WEBVTT

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It's hard to overstate the massive
cultural impact of the Barbie movie

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"Hi Barbie"
"Hi Ken"

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The film Enchanted audiences, wowed critics,
sparked heated debates

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and made a truly obscene amount of money
at the box office

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"Barbie continues breaking records
with over 1 billion dollars at the global box office"

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It's an impressive cultural achievement

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especially considering that the film doubles as
a featured-length for a line of plastic dolls

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There was, however, one group
who were decidedly unenthusiastic

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"Despite all the bubbly pink fun,
the movie's become a target"

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"of some right-wing personalities"

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"They are preaching empowerment
by making men look weak and dumb"

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"Feminist diatribe about the evils of
the modern patriarchy"

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"It's a trojan horse to to teach girls
daddy is really a dummy"

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"or domineering idiots"

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"It's feminist garbage and
it's really about hating men"

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And Ken is like stupid and unlikable"

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"This is an assault on not just Ken,
but all men"

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If you've seen the movie,
you might be confused

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because the Barbie script goes
out of it's way

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to show Ken in a sympathetic light

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If anything, the movie might
be a little too sympathetic to Ken

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"I think I owe you an apology"
"Huh?"

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Now it's tempting to dismiss this
clearly performative outrage

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as just another attempt to fan the flame
of the culture war

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But there is something really poisonous

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under-pinning this backlash
that I do think is worth taking seriously

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One word in particular
seem to touch a nerve

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"Well, I haven't seen Barbie yet, uh"

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"but I've seen people talking about
the number of times they use"

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"the word patriarchy in it"

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"Feminism and the patriarchy
and fighting it and all that"

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"And actually call it the patriarchy in
the film that phrase is used many times"

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"If you take a shot every time
Barbie says the word 'patriarchy'

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you will pass out before the movie ends"

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"As we learned that the use of word
'patriarchy' no less than ten times in this film"

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"The patriarchy is a big part of
this Barbie film"

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"The word is used endlessly in the movie,
even though most people"

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"including me actually, have no real idea of
what patriarchy really means"

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That is a truly staggering
level of defensiveness

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especially coming from people who

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don't really seem to understand 
what the word even means

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While there are many legitimate criticisms
of the Barbie movie's feminism or lack thereof

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this video essay is not going to
address those questions

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Instead, we're going to use the movie
as a sort of primary

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to help explain
what patriarchy actually is

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what it isn't and how it ends up
harming everyone including men

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"Watch your flank"

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To have any kind of
productive conversation

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we have to get over that defensiveness

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that so many mem feel whenever
they come across the word patriarchy

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"This is a real hornets nest in here"

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Contrary to popular belief,
patriarchy is not a synonym for men

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nor is it a code word for masculinity

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and it certainly has nothing to do
with hating men

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"Yeah, I'm, I... confused about that"

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General confusion about what
patriarchy means

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is perhaps not surprising

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given that the word
very rarely appears in popular media

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When the term has been used
it's traditionally been as a joke

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to mock feminists or feminism

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"Let's take off our brows and burn them
in defiance of the misogynistic patriarchy"

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"you know what I think
I have to meet Harvey, but um"

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"maybe we can burn
our underwear together later"

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"When the last time we had a conversation
over 3 minutes it was about"

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"the patriarchal bias of
the Mr. Roger's show"

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"Well, with King Friday lording it
over all the Lesser puppets"

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"What did I miss?"

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"The oppressive patriarchal values
that dictate our education"

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"good"

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It's only after the rise of
the me too movement

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that we begin to see
a shift in this pattern

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"Stay out of it Courtney"

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"You stay out of it.
I'm dismantling the patriarchy this year"

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"and I'm not afraid to start with you"

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These days the word is most often
written for snarky teenage characters

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"So you were Guided by Lon chivalry"

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"a tool of the patriarchy to extract
my undying gratitude?"

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"Mhm, you know
most people just say thank you"

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It's meant to identify them as brash,
rebellious or naively idealistic

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though not necessarily wrong
in their observations

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"I think marriage is just a patriarchal system
designed to make women less autonomous"

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"You become your husband's property,
you have to bear his children"

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"You even have to take his name"

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"Hey, didn't you say that prom was a postcolonial..."
"A postcolonial patriarchal construct"

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"It is"

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"But we would go as a group
as a form of protest"

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"Hey hey, ho ho,
patriarchy has got to go"

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"Hey hey, ho ho,
patriarchy has got to go"

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Even in this new limited context, the
word is still delivered as a punch line

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"I'm jus... I mean is that it?"

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and its meaning is left
intentionally vague

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"It's called Little Women
and it's about four sisters"

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"who overcome poverty
and the patriarchy..."

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"Nope, dolls"

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The lack of specificity guarantees that

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only those who are already in the know
will get the joke

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"Down with the patriarchy!"

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"Idiot, ah"

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Everyone else is left
either bewildered or extremely threatened

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"Why didn't Barbie tell me
about patriarchy?"

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"which to my understanding is where men
and horses run everything?"

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"I'll silver away!"

