Even Barbie Isn't Safe from the Patriarchy

This is a man's world. Just ask Ken.

The Academy Awards nominations are out, and it was sadly predictable how the biggest grossing, best-reviewed movie of 2023 was treated.

“Barbie,” the movie based on the popular fashion doll, was co-written by Greta Gerwig, directed by Gerwig, and starred Margot Robbie as “Stereotypical” Barbie and Ryan Gosling as “Beach Ken.”

Every aspect of the film has been lauded, but when it came time for the Academy to hand out nominations, only Gosling received a nomination for playing Ken.

A movie about women, and the male lead is the only one that received a nomination.

The Patriarchy wins again!

The only significant criticism the film received from the right wing.

Because the film is perceived as “feminist” and “woke,” it drew the ire of conservatives who saw the movie as another attack on traditional values.

The amusing thing is that Hollywood, a supposed bastion of liberalism, isn’t proving to be any better than the reactionaries that constantly attack the entertainment industry.

This shouldn’t be much of a surprise, given that only two women have won an Oscar for Best Director.

Only one Black woman has won an Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role.

Women, both White and of Color, are routinely passed over for awards when competing against their male counterparts, which is why I’m against combining male and female actors in the same category, a movement gradually gaining traction in the awards industry.

Women would rarely, if ever win.

But this is about more than awards.

This about the perception that women should only do and be certain things.

Women should be afforded the ability to dream about have lives outside of marriage and motherhood.

Women have wants, needs, and desires outside the provenance of men.

The Barbie doll helps little girls imagine that kind of world.

The real world proves on a daily basis that women’s rights are limited.

No one wants to live a life full of limitations.

Barbie doesn’t, and neither does Ken.

But only one of them has to constantly fight for their rights.

And it isn’t Ken.