The Plastic Feminism of Barbie
The Plastic Feminism of Barbie
Is the new Barbie film feminist? Note: there aren’t a lot of spoilers in this video essay.
Video by Ada Černoša and Verity Ritchie
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Keywords: Greta Gerwig, Margot Robbie, body image, Girl Power, Riot Grrrl, Emma Watson
Content
0 -> Mattel, the creators of Barbie, hated
Aqua’s “Barbie Girl.” They found it
4.14 -> offensive and damaging to their
brand, and they were kind of right.
8.04 -> The song was about plastic surgeries and the
beauty standards that lead people to feel they
12.48 -> needed to change their bodies, standards
which of course Barbie heavily reflected.
16.62 -> But in 2009, Mattel made an attempt to salvage the
song by covering it with new, inoffensive lyrics.
22.32 -> AQUA’S SONG: ♪ I’m a blonde
bimbo girl in a fantasy world ♪
25.075 -> MATTEL’S COVER: ♪ I’m a girl in
my world full of fashion and fun ♪
27.78 -> It wasn't meant to be frightening, regardless
of the effect, but the point was to take the
33.06 -> controversial song and make it into
something inoffensive for their brand,
36.78 -> make it fit their marketing of Barbie.
39.42 -> Now with the release of the new Barbie film,
the song has been sampled by Nikki Minaj
42.84 -> and Ice Spice. Any of Aqua’s original social
commentary has long been neutralised by Mattel.
49.14 -> When you’ve got the cash, it's not so difficult
to subsume criticism of your own company.
53.1 -> You can see it in other media, such
as Black Mirror satirising streaming
57 -> services and their exploitation of workers - this
59.34 -> satire being of course available only on
the very company they seek to satirise.
63.18 -> If you hate Netflix, subscribe to Netflix
for the best anti-Netflix content!
66.66 -> So when Margot Robbie met with Mattel’s
CEO to discuss developing a Barbie movie,
70.44 -> she was very blunt about the fact that
a lot of people f*cking hate Barbie.
74.46 -> She said that the conversation around Barbie’s
controversies is going to happen either way,
79.32 -> so…better to be involved in that conversation.
82.02 -> And we all know the criticisms,
right? Barbie isn’t feminist enough,
84.84 -> she’s too skinny, she’s bad
for self esteem, etc., etc.
88.38 -> Well that’s where Greta Gerwig comes in,
famed director of Lady Bird and Little Women.
93.42 -> Gerwig had managed to pull off a
careful balance with Little Women,
96.24 -> giving it a feminist twist commenting on the
expectations for women to have a romantic ending,
101.22 -> while also… just going ahead and
giving us the romantic ending anyway.
104.52 -> Women truly can have it all… as long as
they’re incredibly beautiful of course.
108.6 -> Gerwig had her cake and ate it too, shattering the
111.36 -> glass fourth wall for a self aware nod
to critics of Little Women’s ending.
114.66 -> Could she do the same for Barbie, bringing the
franchise into the 21st century with careful nods
118.86 -> to the sexism of the past while also appeasing
the pop culture feminist standards of the present?
122.94 -> Gerwig’s Barbie stars Will Farrell as a
wacky loveable villain, the CEO of Mattel:
127.38 -> a man in charge of Barbie, trying to
capture her and put her in a box! Oh no!
131.34 -> This meta commentary positions the Barbie
character as a victim of Mattel’s more
135.9 -> problematic choices, as well as a victim of
the hatred and vitriol she receives from the
140.52 -> women and girls of the world to whom it
is her life’s goal to bring happiness.
143.88 -> It’s an interesting way of, kind of,
anthropomorphising the brand. You’re
147 -> not criticising Mattel when you talk
shit about Barbie, you’re being mean
150.18 -> to poor little Barbie herself! Poor
Barbie, she never did anything wrong!
153.9 -> Time Magazine did the same thing back in 2016
when the new “curvy” Barbie doll was released.
158.7 -> "Now can we stop talking about my body?"
160.44 -> As if Barbie herself had been a victim of some
sort of body shaming. Her thinness wasn’t a piece
165.06 -> of plastic embodying societal expectations of
what women’s bodies should look like - rather
168.9 -> she was just an innocent skinny woman whose body
was constantly under scrutiny by the public.