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Sorry, Ken, but there are no
horses involved

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Although, it does kind of make sense
why he might think that

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"That's not fair is it? You know
is it the fault of the patriarchy?"

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"Also, what is a patriarchy?"

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In its modern usage,
patriarchy refers to a type of society

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that's constructed to promote
male power and authority

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In sociological terms, it's what's called
a social system

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rooted in four distinct principles

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"a society is patriarchal to the degree
that it's male-dominated"

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"male centered, male identified and
organized around an obsession with control"

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We're going to go over
what all of that means in detail

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but the important thing to remember
about social systems

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is that we are not those systems
and those systems are not us

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"Because Barbie land is now Kenland"

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So, in the Barbie movie The Kens have a coup
and Implement patriarchy

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But the Kens as a group are
not patriarchy itself

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"Here I'm just a dude"

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The Kens make patriarchy happen
by doing it

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When they stop participating the
social system effectively ceases to exist

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In the same way that we can describe
a board game and its rules

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without saying anything about
the personality of the individual players

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so, too, can we talk about
the system of patriarchy and how it works

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without condemning every individual man

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Now keep in mind that the Barbie movie
focuses mostly on straight white characters

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but patriarchy impacts people in
different ways based on their sexuality

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and race, class or geographical location

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"Is there a problem officers?"

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Moving forward in this video

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I'm going to be heavily borrowing from a
book called The Gender Knot

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by sociologist Alan G Johnson

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Since the devil is in the details,
let's use Kenland

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"Kendom"

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"Kendom"

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"Kendom Land"

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"Land of the..."
"Land of the free of the men"

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"Right. Well, this place"

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Let's use Kendom land to help illustrate
how patriarchy works

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"I shall seek my fortune there"

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"Alright"

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The first characteristic of a patriarchal
society is that it's male dominated

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This is relatively straightforward

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All it means is that "positions of authority
are generally reserved for men"

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Basically, when you look up in
the various hierarchies of society

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you'll tend to see more and more men

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The Barbie movie gives us a vivid illustration
of what male dominance looks like

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We are presented with a montage of images
featuring powerful and important men

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It's notable that up until recently

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women have largely been
excluded from these fields

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"I'll take a high level,
high paying job with influence, please"

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"Okay you'll need at least an NBA"

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Ken also learns an important lesson

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when he demands to be given
a powerful position

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he has unceremoniously rejected

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"No, I won't let you do
just one appendectomy"

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"But I'm a man"

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"But not a doctor"

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"Please"

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"No"

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This is because male dominance does not
mean that every individual man is powerful

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"I'm a man with no power
does that make me a woman?"

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In fact most men living in patriarchy

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will never acquire
a formal position of power

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"This is bad. This is really bad"

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"What?"

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Instead, they'll spend their entire lives
laboring under the boot of

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other more powerful men

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"Are any women in charge?"

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Despite what this
Mattel boardroom scene implies

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It's not impossible for a woman to
ascend to the top in patriarchy

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It just means it'll be much much harder
for women to gain and maintain power

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and she will be tokenized and regarded as
a special exception to the rule

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"I love you guys"

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Unlike in the fantasy world of Barbie land

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there has never been
a female president of the United States

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"How come you're so amazing?"

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"No comment. Ah ha ha ha"


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But even when a woman eventually
does win that position

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it will not mean that patriarchy is over

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Because patriarchy is a dynamic
and resilient system

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It has evolved and changed
over the decades

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and indeed centuries

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thanks to countless women who have fought
hard for a few seats at the table

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but the table is still male-dominated

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"You guys are clearly
not doing patriarchy very well"

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"No. Ha ha. No, we're uh,
we're doing it well, yeah"

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"We're just uh, hide it better now"

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The second aspect of a patriarchal society
is that it's male centered

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This simply means
that "the focus of attention

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is primarily on men and boys
and what they do"

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One of the reasons Barbie land
is so visually startling

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is because it's a rare vision of
a female centered world

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It's something we almost never
see in Hollywood

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outside of cheesy Sci-Fi movies
from the 1950s

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"Landing on an unknown planet"

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"they are captured by long limb beauties"

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"When they say take me to your leader

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"and they take them to
a creature like this"

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"you know they're on planet Venus"

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"Hi Barbie"

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"Yeah, space!"

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In Barbie Land the focus of
attention is naturally

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placed on the Barbies and what they do

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but after the coup, the Kens immediately
push the Barbies aside

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and put themselves and masculinity
at the center of absolutely everything

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"Everything, basically everything"

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"exists to expand and elevate
the presence of men"

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This is an exaggerated reflection of
our own male centered world

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All you have to do is turn on the news
or go to the movies

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and you'll be inundated
with endless stories centering men

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"A symbol to the nation"

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"A hero to the world"

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"A beacon of hope, shining up"

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Obviously, this doesn't mean that
women are never centered under patriarchy

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But when they are
it's often framed as a woman's story

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rather than a human story

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The Barbie movie for example

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is very specifically a story about the
gendered experience

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of being a woman in society

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"Anxiety, panic attacks 
and OCD sold separately"

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We can contrast that
with a movie like Oppenheimer

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which is a story about becoming death
the destroyer of worlds

