Over the summer, America Ferrera wasn’t able to promote Barbie due to the ongoing strikes, she she did what we all do when we are feeling left out: take to the internet and see what’s happening and try not to feel bad about it. Luckily, Fererra’s popular long-winded speech at the climax of the movie resonated with people of all ages, even little tweens who were going viral over reenacting the scene.
Even though she called TikTok reenactments “hilarious,” the actress added that it was “also super sad that 11-year-old girls resonate with that monologue and already feel like they know what it’s saying.” She then said she became a “bit obsessive” about scouring the internet and finding reactions. Some of those reactions were not as positive and sparked an online debate about modern feminism.
Ferrera told The New York Times that even though the speech felt too on the nose, there were people who needed to actually have the concept of feminism broken down for them. She explained:
We can know things and still need to hear them out loud. It can still be a cathartic. There are a lot of people who need Feminism 101, whole generations of girls who are just coming up now and who don’t have words for the culture that they’re being raised in. Also, boys and men who may have never spent any time thinking about feminist theory.
If you are well-versed in feminism, then it might seem like an oversimplification, but there are entire countries that banned this film for a reason. To say that something that is maybe foundational, or, in some people’s view, basic feminism isn’t needed is an oversimplification. Assuming that everybody is on the same level of knowing and understanding the experience of womanhood is an oversimplification.
Yes, it might have been “simplified” but that doesn’t make it not true! If people thought the speech was too entry-level then congrats! You already know what feminism is. A lot of people still don’t, and that’s who should be hearing it.
