Feminism

Why I’m still a Barbie girl

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It’s Christmas 1985 and I’m hiding under the kitchen table. I’m on a festive ‘snoop’ mission. My parents are terse talking about “Wrapping the bloody Barbie van!”

My heart beats at the anticipation of it. The pièce de résistance of our sister’s Santa list. The fantasy gift of mid 80’s schoolgirls – the outfits, the glam, the moulded plastic bliss.

Flash forward (nearly) 40 years later and I’m watching the end of the Barbie movie in a draughty Devon cinema. Whilst my 10 year old son is ready for the off, I’ve tears in my eyes.

This surprises me. It’s less to do with nostalgia (I’ve no clue what happened to my Barbie collection) but more to do with a cinematic stirring of middle aged heart and mind.

I was banking on it being an above par chick flick. Reviews of the release from indie darlings, Gerwig and Baumbach, had stoked right wing ire in a pleasing way.

As we waited in line, I chortled to see teenies in tutus queuing for a quirky polemic on gender stereotypes, the patriarchy and empty consumerist lives.

And it started like a knickerbocker glory dream of a world. As Barbie woke to a picture perfect day the sea of west country mummies cooed at their charges.

As the screen glowed with Margot Robbie’s megawatt smile I felt my 9 year old self revive on a wave of fun. This was a world where women ‘rule’ and Ken’s ‘crave.’

But as my tweenager squirmed and I snuck Maltesers (Sorry darling – but they’re “lighter than ordinary chocolate”) the celluloid mood changed.

Barbie got sad. Barbie was lost. Barbie started to question EVERYTHING. Defeated she goes in search of the sage but scorned Weird Barbie (played by the awesome Kate McKinnon).

This encounter sets Barbie on a mission through the portal to the ‘real world.’ As she drives into the fake sunset, Ken tags along for the ride. And guess what they find – the real world falls short.

On Earth, women are ground down whilst the men rise high. This is when America Ferrera’s Gloria steals the best speech (snippet below) about society’s patriarchal pressures,

“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. You 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! 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.

Gloria, The Barbie Movie 2023

As a Mattel employee, working for Will Ferrell’s chauvinistic CEO, Gloria lays bare the reality of women’s Earth lot v the pie in the sky Barbie world.

But Ken is newly inspired by this ‘men rule’ reality. Returning home he flips Barbie’s pink paradise on its head. Suddenly the girls are catering to the Ken’s every whim.

As Barbie and Gloria buddy up to ‘save the day’ cliches abound. But overall, it was an enjoyable, thought popping ride.

For me, the film delivers a message (for girls and boys) of how, in our pursuit of Insta perfect lives, we’ve lost our way.

Whilst we’ve been distracted by looking good, hooking up and ladder climbing, we’ve been passing up on real, authentic life experiences.

In the end, the message that resonated most is that ‘Weird Barbie,’ with all her idiosyncrasies, is the kinda chick you want to listen to. These mavericks are the life guides that can help us make sense of this crazy world.

“Certainly, there’s a lot of passion. My hope for the movie is that it’s an invitation for everybody to be part of the party and let go of the things that aren’t necessarily serving us as either women or men.”

Greta Gerwig, Director, The Barbie Movie 2023

Why does society scorn the ageing female? It’s time to push back!

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It’s past midnight, and I’m social scrolling when I should be sleeping. Night sweats have lured me back to my phone.

As the dog snores beside me I flick through a blur of celebrity ‘tell all’s’ and ‘life crashes.’ My eyes brim as I’m hit by a flood of bile.

Headlines hum with hate. Not for corrupt MPs, global ecocide or social injustice – hate for the ‘ageing’ female. Hate for the ‘hags’ who fail to stop the clock.

“The SHAME of Natalie Portman’s Lost Looks,” “Jennifer Aniston Let’s Greys SHOW.” “Reece Witherspoon Looks OLD.” “Oprah Got FAT.”

“Ugly!” “Worn Out!” “Washed Up!” – this is the media mantra stinging my eyes and stoking my ire. This is 21st century ageism in action – this is misogyny unmasked.

It seems in the west women are not ALLOWED to age. We’re not permitted to accept our fading looks with good grace and live out our lives.

Instead, we must yoke onto ‘youth.’ We must submit to needles of toxins in our faces. We must buy potions. We must diet, dye and cry.

We should CRY endlessly for our lost youths. We should stew in the shame of sands slipping through hourglass. We should hanker after the past not the future.

From the age of 35 our core mission is to outrun the conveyor of life. To kid ourselves we can retain the glow of youth – rather than accept the truth.

The truth that we ARE ageing. That, despite the world’s infatuation with ‘staying young,’ we’re growing older. We cannot go back in time, only forward.

So we become the victims of the ad men selling faux elixirs to turn back clocks. Rather than embracing now we hold a flame for yesterday.

As a middle aged woman, it’s easy to feel beaten down by this rhetoric. As hormonal symptoms creep you can feel obsolete. You can look in the mirror and feel shame not love.

But what if we refuse to let society taint our ageing years? What if we say “F*ck you!” to the youth obsessed commentators? What if we opt to LOVE our selves. To trace our lines, stroke our greys and cradle our loosening skin.

Because to reach midlife and beyond is a gift that not everyone unwraps. We owe it to those who fall short of the milestone to relish this chapter – to embrace our elderhood.

This is the rallying cry of Dr Sharon Blackie’s transformational book, Hagitude: Reimagining The Second Half of Life. This riveting read exposes how western society has derided our value as vibrant, older women. She explores how once revered female elders have been marginalised over time.

How, across centuries the patriarchy got rattled by women’s potency. How our primal connection with nature, healing and the spirit world marked us out. And so we were burned at stakes, chained to sinks and denied a voice…until we pushed back!

And this moment to push back has returned. It’s time to reclaim the narrative on ageing and reject this media misogyny. No digital channel has the right to govern our self esteem. We must reject these headlines of hate.

As vibrant, older women it’s time to step into our power and steal the oxygen from ageism. Let’s seek out role models and archetypes that celebrate life’s journey. Let’s reconnect with our needs and desires. Let’s run towards our older years with hunger and with hope.

In the rallying words of Blackie (2022) “There can be a perverse pleasure, as well as a sense of rightness and beauty, in insisting on flowering just when the world expects you to become quiet and diminish.”