Why the Barbie Movie Isn’t Feminist

Hello!

Before we get to Barbie, a friendly reminder about a great way to experience the last 3 months with less stress and more purpose, focus and presence. I'm hosting the 3/4 Year Review at the end of the September. Please see the Christina Recommends section below for all the details and registration if you're interested. 

And now... Barbie + feminism?

When I watch a movie, I always like to look at it from a spiritual perspective. There are so many teachings from the divine embedded in popular movies and The Barbie Movie is no exception.

Let’s just start by saying that I loved this movie. I didn’t know what to expect and I was wowed. I don’t think I’ve ever been to a movie where people cheered and applauded during a scene. (If you’ve seen it, you can probably guess that the cheering came during America Ferrera’s rant on what it’s like to be a woman. I have goosebumps just from remembering it.) I didn’t cheer because I was too verklempt and tearful. My 15-year-old son, Oakley, kept glancing at me to see if I was okay.

The week after I saw it, my daughter, Zoe, showed me some comments from disgruntled men slamming the movie for being feminist (which were then used to promote the movie - good move, clever marketers). However, in my humble opinion, I don’t think it’s a feminist movie. From my perspective, it goes way beyond that. Here’s why. (Spoiler alert from here on in.)

1- When the women ran the show, the men didn’t achieve their potential

In the first part of the movie, the women were living their best lives and had the power. There was no role they couldn’t hold. It was great - to a certain extent. In this scenario, the problem was that the men were superfluous. They didn’t know their role and weren’t able to contribute to Barbie-land (society) in a meaningful way. 

That left them vying for the women’s attention and not much else beyond that. They weren’t able to express their innate gifts and talents, nor were they able to care for the women (which is one of men’s greatest strengths). Their lives were shallow and superficial. 

As for the Barbies, they held all the positions of power which might seem appealing, but it wasn’t sustainable because it was still about the old paradigm of competition, at least under the surface. 

No one gender is supposed to do it all. We’re meant to help, support and care for each other while lifting each other up. The pendulum of harmony swung all the way to one side and the impact was clear. We’re not meant to live that way. 

2- When the men ran the show, the women didn’t achieve their potential

In the next part of the movie, the pendulum swung all the way to the other side. We’re much more familiar as a society with the scenario of a male-dominated paradigm and there’s plenty of evidence that that doesn’t work well, either. 

3- Barbie isn’t about competition, it’s about harmony

In both of the initial scenarios, there was an imbalance of power and strength. What I think the movie was really illustrating is that where we’re headed is more about harmony than competition or power. 

Yes to equality, no to getting there by using force or fighting.

One gender doesn’t need to be better than the other. It’s only when we find the ability to honour, appreciate and celebrate ourselves and each other that we’ll find harmony. 

Divine masculine energy has the qualities of strength, laser-focus, structure and giving. Divine feminine energy has the qualities of strength, flow, creativity, mystery and receiving. We can’t have sustainability without one or the other. We absolutely need both energies. 

The Barbie Movie showed us that harmony is the ultimate goal. Humans have already experienced both sides of the pendulum extremes. A very long time ago, it was more about the feminine. Then it moved into being more about the masculine.

The problem along the way is that the masculine got split from its divinity and so the main focus became power and control with an absence of love. Currently, the divine feminine is rushing in like never before to help reconnect the masculine with divine energy.

The result that we’re headed toward is that we can have it all. We can be empowered, loving, strong, vulnerable, authentic and purposeful simultaneously. 

It hasn’t been a smooth road because most humans tend to resist change. There are early adapters and there are those holding onto the old paradigm for dear life. That’s why there is currently so much upheaval. 

Old institutions and ways of doing things are crumbling and being dismantled. It might look problematic to us but what’s really happening on the level of consciousness is that the energy of love is pouring in, illuminating and mobilizing what was previously hidden and stagnant and bringing it to the surface. 

To paraphrase my mentor, Dr. Sue Morter, “It’s all good, even when it looks like the exact opposite.”