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Yes this destroyer of worlds
happens to be a man

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but notice the story isn't focused on the
gendered experience

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of being a man in society

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In fact, all of Christopher Nolan's film
center very important men

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but none are about their gender

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They are built as stories representative
of the human experience writ large

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Greta Gerwig's movies on the other hand
all center women

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and are very explicitly about being a
woman trying to navigate a man's world

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"Very well"

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[Inaudible]

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That's not a criticism of
either director by the way

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It's just a stark illustration of what
male centered means

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In patriarchy men are viewed as
the default for human

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and therefore, male experiences are framed
as an exploration of the human condition

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While women's experiences are

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first and foremost, framed as
being about womanhood

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"Okay"

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Incidentally this deep-seated 
cultural expectation of male centrality

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helps explain the waves of 
backlash against any entertainment

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that's made for a general audience 
but doesn't center men or masculinity

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Male identification 
is a little more complicated

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but it is a critical piece 
of the patriarchal puzzle

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It means that "core cultural ideas 
about what is considered good,"

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"desirable, preferable or normal
are culturally associated"

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"with how we think about men,
manhood and masculinity"

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This is why professions that elevate 
qualities like toughness, competitiveness

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strength, control, rationality 
and invulnerability are so highly valued

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and highly paid in our society

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"Monsters"

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While occupations that revolve
around qualities

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thought of as feminine like
compassion, sharing or caregiving

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tend to be systematically
devalued and underfunded

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"You know Greg's in medicine too, Larry"

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"Oh, really what field?"

00:14:23.746 --> 00:14:24.438
"Uh, nursing"

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[Laughter]

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In the Barbie movie, The Kens establish
an aggressively male identified society

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They do this by stripping 
Barbie land of its feminine identity

00:14:36.259 --> 00:14:40.999
and superimposing a version of hyper
masculinity that seems to have been

00:14:40.999 --> 00:14:43.181
lifted from 1980s action movies

00:14:44.654 --> 00:14:48.177
They replace all the pink furniture with
black leather recliners

00:14:48.531 --> 00:14:51.833
drape everything in obnoxious 
cowboy motifs

00:14:51.833 --> 00:14:54.919
and litter the landscape with gym
equipment and sporting gear

00:14:55.211 --> 00:14:57.377
"Don't question it 
just roll with it, tiny baby"

00:14:58.622 --> 00:14:59.847
"He call me baby?"

00:14:59.847 --> 00:15:03.769
But male identification goes
much deeper than aesthetics

00:15:04.174 --> 00:15:08.999
When Ken decides to embrace patriarchy,
his behavior shifts accordingly

00:15:08.999 --> 00:15:12.285
as he tries to project
male identified values

00:15:12.421 --> 00:15:15.500
"You can stay if you want,
as my bride wife"

00:15:15.500 --> 00:15:18.020
"or my long-term low commitment
distant girlfriend"

00:15:18.020 --> 00:15:21.401
He buries self-doubt and hides 
his hurt feelings

00:15:21.401 --> 00:15:23.566
behind a layer of false bravado

00:15:23.566 --> 00:15:24.938
"Bruski beer me?"

00:15:25.163 --> 00:15:27.743
"I will not Bruski beer you"

00:15:27.743 --> 00:15:29.644
"Ha ha ha, that's fine"

00:15:29.980 --> 00:15:34.438
Under patriarchy the concept of leadership
and indeed power itself

00:15:34.438 --> 00:15:37.856
is closely identified with masculinity

00:15:38.812 --> 00:15:43.551
It follows then that all men are
socially elevated by default

00:15:43.935 --> 00:15:48.428
while women and feminine things
are devalued and seen as inferior

00:15:48.730 --> 00:15:49.822
"Oh you got fries with that?"

00:15:49.822 --> 00:15:52.038
"If I said you had a hot body
would you hold it against me?"

00:15:52.038 --> 00:15:55.892
This means that even men
who don't hold any institutional power

00:15:55.892 --> 00:15:59.349
can still see themselves
as superior to women

00:16:00.497 --> 00:16:02.238
That point is underscored

00:16:02.238 --> 00:16:05.930
when we see that the Kens
are generally inept at running society

00:16:05.930 --> 00:16:08.163
"Go face day drunk right now"
[laughter]

00:16:08.371 --> 00:16:09.632
[inaudible]

00:16:09.832 --> 00:16:14.013
They spend their time day drinking,
playing games, and goofing off

00:16:14.691 --> 00:16:16.400
"Every night is boy's night"

00:16:16.621 --> 00:16:19.932
And yet they still see themselves 
as superior

00:16:19.932 --> 00:16:23.539
simply by virtue of being men 
living in a patriarchy

00:16:23.951 --> 00:16:26.928
"You're like I can't believe how great 
this place is!"