174.54 -> Aren’t you tired of watching women like
Barbie twisting themselves into knots
178.98 -> just to be liked? As the film states, if
all these misogynist standards for women
183.06 -> are even put on a doll just representing
women… then, is there hope for any of us?
189 -> If you hate Barbie, it's clearly just
because you hate women. If you hate Barbie,
193.92 -> then maybe you are the real misogynist.
197.16 -> That’ll be $10.99 please.
198.42 -> ♪ I’m a Barbie girl ♪
200.58 -> The Barbie film opens with a send up of
2001: A Space Odyssey where little girls
204.54 -> smash their babydolls with the arrival of the
magnificent Barbie, a symbol of modernity,
209.46 -> of progress! The age of the baby doll was
over, Barbie was the way of the future!
214.56 -> And that’s fairly true to life, besides the
proportions and the smashing. Before Barbie,
219.54 -> girls were expected to play pretty
exclusively with baby dolls,
223.26 -> training from an early age for
their role as mother, as caregiver.
227.34 -> But Barbie changed things, she was a new toy for
the modern girl, a fashion model embodying all
232.86 -> of the aspirational qualities of the modern
young woman of the late 50s and early 60s.
237.3 -> Barbie wasn’t a mum, she was a young woman with
a job, and with that job came money to spend!
244.02 -> Her work as a fashion model
tied in with your play of her:
247.02 -> you bought the doll which was cheap enough,
and then you had to buy all the different
251.52 -> clothing sets for Barbie to model! Your
shopping was a part of the Barbie play!
256.98 -> Repeatedly purchasing more Barbie products was
basically a necessity, shopping was built into
262.14 -> the product, genius really - you kept those little
kids buying and buying, all for this one doll.
267.48 -> And that’s what made Barbie the modern
woman - that she was a shopper, a consumer.
273.3 -> She reflected the developing
teen culture of the 1950s,
276.06 -> one with its own distinct language,
music, and clothing. After all,
279.84 -> Barbie was only 19 years old! The youth of the
day had money and they were ready to spend it!
283.74 -> What made Barbie the young woman of the modern
world wasn’t some noble feminist goal… it was
288.9 -> her relationship to consumption. Indulgent
spending was the aspiration of the day and
293.52 -> Barbie helped teach girls to associate
adulthood with carefree consumption.
297.957 -> GIRL: I think I’d like…
SECOND GIRL: …all of them!
298.012 -> VERITY: But times have moved on yet again,
302.4 -> and the role of the middle-class woman has
evolved, and so has Barbie’s. Obviously
306.96 -> Barbie’s brand is no longer about just
being a young woman with money to spend!
310.68 -> She’s no longer just a fashion model even;
Barbie can be anything! A doctor! An astronaut!
316.26 -> A yoga instructor! That’s the feminism
of today: a woman who can have it all!
321.12 -> Now you can help your little girl
develop her interest in STEM with
324.36 -> the STEM Barbie doll! But you don’t wanna
just influence your kid with only one job,
328.32 -> do you? Remember, girls can do anything!
Lots and lots and lots of anything!
333.3 -> Today’s Barbie is so much more than
just a shopper. But if you want to
337.56 -> really explore her big wide
world of female empowerment,
340.56 -> you gotta spend a few bucks. You purchase
Barbie’s identity. She is what she owns.
346.32 -> BARBIE: I’ve got the clothes
from every career I’ve ever had!
349.26 -> VERITY: We may not associate Barbie
with “fashion model” anymore,
351.78 -> but she is a youtuber, and
she’s on instagram. If anything,
355.44 -> Barbie is an influencer now. Basically the
2023 equivalent of the 1959 fashion model!
361.68 -> In a way, she’s always been an influencer,
hasn’t she, that’s her main job.
365.146 -> AD VOICEOVER: If you were a
fashion model like Barbie,
367.26 -> you’d lead a different life every day of the week.
370.08 -> VERITY: But at least she’s always been a
responsible influencer, a feminist one even.
374.82 -> As their website states, Barbie
went to the moon back in 1965,
378.48 -> four years before real world men did!
