Writing Sample-- Sociology Research Paper

 Lauren Thompson

SOCL 1101

13 February 2024

Barbie: A Modern Cultural Artifact

When the blockbuster film, Barbie, hit movie theaters in July 2023, it sparked controversy across America. While many moviegoers raved about the film, others declared it too “political”, or “left-leaning”. On the surface, Barbie is a classic toy doll, but the film dives into a deeper commentary on the patriarchal structure of American society. A sociologist might wonder, how does Barbie challenge societal norms about gender roles in modern society? The film serves as a cultural artifact highlighting the various ways gender norms and expectations remain harmful to women in American society. It utilizes the iconic children's toy to make a statement about the normalized prevalence of gender inequality in the 21st century. 

To fully delve into how Barbie acts as a cultural artifact, some key understandings about gender must first be addressed. Gender itself is defined as a social construct, “... the set of social arrangements that are built around normative sex categories,” (Conley, 2021, p. 298). Throughout history, norms for how men and women should act have been established; women are deemed “feminine”, “fragile, and “weak” by nature, and men are deemed as “manly”, “strong”, and “assertive”. As children grow up, they’re exposed to these norms, “These gendered messages can shape children’s self-concept, beliefs and expectations about themselves and others,” (United Way NCA, 2023). Sources such as movies/TV, school, and family all shape a child’s idea of gender roles. 

While gender norms can be very harmful in the development of both boys and girls, girls often suffer the consequences of the norm that males are more “powerful”. Based solely on the sex they are born, there is an inherent challenge females face “. … inequitable gender norms reflect and perpetuate inequitable power relations that are often disadvantageous to women,” (Cislaghi & Heise, 2020, p. 411). The sexism that women across all generations of history have faced is the reason for the rise of feminism. Women have fought for the right to vote, equal access to education, equal pay, and countless other rights that men automatically have. The entire system of male-dominated culture is often referred to as the patriarchy, “It [the patriarchy] is a social formation of male-gendered power with a particular structure that can be found with striking regularity in many different arenas of social life,”  (Ortner, 2022, p. 307). One prime example of the patriarchy’s negative effect on women is the wage gap, “Despite attempts to narrow the gap, women in 2022 still earned 17% less than men on average,” (Haan, 2023). Many factors influence this gap, including discriminatory hiring practices, women working fewer hours to accommodate caring for children, and women’s work being undervalued. Discrimination against women in the workplace can often be traced back to the negative stereotypes associated with female gender roles. Stereotypes perpetuate the myth that women aren’t as capable of being CEOs, working in science and engineering, or that they aren’t “strong” enough for labor-intensive roles. These harmful stereotypes and inequities relate to the patriarchal structure dominating American culture. 

Barbie, the much-anticipated film directed by Greta Gerwig, begins in “Barbie Land”, a magical and seemingly perfect place where Barbies and Kens live in a matriarchal society. Barbie’s purpose is to show girls in the real world that they can be anything they want to be, as shown by Doctor Barbie, Lawyer Barbie, and even Astronaut Barbie. The film follows “stereotypical Barbie”, played by Margot Robbie, and “stereotypical Ken” who venture into the real world to learn that it’s nothing like what they thought. As they roller skate down the Venice Beach boardwalk, Barbie is immediately catcalled by men on the street, one man yelling “Give us a smile Blondie!” (Gerwig, 2023). On the other hand, Ken notices that he is admired by the other men, and he enjoys the attention he is getting, specifying that there is “No undertone of violence” (Gerwig, 2023). Barbie learns that she doesn’t empower girls in the real world, and instead is informed of the difficulty and sexism girls face. While Barbie remained in the real world, Ken headed back to Barbie Land, taking his newfound knowledge about the patriarchy and how it can benefit all the Kens with him. He turned Barbie’s iconic dream house into a “mojo dojo casa house”, and established the Kendom in its place, a patriarchal society revolving around horses and beer. Turning all the Kens against each other, Barbie and her friends manage to win back Barbie Land, changing back the constitution. Barbie encourages Ken to be his “own person”, not just an accessory to Barbie, and the two make up. President Barbie ends up making a deal in which Kens are granted equality, and are even given a court judge position. Ultimately, Barbie is faced with a decision, and she chooses to live in the real world as a human, and the film ends with the momentous moment in which Barbie goes to see a gynecologist.

Leading up to the release of Barbie, there was a lot of speculation about what themes would emerge from the film. Barbie is a strong cultural icon; the doll means a lot to women across the world who grew up playing with them. Girls can take Barbie dolls and play “make-believe”, creating a world completely up to their imagination. It was up to Gerwig to capture that imaginative spirit in Barbie “It [Barbie] means millions of girls’ intense, silly, and personal childhood play is being acknowledged, given the royal Hollywood treatment, and taken both as seriously and unseriously as we took our Barbies themselves,” (Seltzer, 2023). Barbie has the unique attribute of being a family-friendly film appealing to young girls, while also carrying important messages about gender inequality and the patriarchal structure of society. While women live in this generally male-dominated society, it isn’t every day that the media addresses it in such a bold way. 