00:16:26.928 --> 00:16:29.907
In Kendom land, all the Barbies 
are reduced to servants

00:16:29.907 --> 00:16:33.354
"Where are my hungry boys who want snacks"

00:16:33.704 --> 00:16:37.306
But in the real world a small number of 
women can gain power

00:16:37.306 --> 00:16:40.218
even inside of male identified systems

00:16:40.618 --> 00:16:44.663
However, in order to do so they
must prove themselves worthy

00:16:44.663 --> 00:16:49.579
by appearing to be just as aggressive,
competitive and even less emotional

00:16:49.579 --> 00:16:52.356
than any man in that same position

00:16:52.785 --> 00:16:56.988
In other words, even though they are women
they must adopt and perform

00:16:56.988 --> 00:16:59.966
male-identified patriarchal values

00:17:02.589 --> 00:17:07.145
The fourth and final feature of patriarchy
is "an obsession with control"

00:17:07.145 --> 00:17:11.877
"as a core value around which social and 
personal life are organized"

00:17:11.877 --> 00:17:16.967
"Men maintain their privilege by 
controlling both women and other men"

00:17:16.967 --> 00:17:18.579
"who might threaten it"

00:17:20.478 --> 00:17:23.926
The Barbie movie downplays it 
but men's violence against women

00:17:23.926 --> 00:17:26.141
and the everpresent threat thereof

00:17:26.141 --> 00:17:27.558
"Give us a smile, blondie"

00:17:27.558 --> 00:17:30.670
is a critical element in maintaining 
patriarchal control

00:17:30.670 --> 00:17:34.698
"I'm not getting any of that. I feel
that can only be described as admired"

00:17:35.425 --> 00:17:39.236
"but not ogled and there's no 
undertone of violence"

00:17:39.236 --> 00:17:41.703
"Mine very much has an 
undertone of violence"

00:17:41.873 --> 00:17:44.295
Control can also be achieved in other ways

00:17:44.295 --> 00:17:46.741
and since the Kens don't really 
understand violence

00:17:46.741 --> 00:17:51.112
they use coercion and manipulation
to control daily life in Barbie land

00:17:51.429 --> 00:17:52.759
"What is wrong with them?"

00:17:52.759 --> 00:17:55.784
"We just explain to them the immaculate
impeccable seamless gaunlet of logic"

00:17:55.784 --> 00:17:57.566
"that is patriarchy and they crumbled"

00:17:57.566 --> 00:18:00.360
Not the Kens take over 
every institution

00:18:00.360 --> 00:18:02.493
they also take control of the Dream Houses

00:18:02.493 --> 00:18:07.566
"This shall henceforth be known as 
Ken's Mojo Dojo Kasa house"

00:18:07.566 --> 00:18:11.680
and they manipulate the Barbies into 
embracing their new status

00:18:11.680 --> 00:18:12.682
as objectified servants

00:18:12.682 --> 00:18:14.874
"Anyone need a Bruski beer?"

00:18:15.054 --> 00:18:17.585
"What are you doing? You're a doctor"

00:18:17.585 --> 00:18:19.601
"I like being a helpful decoration"

00:18:19.601 --> 00:18:23.063
The illusion of intellectual
and rational superiority

00:18:23.063 --> 00:18:28.100
is critical to enforcing the myth 
that men are in control of every situation

00:18:28.100 --> 00:18:29.734
"Let me show you"
"Here, let me show you"

00:18:29.734 --> 00:18:32.008
"Here, let us show you"

00:18:32.008 --> 00:18:35.293
and therefore deserve their 
privilege status

00:18:35.546 --> 00:18:36.826
"Now you listen to me"

00:18:36.826 --> 00:18:39.436
This is emblematic of how men 
in the real world

00:18:39.436 --> 00:18:42.974
will often compensate for feelings of 
personal inadequacy

00:18:42.974 --> 00:18:46.494
by exercising extreme control
over those closest to them

00:18:46.494 --> 00:18:49.330
"You are going to be home at 6 o'clock 
every night"

00:18:49.330 --> 00:18:52.238
"and you are going to have dinner
ready on this table"

00:18:52.424 --> 00:18:55.258
Especially women and children

00:18:55.432 --> 00:18:56.254
"No"

00:18:56.552 --> 00:18:59.957
[Kens play "Push"]
"I wanna push you around. Well, I will"

00:18:59.957 --> 00:19:03.805
Returning to The Gender Knot:
"Men are assumed and expected"

00:19:03.805 --> 00:19:09.172
"to be in control at all times
to be unemotional except for anger and rage"

00:19:09.172 --> 00:19:13.519
"to present themselves as invulnerable,
autonomous, independent"

00:19:13.519 --> 00:19:19.030
"strong, rational, logical, dispassionate,
knowledgeable, always right"

00:19:19.030 --> 00:19:24.115
"and in command of every situation
especially those involving women"

00:19:24.115 --> 00:19:25.805
[Barbie chuckles]

00:19:26.137 --> 00:19:27.319
"Who are you texting?"

00:19:27.319 --> 00:19:29.231
"Huh?"
"Who are you texting?"

00:19:30.069 --> 00:19:30.729
"No one"

00:19:30.729 --> 00:19:32.431
"Hmm, let me just"

00:19:32.431 --> 00:19:33.311
[Ken giggles]

00:19:33.311 --> 00:19:34.321
"Ken!"