381.24 -> NIKKI: You went to the moon?
382.399 -> BARBIE: You haven’t?
383.309 -> VERITY: In the 80s, Barbie proved
that girls can do anything!
386.52 -> AD SONG: ♪ And we girls can dream
anything, right Barbie, right Barbie? ♪
391.874 -> VERITY: And yes there have been some
controversies over the years with regards
396.3 -> to how she affects girls body image,
but even that has changed now! In 2016,
400.56 -> Mattel released 3 new body types, finally
bringing some body diversity to the brand.
405.36 -> And now, with their Inspiring Women doll series,
you can buy Barbies of famous historical women
409.92 -> such as Rosa Parks, Maya Angelou, Helen Keller
and of course, a most barbilicious Frida Kahlo!
416.16 -> Barbie helps to show girls that they can have
jobs, just like men! The feminism is real.
421.08 -> Except… Mattel actually seems pretty
averse to the word “feminism.” They
426.3 -> recently went so far as to state that
the new film is “not a feminist movie.”
430.02 -> Huh, okay, that casts a slightly
different light on things.
435 -> I guess Barbie “went galactic four years
before men” did, but the first woman had
441.18 -> actually already been to space a few years before
the Barbie astronaut outfit was released. Funny
445.32 -> how Mattel never mentions that, they just
heavily imply that she beat men to the moon,
449.94 -> even though going to the moon wasn’t part
of the original astronaut costume marketing.
453.9 -> And yeah, Barbie did release new body types,
but only after their profit crashed in 2015.
459 -> Mattel needed to rebrand because the
decades of body image criticism caught
463.08 -> up with them and everyone saw Barbie as
irrelevant and socially irresponsible.
467.16 -> The new body types were major press fodder,
469.2 -> and who doesn't love some free
advertising through media reports?
472.08 -> But if you actually look at the bodies…
we’ve got classic skinny, short skinny,
476.88 -> tall skinny, and slim thick, who is actually
still really skinny compared to real women’s
482.46 -> bodies. She’s just rocking that 2010s Kim
Kardashian booty. Is this body diversity?
487.32 -> Barbie’s body has been controversial
since the beginning. In 1959,
491.1 -> mums weren’t comfortable with the idea of
getting their daughters a doll with boobs.
495.24 -> And this chick came with very skimpy outfits
early on including the "nighty negligee set".
500.04 -> Barbie’s design itself was actually snatched
from a sexy german doll made for men,
504.24 -> Bild Lili. Ruth Handler of Mattel, who is
credited with creating Barbie, found Lili while
509.52 -> on vacation and Mattel copied the doll who looks
almost exactly the same as the original Barbie.
514.02 -> Jack Ryan, the designer who engineered
Barbie, wanted her to be the perfect woman.
517.908 -> BOB MACKIE: They copied her
exactly like the German one,
520.86 -> you know. So she had a little
waist and great big, pointy ti--
523.8 -> VERITY: So no wonder the doll
made parents uncomfortable!
525.9 -> To bypass parents' anxieties
about this very provocative toy,
529.26 -> Mattel started selling her as a doll to teach
“self-presentation skills” to little girls.
534.3 -> Barbie was GOOD for girls actually! And
this marketing technique is still around
538.56 -> today. Girls can do anything! We love the
idea that Barbie is actually a tool to help
543.54 -> girls become better women. After all, who
encourages more girls to run for president,
547.92 -> Shirley Chisolm, Kamala Harris
or Presidential Candidate Barbie?
551.88 -> Would any girls really learn to paint if they
didn’t have a yassified Frida Kahlo Barbie?
556.8 -> Won’t little girls be more comfortable with
their bodies now that they have curvy Barbie?
560.88 -> Well no, actually, studies have found that little
girls really don’t like curvy Barbie, even calling
565.92 -> her fat. “Hello, I’m a fat person, fat, fat, fat,”
said one little girl playing while others laughed.
572.04 -> And what I see on store shelves, to be
honest, is overwhelmingly classic Barbie.
575.64 -> And of the Barbies made as film merch, only
the skinny actors were adapted to Barbies,
580.26 -> possibly because a bigger body
shape just doesn’t even exist.
