{"id":1983837,"date":"2023-07-27T03:24:01","date_gmt":"2023-07-27T07:24:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/beneath-the-pink-patriarchy-hate-barbie-tries-to-answer-what-is-a-woman\/"},"modified":"2023-07-27T03:27:45","modified_gmt":"2023-07-27T07:27:45","slug":"beneath-the-pink-patriarchy-hate-barbie-tries-to-answer-what-is-a-woman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/beneath-the-pink-patriarchy-hate-barbie-tries-to-answer-what-is-a-woman\/","title":{"rendered":"Exploring Womanhood: &#8216;Barbie&#8217; Challenges Pink Patriarchy"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">12<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fbeneath-the-pink-patriarchy-hate-barbie-tries-to-answer-what-is-a-woman%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1983837&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div class=\"article-content\">\n<p>If this summer\u2019s blockbuster based on a doll that promised \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=J0mUUbo7jvQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">girls can do anything<\/a>\u201d\u200c has \u2062one defining message, it\u2019s that actually it\u2019s \u201cliterally impossible\u201d to be the one thing every girl grows up to be: a woman.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is literally impossible to be a woman,\u201d America Ferrera\u2019s \u200dhuman character preaches to the Barbies in a monologue the \u2063L.A. Times thought was so \u201cpowerful,\u201d the paper \u200d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/entertainment-arts\/movies\/story\/2023-07-23\/barbie-america-ferrera-monologue\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reprinted<\/a> it \u2062in its entirety.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2-long d-flex justify-content-center\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; \" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-346805357\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1379703300879-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-7840e70bf72d3067c43b7b5f31e17049 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-7840e70bf72d3067c43b7b5f31e17049\"><\/div>\n<p>(For one character \u2014 the Gender Dysphoria Barbie \u200dplayed \u2064by male actor \u2063Hari Nef \u2014 Ferrera\u2019s words are \u2062true: No amount of garish makeup or over-the-top dresses makes him \u201cone of the girls.\u201d \u200dBut that\u2019s not \u200cthe monologue\u2019s intended point.)<\/p>\n<p>Ferrera\u2019s character inspires the \u200bBarbies to take\u200d back their world from the patriarchy (yes, really) with her riveting list \u2062of complaints about how being a woman is \u201ctoo hard.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou are so beautiful, \u2062and \u200dso smart, and it kills me that you\u2064 don\u2019t think you\u2019re good enough,\u201d she says to Margot Robbie\u2019s \u2063despairing \u2063titular character. \u201cLike, we \u2062have to always be extraordinary, but somehow we\u2019re always doing \u2062it wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Every woman has wrestled with the insecurities of \u2063being \u201cgood enough\u201d at some point in her life. But is that really\u2062 the legacy of womanhood? Being a woman\u200b is wonderful \u2014 something to celebrate, \u2064not complain about.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-a9351937df5034e5ca0583e5ad094ca9 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-6\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-a9351937df5034e5ca0583e5ad094ca9\"><\/div>\n<p>Ferrera\u200d continues, frustrated\u2062 that women \u2062\u201chave to be thin, but not too thin,\u201d\u2063 \u201chave to be a boss, \u200dbut\u200b you can\u2019t be mean,\u201d have \u201cto love being a mother\u201d and also \u201chave to \u200bbe a career woman,\u201d \u201chave to never get old, never be\u2062 rude, \u2064never show \u2064off, never be selfish, never fall\u2063 down, never fail,\u200d never show fear, never \u200dget out of line.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s too\u200b hard!\u201d she concludes. \u201cIt\u2019s too contradictory and nobody gives \u200cyou a medal or\u200b says thank you! And it turns out \u200cin fact that not\u2064 only are you doing \u200ceverything wrong, but also everything\u2063 is your fault.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The speech reportedly moved the \u201centire\u200b set\u201d to tears,\u200d <a href=\"https:\/\/variety.com\/2023\/film\/news\/barbie-women-speech-men-cry-set-greta-gerwig-america-ferrera-1235680023\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">according<\/a> to director Greta Gerwig. Women and magazines <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/news\/latino\/america-ferrera-barbie-monologue-resonates-young-women-rcna96043\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">raved<\/a> online about\u2063 how \u201cthe monologue outlines the challenges \u2062women face under the patriarchy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>On \u2062the surface, the speech is basically asking for a participation \u2064trophy for the chore of being a human being. While some of\u200b the expectations Ferrera bemoans are specifically feminine \u2062\u2014 like\u2063 being thin or pretty \u2014 others are simply\u2064 part of being human. (Gerwig\u2063 <a href=\"https:\/\/variety.com\/2023\/film\/news\/barbie-women-speech-men-cry-set-greta-gerwig-america-ferrera-1235680023\/\">acknowledged<\/a> \u200b in an interview with Variety that the speech wasn\u2019t just applicable to women: \u200bMen \u201chave their own speech\u201d and their own \u201ctwin tightrope\u201d to walk.) Striving for the golden mean\u200b between \u2062bossy and a pushover, or between vain and gluttonous? No,\u200d you don\u2019t get a \u201cmedal\u201d for being a self-disciplined adult.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-b275d6036f99b3c1f527566746e74d57 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-10\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-b275d6036f99b3c1f527566746e74d57\"><\/div>\n<p>In another sense,\u2063 though, Ferrera is right that you\u2063 can\u2019t be \u2062good\u2062 enough. Humanity has the knowledge of both good and evil: We were created for perfection \u200dbut are banished\u200d from it by nature of our own sin. Left to our own devices, we will always fall short of what we were created to be.