00:19:34.321 --> 00:19:37.578
This obsession with control is
so strong in our culture

00:19:37.578 --> 00:19:42.471
that any man who is perceived
as not exerting enough control over women

00:19:42.917 --> 00:19:46.096
is likely to be ridiculed as 
pussy whipped, packed

00:19:46.096 --> 00:19:48.867
or tethered to the old balling chain

00:19:49.858 --> 00:19:53.181
Notice that there are no equivalent 
derogatory terms for men

00:19:53.181 --> 00:19:57.908
who do control women
only for men who don't

00:19:59.772 --> 00:20:05.240
The obsession with control manifests
in countless ways, big and small

00:20:05.240 --> 00:20:10.468
"We would love it, if you could just
get into that giant box"

00:20:10.468 --> 00:20:14.429
But, control over women, their bodies
and their sexuality

00:20:14.429 --> 00:20:16.937
is a core tenant under patriarchy

00:20:17.635 --> 00:20:19.829
"Get in the box! You Jezebel"

00:20:20.689 --> 00:20:23.411
Recall that the Kens take control
of the government

00:20:23.411 --> 00:20:27.729
and use its power to actively exclude
the Barbies from civic life

00:20:27.729 --> 00:20:30.388
"That's right. In just 48 hours 
all the Kens will head to the polls"

00:20:30.388 --> 00:20:34.276
"and vote to change the constitution to 
a government for the Kens of the Kens,"

00:20:34.276 --> 00:20:35.621
"and by the Kens!"

00:20:36.538 --> 00:20:40.633
Since these are children's toys,
the Barbies can't reproduce

00:20:40.633 --> 00:20:42.565
Well, aside from Midge that one time

00:20:42.777 --> 00:20:45.357
But, the rest of the Barbies
can't have babies

00:20:45.736 --> 00:20:48.305
but if they could the Kens
would have no doubt

00:20:48.305 --> 00:20:52.816
curtailed their reproductive rights
just like in the real world

00:20:54.545 --> 00:20:59.560
The social system I've just described
is very obviously oppressive to women

00:20:59.928 --> 00:21:02.899
But while patriarchy definitely
benefits men

00:21:02.899 --> 00:21:08.360
it's paradoxically a poison chalice
because it robs men of their full humanity

00:21:08.360 --> 00:21:11.214
"Okay, here's the deal.
It's not just about how they see us"

00:21:11.214 --> 00:21:13.458
"it's about how they see themselves"

00:21:13.458 --> 00:21:16.740
We only have time to scratch the surface
on this topic

00:21:16.740 --> 00:21:19.319
but embedded in Ken's story,
we can find a few hints

00:21:19.319 --> 00:21:22.170
as to how patriarchy ends up harming men

00:21:23.772 --> 00:21:28.240
Even though Hollywood loves to play on
themes of a war between the genders

00:21:28.352 --> 00:21:30.590
that framing misses a critical point

00:21:30.590 --> 00:21:34.522
because patriarchy is not
a competition between men and women

00:21:35.329 --> 00:21:38.357
Rather, it's an endless competition
for dominance

00:21:38.357 --> 00:21:42.997
wherein men are pitted against each other
for a place in what R. W. Connell calls:

00:21:42.997 --> 00:21:45.743
"the hierarchy of masculinities"

00:21:47.199 --> 00:21:50.216
The white heterosexual hyper
masculine ideal

00:21:50.216 --> 00:21:52.334
is at the top of the hierarchy

00:21:52.844 --> 00:21:56.550
All other forms of manhood especially
those in any way associated with

00:21:56.550 --> 00:22:01.426
homosexuality or femininity
are pushed further down on the hierarchy

00:22:01.426 --> 00:22:03.857
"When you're slapped, you'll
take it and like it"

00:22:06.117 --> 00:22:10.297
Recall that when the Kens go to war
it isn't against the Barbies

00:22:10.971 --> 00:22:12.773
it's against the other Kens

00:22:13.029 --> 00:22:14.111
"We go to war"

00:22:15.358 --> 00:22:16.277
"Against the Barbies?"

00:22:16.277 --> 00:22:17.100
"No, against the Kens"

00:22:17.100 --> 00:22:18.101
"But we are the Kens"

00:22:18.101 --> 00:22:19.259
"The other Kens"

00:22:19.397 --> 00:22:22.919
Up until this point, I've been mining
the Barbies movie to help illustrate

00:22:22.919 --> 00:22:24.756
how patriarchy works

00:22:25.012 --> 00:22:27.961
But the usefulness of the film's
narrative is limited

00:22:27.961 --> 00:22:30.483
especially when it comes to
male competition

00:22:30.632 --> 00:22:33.101
"Looks this beach is a little
too much beach for you, Ken"

00:22:33.101 --> 00:22:36.281
"If I wasn't severely injured,
I would beach you off right now, Ken"

00:22:36.281 --> 00:22:37.927
" I'll beach you up with you any day, Ken"

00:22:37.927 --> 00:22:39.417
You may remember for example

00:22:39.417 --> 00:22:43.665
that long before they ever discover
what patriarchy even is

