Ken's best friend: masculinities in Barbie

Abstract

Greta Gerwig's Barbie (2023) has predominantly been labelled either as anti-man propaganda or as a paragon for women's empowerment. I suggest that such positions miss a crucial point: Barbie is not anti-man; it is pro-man and is not necessarily a revolutionary film for women, at least not as much as it is for men. This is because Barbie espouses non-hegemonic masculinity through cultural critiques that are rare to see in popular media, especially with the immense commercial success that the film has had . I postulate that Barbie can be utilised as a blueprint for men through its representation of queered masculinity and intimate heterosexual male homosocial relationships. The film portrays heterosexual deviance that can be used as an alternative thinking of how masculinity can be performed sans patriarchy and hegemony. This subversive representation is paramount, and the ramifications of such an analysis can hopefully result in future media representations of non-hegemonic masculinity and can also lend to the effort in normalising the existence of men's emotions and mental health struggles, and in underlining discussions of what it means to be man enough; or better yet, what it means to be Kenough.