584.4 -> But why, if Mattel is so eager
to sell Barbie as feminist,
588.54 -> do they have this aversion to the word?
If you’re going to use feminist movements
592.8 -> to sell your product, it seems weird
to avoid the word “feminist”, right?
596.04 -> I mean they’re perfectly comfortable
putting “girl power” on Barbie’s t-shirts,
599.88 -> and girl power is surely feminism in
its purest most undiluted form. Right?
604.56 -> I mean the Spice Girls
basically invented feminism,
606.72 -> freeing all women from the shackles of patriarchy.
608.7 -> Except that there was a precursor to girl
power: the Riot Grrrl punk rock movement.
613.14 -> Riot Grrrls owned their own record
labels and created a non-hierarchical,
616.86 -> DIY culture. They celebrated girls and
sang about controversial issues such as
621.3 -> gendered violence, reproductive justice,
body image and sexuality. They brought
625.62 -> feminist messages from academia
into the lives of young women.
628.8 -> Riot Grrrl started to fall apart when
the scene started receiving more media
631.98 -> attention which painted it as a fashion
craze rather than a feminist movement.
635.76 -> It was Riot Grrrl which came up with the notion
of girl power but the mainstream music industry
639.78 -> realised there could be a lot of money in this
sort of branding. It was the Spice Girls who
643.98 -> really made girl power a worldwide phenomenon,
but in the process the idea was completely
647.82 -> watered down so that it could appeal to the
broadest possible audience for the most profit.
652.2 -> Where Riot Grrrl was able to be openly
political because it wasn’t profit driven,
656.34 -> the Spice Girls on the other hand, lost a lot the
subversive power of Riot Grrrl. They were created
661.38 -> and financed by a group of men who strategically
engineered the group to fit a gap in the market.
666.24 -> Their work wasn’t rooted in feminism, it
was looking to make a fashion craze.They
671.28 -> didn’t critique the status quo, they
didn’t talk about systemic change,
675 -> they relied on traditional notions
of beauty and the media loved them
679.2 -> because they generated massive amounts of
attention and profit. The DIY culture of
684 -> Riot Grrrl feminism was turned into an endless
stream of “girl power” merchandise for sale.
688.86 -> So there’s this commodification - we take a
movement with a more radical message, something
693.18 -> which demands systemic change in our society,
and we flatten it into an aesthetic, a style,
698.82 -> mass manufactured and packaged and placed on the
shelves for purchase. It's a plastic feminism.
704.52 -> The movement becomes mainstream,
but it’s a neutered version of it,
707.94 -> a powerless version. It’s not a movement, it’s
a t-shirt. Barbie in a GRL PWR t-shirt is a far
714.48 -> cry from girl power’s Riot Grrrl roots. This
Barbie doesn’t care about reproductive justice.
719.7 -> Frida Kahlo’s image and life
have been used in a similar way.
722.58 -> In 2018, Barbie herself made a
vlog about Frida Kahlo because
726.78 -> it was Barbie’s birthday and this
was her gift to her subscribers.
730.68 -> BARBIE: My birthday present to you
is to share the story of Frida Kahlo.
734.76 -> VERITY: Wow, that’s so nice of her to educate
girls about Frida! Totally by coincidence,
739.08 -> unmentioned by Barbie, Mattel released their
Frida Kahlo Barbie doll at the same time!
743.52 -> Now girls could feel inspired by
this totally affordable Frida doll!
747.24 -> Frida herself was actually… a communist
749.76 -> and an anti-capitalist and would
have absolutely hated the doll.
753.3 -> She also deliberately defied gender roles,
classical beauty ideals and the objectification
757.98 -> of women, both in her life and her work.
She portrayed women’s bodies as blemished,
764.04 -> imperfect, real and de-eroticised, a polar
opposite to everything Barbie represents.
768.72 -> Her family members went on to protest
the doll. Frida’s great niece said:
772.08 -> "It should have been a much more Mexican
doll, [...] with darker skin, a unibrow,
775.56 -> not so thin because Frida was not that thin…”
778.02 -> But the real Kahlo isn’t what’s important. It’s
the image that Kahlo brings to the Barbie brand
783.06 -> and to Mattel. She has come to be associated in
popular culture with feminism on some vague level,
787.56 -> and that’s enough for Mattel to want to use her
image for their brand, to help parents see that,
793.02 -> like Barbie with her vlog, they just
care about empowering young girls.