00:22:43.665 --> 00:22:47.390
Ken and Ken are engaged
in a bitter competition

00:22:47.390 --> 00:22:50.442
over control of Barbie's
time and attention

00:22:51.082 --> 00:22:53.074
"Bet you can't do a flip like that, Ken"

00:22:53.436 --> 00:22:55.467
This is where the Barbies script
is perhaps

00:22:55.467 --> 00:22:57.527
a little too clever for its own good

00:22:57.747 --> 00:23:01.323
Because it's many overlapping
metaphors and allegories

00:23:01.323 --> 00:23:04.975
leave us with some mixed messages
about the Kens

00:23:05.819 --> 00:23:09.503
The rivalry between the Kens
may work as a sort of gender flipped

00:23:09.503 --> 00:23:13.705
commentary on how women are taught
to seek validation through male attention

00:23:13.705 --> 00:23:19.091
"I only exist within 
the warmth of your gaze"

00:23:19.091 --> 00:23:24.406
It is less successful however, as part of 
the film's larger critique of patriarchy

00:23:24.530 --> 00:23:28.502
because the Ken's competitive rivalry 
carries with it some uncomfortable

00:23:28.502 --> 00:23:29.649
echoes of male entitle

00:23:29.889 --> 00:23:32.836
"I bet you're scared and 
I bet she doesn't even wanted to go"

00:23:32.836 --> 00:23:37.669
And that behavior is not attributed to
patriarchy in the first half of the movie

00:23:37.669 --> 00:23:40.097
which is confusing because it
definitely should be

00:23:40.097 --> 00:23:40.776
"Hi, Barbie"

00:23:40.776 --> 00:23:41.442
[Ken groans]

00:23:41.442 --> 00:23:42.436
"Hi, Ken"

00:23:42.436 --> 00:23:43.379
"Hi, Ken"

00:23:43.448 --> 00:23:45.807
The thing about being obsessed
with control

00:23:45.807 --> 00:23:48.035
is that it traps men in a cycle of fear

00:23:48.378 --> 00:23:49.343
"Hi, Barbie"

00:23:50.152 --> 00:23:51.003
"Hi, Ken"

00:23:51.003 --> 00:23:55.425
The more men value control,
the more they're afraid of losing it

00:23:56.804 --> 00:24:01.187
This leaves men riddled with anxiety
about not measuring up to other men

00:24:01.842 --> 00:24:06.786
which means they can never truly feel
secure in their own masculinity

00:24:06.985 --> 00:24:11.416
"I made a double bet with Ken and you can't
make me look uncool in front of Ken"

00:24:11.416 --> 00:24:12.630
"Ken's not cool!"

00:24:12.854 --> 00:24:13.843
"He is to me"

00:24:13.843 --> 00:24:16.338
In the movie the patriarchal battle
for dominance

00:24:16.338 --> 00:24:19.246
culminates in an absurdest dream ballet

00:24:19.994 --> 00:24:23.416
but in reality the consequences
can be deadly serious

00:24:25.216 --> 00:24:30.355
Most violence in the real world
is perpetrated by men against other men

00:24:32.156 --> 00:24:37.259
This Grim reality is part of why the
Barbie's plan to overthrow patriarchy

00:24:37.259 --> 00:24:42.095
by tricking the Kens into fighting
each other is so wildly misguided

00:24:42.205 --> 00:24:45.205
"You play on their egos and their
petty jealousies"

00:24:45.205 --> 00:24:47.404
"and you turn them against each other"

00:24:47.404 --> 00:24:51.974
While the scene is undoubtedly funny
and the song choice, absolutely perfect

00:24:51.974 --> 00:24:57.523
aggressive competitive male behavior is
a core feature of patriarchy

00:24:57.523 --> 00:24:59.639
not a bug that can be exploited

00:25:00.679 --> 00:25:02.849
"And now they destroy themselves"

00:25:02.849 --> 00:25:06.399
And for the record, men's violence
is definitely not something

00:25:06.399 --> 00:25:09.105
that women manipulate men into doing

00:25:10.452 --> 00:25:12.512
Something else the movie doesn't show

00:25:12.512 --> 00:25:17.068
is how the enormous pressures patriarchy
places on men can lead to self harm

00:25:17.068 --> 00:25:21.475
either directly or indirectly through
addiction and other risky behaviors

00:25:23.945 --> 00:25:28.154
The prohibition on expressing vulnerability
compounds the problem

00:25:28.154 --> 00:25:31.794
by making it difficult, if not impossible,
for men to ask for help

00:25:31.794 --> 00:25:33.835
or build emotional support networks

00:25:34.890 --> 00:25:35.635
"Ken?"

00:25:35.635 --> 00:25:36.544
"Oh hey, Barbie"

00:25:36.544 --> 00:25:37.276
"Hi"

00:25:37.276 --> 00:25:38.651
"How much of that did you see?"