Fans and critics alike had a lot to say after the film was released. Many saw it as a perfect blend of fun and seriousness “... a summer movie that has more depth than you might expect, and demands to be seen on the big screen to take in every ounce of all the incredible craftsmanship in front of and behind the camera,” (Pushko, 2023). While the film undoubtedly had great cinematography, acting, and music, its overall message and delivery were criticized. Some found it to be a bit too performative without enough substance, one critic saying “... we’re left with Barbie the movie, a mosaic of many shiny bits of cleverness with not that much to say,” (Zacharek, 2023). On the other hand, as soon as the film was labeled as “feminist”, many politically conservative individuals immediately took a dislike, one journalist reflecting, “That left me with the prospect of disappointing my children or sucking it up and going to see what I was reasonably certain, based on reviews, would be two hours of obnoxious left-wing indoctrination,” (Hunter, 2023). Despite a wide range of positive and negative opinions on the film, Barbie still struck success globally, a hit with both adults and children, earning over $1 billion at the box office (Barnes, 2023). 

In its own comedic yet serious way, Barbie consistently addresses societal norms about gender roles. Through sneaky bits of dialogue, the film casually sneaks in remarks about the gendered norms men and women hold. One consistent norm addressed is the power imbalance in which women have significantly less power than men, in one notable scene a Mattel executive remarks, “I'm a man with no power, does that make me a woman?” (Gerwig, 2023). This simple statement carries heavy meaning, as it implies that powerlessness is synonymous with being a woman. It points out that just because of the gender one identifies with, they are at an inherent disadvantage. 

Another scene in which the societal pressure put on women is pointed out is when Gloria, played by America Ferreria, delivers a monologue on the impossible double standards that come with being a woman. Part-way through the speech she states, “But always stand out and always be grateful. But never forget that the system is rigged. So find a way to acknowledge that but also always be grateful,” (Gerwig, 2023). In this monologue, Gloria encapsulates how society pressures women to act grateful for their role as a mother and a partner, yet they must also know and accept their place as having less power than men. Throughout the movie this idea that women must act to please and serve men is reiterated, “Although Barbie is the star of the film, her role as an object of male attention is a central theme, reinforced by Ken's unrelenting infatuation with her,” (La Porte & Cavusoglu, 2023, p. 6). The theme of women being an “object” in the eyes of a man is reinforced through many scenes where Ken is obsessed with Barbie, despite them seemingly not having any real, deep connection. All of these scenes connect audiences to the point being made: the gender norms in which men are “powerful” and women are meant to accept their roles are unfair.

Ultimately, Barbie achieved success in educating viewers on the gender inequality that persists in America today. According to a poll, “Nearly two-thirds of Americans who went to see the “Barbie” movie said the film made them more aware of the effects of the patriarchy in the workplace,” (Shapiro, 2023). Aside from analyzing the movie itself and the messages it carries, this statistical evidence goes to show that the film did its job of educating the public on current gender inequality. Barbie takes on these issues in a comedic, non-threatening way that was able to open the eyes of those who didn’t think about the effects of the patriarchy before watching. While in Barbie Land, Ken’s version of patriarchy (the Kendom) is dismantled, it is evident that there is a long road to dismantling the harmful gender norms that still plague our society. 

Works Cited

Barnes, B. (2023, August 6). ‘Barbie’ Reaches $1 Billion at the Box Office, Studio Says. New York Times [Digital Edition], NA. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A759942571/AONE?u=ecl_main&sid=googleScholar&xid=e26b71c2

Cislaghi, B., & Heise, L. (2019). Gender norms and social norms: differences, similarities and why they matter in prevention science. Sociology of health & illness, 42(2), 407–422. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9566.13008

Conley, D. (2021). You may ask yourself: An introduction to thinking like a sociologist. W.W. Norton. 

Gender roles & gender norms: Definition & examples. United Way NCA. (2023, May 25). https://unitedwaynca.org/blog/gender-norms/ 

Gerwig, G. (Director). (2023). Barbie [Film]. Warner Bros.

Haan, K. (2023, July 20). Gender pay gap statistics in 2024. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/advisor/business/gender-pay-gap-statistics/#:~:text=What%20is%20the%20wage%20gap,terms%20of%20take%2Dhome%20pay 

Hunter, D (2023, August 2). “Barbie,” and why Conservatives keep losing the Culture War. The Hill. https://thehill.com/opinion/education/4131056-barbie-and-why-conservatives-keep-losing-the-culture-war/ 

La Porte, A & Cavusoglu, L. (2023) Faux Feminism in a Capitalistic Fever Dream: A Review of Greta Gerwig's Barbie Markets, Globalization & Development Review: Vol. 8: No. 2, Article 6. https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/mgdr/vol8/iss2/6/ 

Ortner, S. B. (2022). Patriarchy. Feminist Anthropology, 3(2), 307–314. https://doi.org/10.1002/fea2.12081 

​​Seltzer, S. (2023, July 19). A feminist defense of Barbie. Time. https://time.com/6295515/barbie-feminism/ 

Shapero, J. (2023, August 16). Nearly two-thirds of “Barbie” viewers say they’re now aware of patriarchy at work: Study. The Hill. https://thehill.com/business/4153835-nearly-two-thirds-of-barbie-viewers-say-theyre-now-aware-of-patriarchy-at-work-study/ 

Zacharek, S. (2023, July 18). Barbie movie review: Very pretty but not very deep. Time. https://time.com/6295639/barbie-movie-review/