797.16 -> When Disney decided that it was time to take
their classic cartoon about a young woman
800.94 -> who is imprisoned by a cruel violent man
until she learns to love him and update it
805.08 -> with a more progressive live-action remake,
they cast Emma Watson in the leading role.
809.52 -> Watson had been in the public eye
recently for her UN Speech on feminism,
813.18 -> asking men to be more involved in ending
sexism. This new image of Emma Watson as
818.52 -> the inoffensive voice of feminist youth made
her an ideal candidate for the role of Belle.
824.04 -> Disney has long suffered from feminist critiques
of their films, Beauty and the Beast not the
828.06 -> least of them. After all, earlier versions of
the fairy tale were about arranged marriage,
832.2 -> preparing girls for the self sacrifice
that comes with it. Perhaps your husband
835.74 -> will be super freaking gross, but
you can learn to love him if you try.
840.12 -> Could Watson’s image give Beauty and the
Beast a feminist vibe for the 21st century?
844.62 -> Well, I’ll tell you something, she stepped up
to the plate with some big changes in mind. Yes,
849.66 -> it's still a film about a cruel abusive
man who imprisons her and then tries to
852.78 -> get her to fall in love with him, but
it's important to note that Emma Watson
857.4 -> was involved in making sure Belle wore
more sensible shoes while he did it.
862.2 -> She also made sure that Belle wasn’t
carrying a basket around town,
865.86 -> but rather had pockets to carry things in.
869.04 -> Her Belle is also an inventor, inventing
a washing machine early in the film,
872.46 -> though she never uses that
skill again at any point.
875.28 -> I know, this sounds like a lot, and we
really have to give Disney some credit here.
878.82 -> Emma Watson was like “since
I’m playing a farmer girl,
881.52 -> can I not wear ballet shoes?” And Disney was
like “whew. This is it. The feminist revolution.”
888.24 -> I do think Emma Watson’s feminism is sincere,
but it has ended up being funnelled back into
894.36 -> the Hollywood machine and used for Disney’s
progressive rebrand, her role in the film
899.22 -> giving a veneer of feminist glamour to a soulless
remake written, directed and produced by men.
904.92 -> Watson has also starred in
Greta Gerwig’s Little Women,
907.62 -> and Gerwig too has come to be associated with
feminism in film, and her involvement with the
912.72 -> Barbie film immediately informed public
opinion before it had even premiered.
916.5 -> Feminism has become Gerwig’s brand, and
social change is in fashion. In fact,
921.06 -> Gerwig seems to be building her career on remaking
big franchises with a progressive coat of paint:
925.74 -> it was recently revealed that Netflix has
hired her to write and direct new Narnia films.
929.82 -> So of course, Barbie was always going
to be an immediate feminist classic.
933.24 -> Barbie isn’t just skinny and
conventionally attractive anymore,
936.66 -> she comes in all shapes and sizes
ranging from skinny to slim! There
941.88 -> are even two curvier Barbies with
a whole five lines between them!
945.66 -> You may remember Barbie as the
whitest woman on the planet,
948.06 -> but that’s not true anymore! Except for
the lead Barbie played by Margot Robbie
952.56 -> who is the main character and gets
the vast majority of the screentime.
954.84 -> And don’t worry, the movie is super self
aware about the problematic history of Barbie.
958.74 -> A girl named Sasha who has become
disillusioned with Barbie lists off
962.34 -> everything she hates about the
doll, from body image problems,
965.28 -> to just generally calling her a fascist,
as any average Gen Z-er would do.
968.88 -> The way in which the film
highlights feminist issues is
972.06 -> what makes it so appealing to a modern audience.
974.16 -> Because the fact is, we love to feel like
we can shop our way through social change,
977.94 -> that our purchases will make a
difference. And Mattel knows it.
981.6 -> Worried about the horrifying effects of
Barbie’s plastic bodies on the environment?