00:25:38.651 --> 00:25:43.419
Of course all people need love,
intimacy and nurture

00:25:44.700 --> 00:25:50.010
But since patriarchy devalues caregiving
and labels it as feminine

00:25:50.010 --> 00:25:53.840
many men feel compelled to sacrifice
their emotional sides

00:25:53.840 --> 00:25:56.980
in order to preserve 
their identity as real men

00:25:57.925 --> 00:26:00.839
As a result, many guys, especially
straight guys

00:26:00.839 --> 00:26:04.102
falsely believe that women are
somehow responsible

00:26:04.345 --> 00:26:06.512
"Oh, but I don't want you here"

00:26:07.012 --> 00:26:07.754
"Is it Ken?"

00:26:08.231 --> 00:26:09.976
"Ken's just a really good friend"

00:26:09.976 --> 00:26:10.462
"Goodnight"

00:26:10.462 --> 00:26:16.257
That being rejected is tantamount to
women holding emotional intimacy hostage

00:26:16.257 --> 00:26:20.160
when in reality it's not women
but patriarchy

00:26:20.160 --> 00:26:24.497
that's blocking men's access to
emotional and physical intimacy

00:26:25.399 --> 00:26:29.318
So when Barbie refuses Ken's advances
he becomes resentful

00:26:29.318 --> 00:26:30.565
He lashes out

00:26:30.565 --> 00:26:32.823
"No you failed me!"

00:26:33.275 --> 00:26:36.449
And he ends up harming everyone,
including himself

00:26:36.449 --> 00:26:38.269
[Ken bursts out of cry]

00:26:38.269 --> 00:26:39.953
"Don't look at me"

00:26:41.803 --> 00:26:44.157
In her excellent book: The Will to
Change

00:26:44.157 --> 00:26:47.791
Bell Hooks doesn't mince words when
describing what happens to men

00:26:47.791 --> 00:26:49.453
inside of patriarchy

00:26:49.773 --> 00:26:54.501
"Teaching boys to despise their
vulnerability is one way to socialize them"

00:26:54.501 --> 00:26:57.878
"to engage in self-inflicted soul murder"

00:26:59.705 --> 00:27:03.803
It's no wonder then that Ken isn't really
happy living in patriarchy

00:27:04.188 --> 00:27:08.649
In fact, in Kendom land he was even further
alienated from Barbie

00:27:08.732 --> 00:27:12.139
From his own feelings and
from the other Kens

00:27:14.074 --> 00:27:16.566
Part of this interview with Julia Fox

00:27:16.566 --> 00:27:18.633
where she's hooked up to
a polygraph machine

00:27:18.633 --> 00:27:20.914
became a viral meme on Tik Tok

00:27:20.914 --> 00:27:24.242
"I hate the patriarchy. There's
a lot of really good men"

00:27:24.242 --> 00:27:25.264
"Answer the question"

00:27:25.264 --> 00:27:27.124
"Do I hate men? No"

00:27:27.432 --> 00:27:28.578
"That's a lie"

00:27:29.281 --> 00:27:32.101
The viral audio snippet stopped there

00:27:32.101 --> 00:27:36.570
But when we play the rest of it her answer
is Illuminating and nuanced

00:27:36.992 --> 00:27:41.999
"There's a lot of men that benefit from
the systemic oppression of women"

00:27:41.999 --> 00:27:47.279
"in our culture and society 
and religions. And I do wish that"

00:27:47.279 --> 00:27:49.685
"more men could stand up for us"

00:27:49.685 --> 00:27:53.720
She explains that she obviously does
not hate all individual men

00:27:53.963 --> 00:27:58.291
What she hates is the fact that most men 
do absolutely nothing

00:27:58.291 --> 00:28:00.878
to help end the oppression of women

00:28:01.199 --> 00:28:05.528
So what can men do to make a difference
in ending this system?

00:28:05.528 --> 00:28:06.901
"The Kens.
They found us"

00:28:07.988 --> 00:28:11.857
Let's use Allan as our proxy for this
part of the discussion

00:28:11.857 --> 00:28:15.085
since he's the only guy who joins
the Barbies' revolution

00:28:15.175 --> 00:28:17.597
Well, aside from these two brief cameos

00:28:17.597 --> 00:28:18.344
"Sugar daddy?"

00:28:18.344 --> 00:28:22.811
"No no no no, I'm not a sugar daddy.
This is sugar and I'm her daddy"

00:28:22.811 --> 00:28:24.893
"And I have an earring, a magic earring"

00:28:24.999 --> 00:28:28.083
Notice that all three of these
characters are queer coded

00:28:28.083 --> 00:28:30.573
and despite being men, 
they're marginalized

00:28:30.573 --> 00:28:32.310
in the hierarchy of masculinities

00:28:33.365 --> 00:28:36.631
Allan in particular, embodies a bunch of
common mistakes

00:28:36.631 --> 00:28:41.322
that men make when trying to disentangle
themselves from the system of patriarchy

00:28:41.823 --> 00:28:45.679
The first thing Allan does is nothing

00:28:46.111 --> 00:28:49.328
He is a bystander who is nonetheless
still afforded

00:28:49.328 --> 00:28:51.554
a measure of privilege in Kendom Land

00:28:51.554 --> 00:28:53.457
that the Barbies are not

00:28:53.457 --> 00:28:55.977
"And Alan likes to help me give
all the Kens foot massages"

00:28:55.977 --> 00:28:57.347
"No, I don't, I don't like that"

00:28:57.347 --> 00:28:58.673
"We love it"

00:28:58.673 --> 00:29:02.733
Like some men in the real world,
Allan might not be actively or consciously

00:29:02.733 --> 00:29:05.285
participating in the oppression of women

00:29:05.285 --> 00:29:07.629
but he doesn't speak out against it either

00:29:10.329 --> 00:29:13.350
The next thing Allan does is
try to escape

00:29:13.605 --> 00:29:17.320
As soon as he spies a way out for himself,
he tries to take it

00:29:17.320 --> 00:29:17.869
"How are you?"

