhere online I was excited to watch it and see my family’s reaction to the film.
Since my childhood, I’ve been taught to comply with social gender norms, which influenced both my behavior and my clothing. Because I was classified as a girl, these customs demanded that I eventually marry a wealthy man and start a family.
This required learning the skills necessary to excel as the ideal housewife and meet the needs of a potential partner. As the “ideal housewife,” certain chores are expected to be completed.
This ideology followed me throughout school as well, and I quickly realized the double standards that existed for men and women were enforced everywhere.
Being feminine is seen as a negative trait and being masculine was superior. This affected the way that I saw women and for a long time, I thought that being a woman meant I was inferior, and I had no power or control over anything.
It certainly seems that way. There have been more restrictive policies in place regarding women’s bodily autonomy, and women are valued on their “worth.”
Violence against women has been steadily increasing, with many countries still having high rates of femicide. According to data gathered by the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, in 2021 there were 45,000 women and girls worldwide who were killed by their families or partners. An average of 65 percent of femicide cases were committed by current and former intimate partners.
The world has become a dangerous place for women.
America Ferrera plays Gloria in the film, and listening to her monologue in “Barbie,” I couldn’t help but cry as I let her words sink in. Her speech brought into perspective the struggles of being a woman, such as feeling like you’re not enough, constantly doubting your choices due to the fear of judgment and criticizing your body because certain characteristics might not fit society’s ever-changing beauty standards.
While I have always realized and detested the effects of patriarchy, it was not the same for everyone else.
Like Barbie, my mother was blind to the “real world.” The unfairness of the patriarchal system currently in place was something that I had grown up hating and hoping would change, but it was a concept my mom didn’t realize was a problem.
She hadn’t realized that she was also contributing to the problem by enforcing the same beliefs, the same ideology that was forced onto her. My mom believed her daughters should follow in the same footsteps and adhere to traditional norms, but upon watching the film, she developed a new ideology.
Throughout social media, waves of support and admiration from viewers of the “Barbie” movie have shown up and praised the film. Waves of people who suddenly changed their mindset just from watching a film. Who would’ve thought that a film based on a beloved childhood doll would have a worldwide impact.
The “Barbie” movie brought awareness to the problem that had been plaguing the world for centuries; whether or not change follows suit is up to the audience.