984.84 -> Well don’t panic, Mattel has produced special
Environmental Activist Barbies which are
989.46 -> partially made from recycled plastics, which
means, since they’ve already been partially
993.18 -> recycled once, that they can never ever
be recycled again and will exist forever.
997.8 -> These Barbies hate plastic, but
are made of plastic! They hate
1002.9 -> their very existence. [muffled
screams] That’s why they scream.
1006.92 -> Oh well, that seems like a losing battle,
perhaps instead we can buy our way out of sexism.
1012.2 -> Girls aren’t making it in STEM careers? Well
1014.84 -> Barbie’s here to support and empower
them with their Barbie STEM dolls!
1018.44 -> Of course, in the real world, the reason
why there are so few women in STEM is
1021.86 -> not because they haven’t considered
whether Barbie could work in STEM,
1024.56 -> it’s because they face misogyny at every turn,
from the gendered expectations of teachers to
1029.18 -> hostile and abusive work environments. They
have fewer opportunities and are paid less.
1033.08 -> But maybe if little girls
could only buy a STEM Barbie
1037.28 -> then they would finally see that girls can
do anything! If you believe in yourself,
1041.84 -> no amount of misogyny or violence can
stand in your way, am I right ladies?
1046.4 -> To be fair, Mattel does offer school workshops and
1049.22 -> mentorship conferences to support girls
in their ambitions, investing as much as
1052.76 -> 0% - sorry I mean - 0.1% of their profit into
supporting girls. Wow, they really do care!
1059.6 -> Yeah, no it's just a load of faux feminist
marketing. It’s meant to give you that feeling
1064.22 -> that you’ve made a small difference
in the world by making your purchase,
1067.4 -> that you’ve done a shop for social change.
1070.1 -> And um, sorry Greta Gerwig, but the
film isn’t any better than that.
1073.88 -> For instance, in one scene Margot Robbie’s Barbie
says she feels ugly, and the scene pauses so that
1079.04 -> the narrator can make a comment about how
Margot Robbie is too pretty to say that.
1083.48 -> And the point is for the movie to be like, “Body
image, am I right, ladies?” And now you can’t say
1088.16 -> in your reviews and your tweets that the film
didn’t bring up body image problems. It really
1091.76 -> did. The feminist revolution. Started with Emma
Watson’s shoes and now here we are. Incredible!
1096.62 -> The film really slows itself down trying to
anticipate all of your potential criticisms. It’s
1100.76 -> like they scrolled through twitter and found every
half baked complaint about Barbie and just shoved
1104.9 -> a line into the film to try to preemptively
counteract it, and it gets pretty tiresome.
1111.08 -> But that’s because this isn’t really a film
about feminism. It’s a mainstream film made
1115.46 -> for the widest possible audience, trying
to reach everyone at the same time without
1119.18 -> saying anything of any real substance.
Flattened, plastic wrapped feminism.
1123.62 -> Because while the film can call out
problems like Barbie and body image,
1127.82 -> a popular topic which probably everyone has
probably had at least one conversation about,
1131 -> there are other problems they can’t ever confront.
1133.58 -> A few years ago, China Labor Watch
sent undercover investigators into
1137.12 -> Mattel’s factories in China where they
make their toys, including Barbies,
1140.66 -> and they found that life for the
women who make Barbie… isn’t so great.
1145.28 -> For instance, they found that most workers
were women and most higher ups were men.
1149.42 -> Female workers reported regular verbal
abuse and humiliation by line managers.
1154.1 -> Workers’ dormitories housed
up to 10 people per room,
1157.04 -> and were infested by fleas,
mosquitos and other bugs.
1160.1 -> There was no hot water in the showers, the cold
water was dirty, and the toilets had no doors.
1164.96 -> The food in the factory cafeterias
was served on dirty dishes and
1168.26 -> workers found hair and cockroaches in their meals.
1171.2 -> The pay was so low the workers
had to work illegal amounts of
1174.86 -> overtime if they wanted to make a living wage.
1176.84 -> They described production targets as
inhumane and they were not provided
1180.68 -> with safety equipment, even when
working with dangerous materials.
1183.62 -> Female workers reported a climate of
frequent and trivialized sexual harassment.