00:29:17.869 --> 00:29:20.703
"I'm Allan.
Don't tell the Ken I'm trying to escape"

00:29:20.703 --> 00:29:23.912
"I cannot sit on one more leather couch
it's going to break my spirit"

00:29:23.912 --> 00:29:27.658
The problem is man can't just
opt out of patriarchy

00:29:27.959 --> 00:29:31.960
because it's been woven into the very
fabric of our whole society

00:29:32.840 --> 00:29:33.765
"What, what do we do?"

00:29:33.765 --> 00:29:35.635
"Just get in the car and keep it singing"

00:29:35.635 --> 00:29:39.913
The next thing Allan tries is to engage
in displays of chivalrous violence

00:29:42.073 --> 00:29:45.317
After learning the extent of the
injustice women face

00:29:45.317 --> 00:29:48.288
some men try to distance themselves
from the problem

00:29:48.288 --> 00:29:53.332
and from any personal culpability
by going after particularly bad men

00:29:54.737 --> 00:29:57.007
But patriarchy isn't a person

00:29:57.007 --> 00:30:00.027
and you can't punch a a social system
in the face

00:30:00.027 --> 00:30:01.676
as much as you might want to

00:30:03.060 --> 00:30:03.914
"Guess what happened?"

00:30:03.914 --> 00:30:06.390
"I got into a fight. I'm fine, but I..."

00:30:06.390 --> 00:30:08.030
"I think we solved feminism"

00:30:08.030 --> 00:30:09.530
"Yeah! once and for all"

00:30:09.530 --> 00:30:12.156
"It was just like a a total melee,
like on the news"

00:30:12.156 --> 00:30:16.352
And most of the time men lashing
out in violence isn't helpful

00:30:16.352 --> 00:30:19.597
as it simply replicates
the core values of patriarchy

00:30:20.218 --> 00:30:25.057
Allan fumbles around for a while, but
eventually he joins the Barbies' revolution

00:30:25.057 --> 00:30:28.146
and figures out how to stand with
them in solidarity

00:30:28.735 --> 00:30:32.012
Notably though, Allan never tries to
confront the Kens

00:30:32.012 --> 00:30:33.818
about what they're doing

00:30:34.380 --> 00:30:37.631
And that's unfortunate because
the most important thing men can do

00:30:37.631 --> 00:30:40.220
is challenge other men
on their behavior

00:30:41.043 --> 00:30:44.974
and encourage them to rebel 
against patriarchal expectations

00:30:47.676 --> 00:30:51.045
Despite all the harm it does to women
and to men's well-being

00:30:51.045 --> 00:30:55.036
the system of patriarchy remains
invisible to most people

00:30:55.381 --> 00:30:59.339
And the Barbie movie for all its flaws,
makes it visible

00:30:59.562 --> 00:31:03.812
This is, I'd argue, at the root of why
so many right-wing pundits

00:31:03.812 --> 00:31:07.871
were so extremely threatened
by this cartoony fantasy land

00:31:07.872 --> 00:31:11.278
Not only does the film acknowledge
the existence of patriarchy

00:31:11.278 --> 00:31:16.078
it dares to suggest that it's not a
natural or inevitable institution

00:31:16.469 --> 00:31:21.776
And in doing so it lays bare the
fundamental truth about all social systems

00:31:21.776 --> 00:31:23.233
they can be dismantled

00:31:23.233 --> 00:31:27.459
"No Barbie or Ken should be
living in the shadows"

00:31:27.459 --> 00:31:28.778
"Or Allan"

00:31:29.090 --> 00:31:31.932
Choosing to confront such an
entrenched system

00:31:31.932 --> 00:31:36.288
can be risky for men and
extremely dangerous for women

00:31:36.962 --> 00:31:41.437
Nonetheless, all over the world women
are challenging patriarchy

00:31:41.437 --> 00:31:44.233
like never before in modern history

00:31:44.563 --> 00:31:48.292
And the reality is that every day
more and more men

00:31:48.292 --> 00:31:53.037
are choosing to stand with those women
to join the struggle for liberation

00:31:53.037 --> 00:31:55.760
and to reclaim their full humanity

00:31:57.019 --> 00:31:58.464
"Thank you"

00:32:00.645 --> 00:32:01.621
Thanks for watching

00:32:01.621 --> 00:32:04.393
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00:32:04.393 --> 00:32:07.923
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00:32:20.612 --> 00:32:22.766
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00:32:22.766 --> 00:32:24.880
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