And that’s what I got from the Barbie Movie. We’re headed towards a happy medium. Along the way, mistakes are made, challenges are overcome and we increasingly learn about who we are individually and collectively by being adaptable. 

Every single human being (and everything else throughout the universe) is a combination of divine masculine and divine feminine energies. We need the form and the flow. We need the seen and the unseen. We need life force and the structure to contain it. All of it is love.

To me, that’s not feminism. It’s divine harmony and that’s something I’m thrilled to work toward even with the bumps and bruises along the way.

The fastest way to get to divine harmony? It’s through the ability to pour love into every situation. That is true strength and it’s available to every single human being.  

This week, see where you can pour more love in. The people and circumstances that are the hardest to give love to end up feeling the best. That’s when you get to experience your true and infinite power. 

Three cheers to the Barbie Movie for bringing this powerful message to our awareness and illuminating the path for us. 

With divine love and empowered courage,

Christina

>Creator of Courageous Self-Care

>Doing my best to stay centred amidst my kids' additions to our schedule... volleyball team, acting classes, art classes, preparing for an art market, recording songs, live performances - they sure keep our lives interesting!

>Consumer of countless potatoes (yay potatoes!)

Well, we're rounding the bend of 2023 (can you believe it?) and that means it’s time for the creatively titled (drumroll) Courageous Self-Care 3/4 Year Review. (At least you know exactly what it is.)

If you feel like: 

• you’re always on the go 
• that your life is very busy and stressful
• there don’t seem to be enough hours in the day 
• you kind of have that ‘wind-blown look’ 

… then this workshop will help you get a handle on things.

One of the key teachings in Courageous Self-Care is to create a better relationship with time, and one way to do that is to look to the past with gratitude (rather than regret and doubt) and towards the future with anticipation and excitement (rather than fear and worry).

During this 90-ish minute done-with-you session, you’ll get practical experience in honouring what has already happened so far this year, and then we’ll set some intentions for the last quarter of 2023 so that you know what to do next. 

We'll take a sacred pause to acknowledge ourselves and move into the last part of the year feeling reset, grounded, purposeful and aligned.

You can expect to leave the call with: 

• Increased clarity (so you can make plans that align with your values and thus feel more fulfilled - three cheers for feeling fulfilled!)
• More energy (because we’ll be doing fun things like dancing and celebrating)
• A sense of refreshment (because we’ll be taking a break from all the go-Go-GO!)
• The realization that you’ve had more success than you gave yourself credit for (and it’s always so good to be even more kind and gentle with yourself)

You’ll feel so organized and proud of yourself for taking action toward the life you really want to be living.

The Details

Date: Saturday September 30

Time: 8am Pacific/ 9am Mountain/ 11am Eastern

Duration: 90ish wonderful minutes (possibly closer to 2 hours if we’re really rockin’ it)

Cost: $47

How to Join: click the registration link below and you’ll get all the important details by email

3/4 Year Review Details and Registration

What you’ll need for the session: 

-journal and pen

-a nice drink (like hot lemon water)

-your calendar/planner

-some space to move (because we won’t be sitting the whole time) (I’m adamantly opposed to ‘numb bum’)

-a candle to light if you feel so inclined

I’m really excited to share the powerful process with you (if it’s a fit, of course). If you’re like “Um, no” then you can trust it’s not for you right now.

And if you’re like “I would love to come but I’m already booked,” then please register anyway and I’ll send you a link to the recording. Because I’m nice like that.

This song is delicious. It has a “sic beat” as my teenagers might say (unless that phrase has fallen out of favour recently without my awareness). When they introduced my to Paramour by Sub Urban featuring Aurora, we played it over and over because we couldn’t get enough of it. 

Listening to this song is like going on a journey through different ecosystems of sound. There’s some sweet bass, an angelic voice and strings section, an appealing blend of voices and all other sorts of juiciness. It makes my torso want to move in a slithery way.

Maybe you’ll like it too! It's the perfect blend of masculine and feminine elements in song form. 

Have a listen by clicking one of the links below.

Click here to listen to Paramour on Spotify

Click here to listen to Paramour on iTunes