1188 -> When Mattel was made aware of the harassment
and discrimination in their factories,
1191.9 -> they did not announce any
measures to stamp it out.
1194.48 -> The latest undercover report about
Mattel’s factories concludes,
1197.36 -> “At the very least, women who produce
Barbie dolls should be able to work
1200.84 -> without fear of humiliation or harassment.
Barbie makes a mockery of women's rights”.
1207.08 -> So weird they didn’t mention any
of this in the Barbie film, huh?
1210.26 -> There’s this really emotional scene
in the film, a feminist speech about
1213.5 -> the cognitive dissonance of being a woman
under patriarchy. Gloria talks about how
1218.84 -> you need to have money but you can’t ask
for money, about how you have to put up
1222.98 -> with men’s bad behaviour and stay in line.
And she’s right, according to these reports
1227.96 -> Mattel apparently subjects the workers who
make Barbie to this kind of abuse exactly.
1232.34 -> But then the film just shows Mattel bosses
as just silly, wacky, harmless guys.
1236.66 -> But this is how corporate feminism works:
1238.94 -> companies can’t ignore the new feminism
of the age because their customers expect
1243.26 -> them to keep up with times. So you get
these Girls Can Do Anything campaigns
1247.28 -> and “Barbie has a Butt Sometimes” campaign
and a film about defeating the patriarchy.
1251.96 -> But behind the scenes, the company can’t
actually be feminist because that would be
1257.54 -> bad for business. They know exactly
what’s going on at their factories,
1260.96 -> but that won’t stop them demanding higher
production targets for lower production costs.
1265.16 -> That’s just business, baby. You can’t girlboss
without just a little bit of labour exploitation.
1269.54 -> The day after watching the film, my co-writer Ada
and I both were feeling a little down, and after a
1275.6 -> while we started talking about what was bothering
us and found that we were both feeling bad about
1279.68 -> our bodies, that since watching the film we had
come out just feeling worse about how we look.
1286.22 -> And that actually surprised us,
because we both kind of thought
1289.46 -> that Barbie would leave us with some
good vibes, little bit girl power,
1292.52 -> but it actually just reminded us
of how high the standards are.
1297.14 -> Yes, Barbie tells a wrinkled
old woman that she’s beautiful,
1299.72 -> but at the same time you can buy
some official Barbie anti-wrinkle
1303.2 -> cream. “Have smooth skin like Barbie”
with official Barbie Bikini Serum!
1307.34 -> Or you can buy some official NYX
Barbie make up! And don’t forget:
1310.4 -> your teeth are ugly too! Barbie wants
you to feel good about yourself,
1313.28 -> while reminding you that you will never
be good enough without these products!
1316.64 -> As Jessica Defino puts it, “you cannot
subvert the politics of Barbie while
1321.74 -> preserving the beauty standards of Barbie.
The beauty standards ARE the politics”.
1326.18 -> This film is about how Barbie is a victim of
the same misogyny women face every day. They
1331.52 -> want us to feel that Barbie is not an “it,” not
a successful brand, not an intellectual property,
1337.82 -> but a “she,” a victim, a person, a woman.
She may be selling you cosmetics for “smooth,
1345.14 -> firm” skin, but it's only because she
too has felt the shame of cellulite!
1350 -> The film is a great ad. But is
it feminist? Is it really fair to
1355.4 -> call it that? Is liberation factory made?
And if so, who’s working in the factory?
1359.54 -> The whole system of media and culture
is broken, it’s built on exploitation,
1365.6 -> and Gerwig hasn’t like taken advantage of that
system to create great feminist cinema, she’s just
1371.78 -> been absorbed into the system. This film could
never have been anything other than what it was.
1377.3 -> I’m afraid the feminism of Barbie is an
artificial and appropriated one designed
1382.46 -> specifically to sell you products,
many many products, and nothing more.
1389.06 -> So instead of buying a ticket to see Barbie,
1391.46 -> consider supporting this channel on Patreon!
That sounds like a fine thing to say!
1397.22 -> I don’t get paid as much as Greta Gerwig
and I won’t try to sell you any serums
1402.5 -> … unless you want me to?
1403.76 -> Thank you to all our patrons who make this
possible and a very special thank you to…
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RToUZJ0l7Pk