Exploring Womanhood: ‘Barbie’ Challenges Pink Patriarchy

If this summer’s blockbuster based on a doll that promised “girls can do anything”‌ has ⁢one defining message, it’s that actually it’s “literally impossible” to be the one thing every girl grows up to be: a woman.

“It is literally impossible to be a woman,” America Ferrera’s ‍human character preaches to the Barbies in a monologue the ⁣L.A. Times thought was so “powerful,” the paper ‍ reprinted it ⁢in its entirety.

(For one character — the Gender Dysphoria Barbie ‍played ⁤by male actor ⁣Hari Nef — Ferrera’s words are ⁢true: No amount of garish makeup or over-the-top dresses makes him “one of the girls.” ‍But that’s not ‌the monologue’s intended point.)

Ferrera’s character inspires the ​Barbies to take‍ back their world from the patriarchy (yes, really) with her riveting list ⁢of complaints about how being a woman is “too hard.”

“You are so beautiful, ⁢and ‍so smart, and it kills me that you⁤ don’t think you’re good enough,” she says to Margot Robbie’s ⁣despairing ⁣titular character. “Like, we ⁢have to always be extraordinary, but somehow we’re always doing ⁢it wrong.”

Every woman has wrestled with the insecurities of ⁣being “good enough” at some point in her life. But is that really⁢ the legacy of womanhood? Being a woman​ is wonderful — something to celebrate, ⁤not complain about.

Ferrera‍ continues, frustrated⁢ that women ⁢“have to be thin, but not too thin,”⁣ “have to be a boss, ‍but​ you can’t be mean,” have “to love being a mother” and also “have to ​be a career woman,” “have to never get old, never be⁢ rude, ⁤never show ⁤off, never be selfish, never fall⁣ down, never fail,‍ never show fear, never ‍get out of line.”

“It’s too​ hard!” she concludes. “It’s too contradictory and nobody gives ‌you a medal or​ says thank you! And it turns out ‌in fact that not⁤ only are you doing ‌everything wrong, but also everything⁣ is your fault.”

The speech reportedly moved the “entire​ set” to tears,‍ according to director Greta Gerwig. Women and magazines raved online about⁣ how “the monologue outlines the challenges ⁢women face under the patriarchy.”

On ⁢the surface, the speech is basically asking for a participation ⁤trophy for the chore of being a human being. While some of​ the expectations Ferrera bemoans are specifically feminine ⁢— like⁣ being thin or pretty — others are simply⁤ part of being human. (Gerwig⁣ acknowledged ​ in an interview with Variety that the speech wasn’t just applicable to women: ​Men “have their own speech” and their own “twin tightrope” to walk.) Striving for the golden mean​ between ⁢bossy and a pushover, or between vain and gluttonous? No,‍ you don’t get a “medal” for being a self-disciplined adult.

In another sense,⁣ though, Ferrera is right that you⁣ can’t be ⁢good⁢ enough. Humanity has the knowledge of both good and evil: We were created for perfection ‍but are banished‍ 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.‌ Frustration with our own failures, misplacement of self-worth, blame for ⁣others — the sincerely felt emotions that Ferrera’s monologue gives voice to are all a result of that ‍disconnect.

But instead of ​railing against ⁢“the patriarchy,” ⁣the way out of Hopeless Expectations Barbie’s world is — to repurpose the girlboss mantra — to lean ⁢in to what we were ⁢created for.

Underneath all the layers of pink ⁣paint and patriarchy quips, Substack writer Robin Jean Harris extracted that very point⁣ from “Barbie.”

“Gerwig is meeting women where they are: exhausted with impossible standards, ashamed at never measuring up, and totally ‌disoriented from reality,” she wrote on‌ Twitter. “Within that framework she is saying something really refreshing, something ⁢essentially conservative: the path to reorientation ​is your design,‍ and design is given, not self-made.”⁣ At the movie’s ending,‍ Barbie goes ​on a walk with her creator, Ruth Handler, who explains ⁢what the doll’s purpose is and helps ​Barbie realize​ her desire to live ​in the ‌real world.

I’m not sure if that’s the message Gerwig intended or not — truth has a habit of slipping through sometimes — ‌but it’s nevertheless the right one. Only‍ by understanding our design, programmed⁤ to love and reason and create and sacrifice, in the orderly image ⁣of our Creator, can we understand what it means to be human.

It also makes sense that women would feel more conflicted, discouraged, and confused ⁢than ever by the expectations of a society that doesn’t even recognize what a woman is. If understanding our telos as created beings ⁣is the first step to making sense of our fallen reality and our fallen souls, then it’s no wonder a society that rejects that design in favor of untethered “self-discovery” would leave women and men alike feeling lost.

As Harris notes, modern feminism “just gave women more‍ ways to fail,” because “it did not give women anything ⁣real to ground to, or orient their womanhood to.” Rather, it rebelled against what were perceived as social constructs of⁤ manhood and womanhood, insisting the sexes were not merely equal but interchangeable and ‌rejecting fundamental elements of our design like basic ⁤biology. In doing so,​ the ⁤post-feminist mindset⁢ made a mockery of ‍masculine men and feminine ‍women; you’ll find plenty of that in “Barbie.”

In⁢ the ‌final scene, Barbie makes her debut as a real-life ‍woman named ⁢“Barbara⁢ Handler.” It’s suggested that this is somehow ⁢the ‌climax of Ruth’s⁢ vision for the doll, as Ruth approvingly responds to Barbie’s request to​ become human that “I always hoped ‍for you like I hoped for [my own daughter].”

Does “Barbie” fully grasp the underpinnings of the movie’s own ⁤message about what it means to be human?⁣ Who knows — that’s a lot to ask from a doll.