\u200c Frustration with our own failures, misplacement of self-worth, blame for \u2063others \u2014 the sincerely felt emotions that Ferrera\u2019s monologue gives voice to are all a result of that \u200ddisconnect.<\/p>\n<p>But instead of \u200brailing against \u2062\u201cthe patriarchy,\u201d \u2063the way out of Hopeless Expectations Barbie\u2019s world is \u2014 to repurpose the <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/06\/08\/the-end-of-the-lean-in-era\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">girlboss mantra<\/a> \u2014 to <em>lean \u2062in <\/em>to what we <em>were<\/em> \u2062created for.<\/p>\n<p>Underneath all the layers of pink \u2063paint and patriarchy quips, Substack writer Robin Jean Harris extracted that very point\u2063 from \u201cBarbie.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGerwig is meeting women where they are: exhausted with impossible standards, ashamed at never measuring up, and totally \u200cdisoriented from reality,\u201d she <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/robinjeanharris\/status\/1683855732230299654\">wrote<\/a> on\u200c Twitter. \u201cWithin that framework she is saying something really refreshing, something \u2062essentially conservative: the path to reorientation \u200bis your design,\u200d and design is given, not self-made.\u201d\u2063 At the movie\u2019s ending,\u200d Barbie goes \u200bon a walk with her creator, Ruth Handler, who explains \u2062what the doll\u2019s purpose is and helps \u200bBarbie realize\u200b her desire to live \u200bin the \u200c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/breaking-project-veritas-twitter-insider-records-ceo-jack-dorsey-laying-out-roadmap-for-future-political-censorship\/\" title=\"BREAKING: Project Veritas: Twitter Insider Records CEO Jack Dorsey Laying Out Roadmap For Future Political Censorship\">real world<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m not sure if that\u2019s the message Gerwig intended or not \u2014 truth has a habit of slipping through sometimes \u2014 \u200cbut it\u2019s nevertheless the right one. Only\u200d by understanding our design, programmed\u2064 to love and reason and create and sacrifice, in the orderly image \u2063of our Creator, can we understand what it means to be human. <\/p>\n<p>It also makes sense that women would feel more conflicted, discouraged, and confused \u2062than ever by the expectations of a society that doesn\u2019t even recognize <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/12\/15\/why-the-redefinition-of-the-word-woman-matters\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">what a woman is<\/a>. If understanding our telos as created beings \u2063is the first step to making sense of our fallen reality and our fallen souls, then it\u2019s no wonder a society that rejects that design in favor of untethered \u201cself-discovery\u201d would leave women and men alike feeling lost.<\/p>\n<p>As Harris notes, modern feminism \u201cjust gave women more\u200d ways to fail,\u201d because \u201cit did not give women anything \u2063real to ground to, or orient their womanhood to.\u201d Rather, it rebelled against what were perceived as social constructs of\u2064 manhood and womanhood, insisting the sexes were not merely equal but interchangeable and \u200crejecting fundamental elements of our design like basic \u2064biology. In doing so,\u200b the \u2064<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/beneath-the-pink-patriarchy-hate-barbie-tries-to-answer-what-is-a-woman\/\" title=\"Exploring Womanhood: 'Barbie' Challenges Pink Patriarchy\">post-feminist mindset\u2062 made<\/a> a mockery of \u200d<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/viral-video-russia-army-ad-vs-new-woke-biden-era-u-s-army-ad-the-differences-are-stark\/\" title=\"Viral Video: Russia Army Ad Vs. New \u2018Woke\u2019 Biden-Era U.S. Army Ad. The Differences Are Stark.\">masculine men<\/a> and feminine \u200dwomen; you<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/shades-of-jimmy-carter-gas-lines-inflation-rising-unemployment-return-under-biden\/\" title=\"Shades Of Jimmy Carter: Gas Lines, Inflation, Rising Unemployment Return Under Biden\">\u2019ll find plenty<\/a> of that in \u201cBarbie.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In\u2062 the \u200cfinal scene, Barbie makes her debut as a real-life \u200dwoman named \u2062\u201cBarbara\u2062 Handler.\u201d It\u2019s suggested that this is somehow \u2062the \u200cclimax of Ruth\u2019s\u2062 vision for the doll, as Ruth approvingly responds to Barbie\u2019s request to\u200b become human that \u201cI always hoped \u200dfor you like I hoped for [my own daughter].\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Does \u201cBarbie\u201d fully grasp the underpinnings of the movie\u2019s own \u2064message about what it means to be human?\u2063 Who knows \u2014 that\u2019s a lot to ask from a doll.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-9760ab0c02904a0b629d7db9f525feee fdrlst__b89e9-after-post-content\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-9760ab0c02904a0b629d7db9f525feee\"><\/div>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">    \t\t\t\t\t   \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>summer blockbuster. The film&#8217;s message is clear: being a woman is &#8220;literally impossible.&#8221; America Ferrera&#8217;s character emphasizes this to the Barbies, contradicting the doll&#8217;s promise that &#8220;girls can do anything.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1353,"featured_media":1983838,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1983837","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1983837","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1353"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1983837"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1983837\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1983838"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1983837"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1983837"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1983837"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}