The release of Greta Gerwig’s Barbie movie spawned much discussion, with media commentators spilling tons of ink or waxing eloquent on the alleged messages of the film. Was the movie another feminist screed seeking to bash masculinity, people wondered, or was it really a knock on the extremes of both feminism and the patriarchy? And perhaps more important, what does real femininity look like?
I think it’s safe to say that true femininity doesn’t look anything like strong, feminist Barbie, or even ditsy, blonde Barbie. Yet because these examples of femininity are the ones placed before us continually, today’s women naturally tend to drift toward one of them.
