
The 2023 Barbie and Post-feminism: Narrative in Hollywood Movie Industry
- 1 Chengdu Shishi High school
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Barbie has been a subject of both praise and criticism when it comes to feminism. After the release of the live-action film Barbie in 2023, the discussion of gender identity was triggered. This article analyzes the relationship between Barbie dolls and Hollywood movies focusing on post-modern women's self-identity through the body. Barbie is regarded as a cultural symbol of the male gaze body design that solidifies gender stereotypes. The 2023 Barbie encourages women to identify with themselves and their bodies, from which they can feel the strength and charm of women and understand the complexity and diversity of culture. First, this work will briefly discuss the effect of Barbie brand image in the introduction. Secondly, this article will do an analysis of the leading roles in the movie and connect them with the genderized dilemma that most modern females are facing. Then, the development of Barbie images, their inverse relationships with feminist ideologies, and the underlying consumerism ideas in the Mettel brand industry will be further discussed. Finally, the core logic behind the male gaze and patriarchy will be combined and presented.
Keywords
Barbie, Gender identity, Gaze, Post-feminism, Narrative
[1]. Magro, A. M. (1997). Why Barbie is perceived as beautiful. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 85(1), 363-374. https://doi.org/10.2466/pms.1997.85.1.363
[2]. Norton, K. I., Olds, T. S., Olive, S., & Dank, S. (1996). Ken and Barbie at life size. Sex roles, 34, 287-294. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01544300
[3]. Rice, K., Prichard, I., Tiggemann, M., & Slater, A. (2016). Exposure to Barbie: Effects on thin-ideal internalisation, body esteem, and body dissatisfaction among young girls. Body Image, 19, 142-149. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2016.09.005
[4]. Yang, F. (2023). Post-feminism and chick flicks in China: Subjects, discursive origin and new gender norms.Feminist Media Studies, 23(3), 1059-1074. https://doi.org/10.1080/14680777.2020.1791928
[5]. Vered, K. O., & Maizonniaux, C. (2017). Barbie and the straight-to-DVD movie: pink post-feminist pedagog.Feminist Media Studies, 17(2), 198-214. https://doi.org/10.1080/14680777.2016.1178158
[6]. Fredrickson, B. L., & Roberts, T. (1997). Objectification theory: Toward understanding women’s lived experiences and mental health risks. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 21(2), 173–206.https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-6402.1997.tb00108.x
[7]. Bareket, O., Shnabel, N., Abeles, D., Gervais, S., & Yuval-Greenberg, S. (2018). Evidence for an association between men’s spontaneous objectifying gazing behavior and their endorsement of objectifying attitudes toward women. Sex Roles, 81(3–4), 245–256. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-018-0983-8
[8]. Wright, L. (2003). The wonder of Barbie: popular culture and the making of female identity. Essays in Philosophy, 4(1), 28-52. https://doi.org/10.5840/eip20034121
[9]. Lord, M. G. 2004 [1994]. Forever Barbie: The Unauthorized Biography of a Real Doll. New York: Walker and Co.
[10]. Wagner, U., Jacob, I., Khanna, M., & Rai, K. A. (2021). Possession Attachment toward Global Brands: How the “World of Barbie” is Shaping the Mindsets of Millennial Girls. Journal of International ConsumerMarketing,33(4),434-451. https://doi.org/10.1080/08961530.2020.1813671
[11]. Hill, J. A. (2011). Endangered childhoods: How consumerism is impacting child and youth identity. Media, Culture & Society, 33(3), 347-362. https://doi.org/10.1177/0163443710393387
Cite this article
Li,Y. (2024). The 2023 Barbie and Post-feminism: Narrative in Hollywood Movie Industry. Communications in Humanities Research,29,35-40.
Data availability
The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study will be available from the authors upon reasonable request.
Disclaimer/Publisher's Note
The statements, opinions and data contained in all publications are solely those of the individual author(s) and contributor(s) and not of EWA Publishing and/or the editor(s). EWA Publishing and/or the editor(s) disclaim responsibility for any injury to people or property resulting from any ideas, methods, instructions or products referred to in the content.
About volume
Volume title: Proceedings of the International Conference on Global Politics and Socio-Humanities
© 2024 by the author(s). Licensee EWA Publishing, Oxford, UK. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and
conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license. Authors who
publish this series agree to the following terms:
1. Authors retain copyright and grant the series right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons
Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this
series.
2. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the series's published
version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial
publication in this series.
3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and
during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See
Open access policy for details).