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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 bras 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 latent 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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"Hi-ho. 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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00:10:06,210 --> 00:10:10,434
"No. Ha ha. No, we're uh,
we're doing it well, yeah"

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00:10:10,434 --> 00:10:12,806
"We're just uh, hide it better now"

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00:10:15,041 --> 00:10:19,502
The second aspect of a patriarchal society
is that it's male centered

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00:10:19,502 --> 00:10:21,944
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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00:10:48,578 --> 00:10:51,444
"and they take them to
a creature like this"

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00:10:51,444 --> 00:10:54,197
"you know they're on planet Venus"

201
00:10:54,823 --> 00:10:55,958
"Hi Barbie"

202
00:10:56,590 --> 00:10:57,919
"Yeah, space!"

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00:10:58,224 --> 00:11:01,455
In Barbie Land the focus of
attention is naturally

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00:11:01,455 --> 00:11:04,222
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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00:11:14,653 --> 00:11:16,734
"Everything, basically everything"

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00:11:16,734 --> 00:11:20,157
"exists to expand and elevate
the presence of men"

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00:11:20,526 --> 00:11:25,045
This is an exaggerated reflection of
our own male centered world

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00:11:25,615 --> 00:11:29,306
All you have to do is turn on the news
or go to the movies

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00:11:29,306 --> 00:11:33,419
and you'll be inundated
with endless stories centering men

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00:11:35,589 --> 00:11:37,791
"A symbol to the nation"

213
00:11:38,506 --> 00:11:40,947
"A hero to the world"

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00:11:42,833 --> 00:11:45,814
"A beacon of hope, shining up"

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00:11:46,438 --> 00:11:50,694
Obviously, this doesn't mean that
women are never centered under patriarchy

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00:11:51,011 --> 00:11:54,714
But when they are
it's often framed as a woman's story

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00:11:54,714 --> 00:11:57,117
rather than a human story

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00:11:57,818 --> 00:11:59,496
The Barbie movie for example

219
00:11:59,496 --> 00:12:02,768
is very specifically a story about the
gendered experience

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00:12:02,768 --> 00:12:04,602
of being a woman in society

221
00:12:05,239 --> 00:12:08,481
"Anxiety, panic attacks 
and OCD sold separately"

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00:12:09,089 --> 00:12:11,656
We can contrast that
with a movie like Oppenheimer

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00:12:12,177 --> 00:12:16,236
which is a story about becoming death
the destroyer of worlds

224
00:12:16,970 --> 00:12:20,416
Yes this destroyer of worlds
happens to be a man

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00:12:20,416 --> 00:12:23,790
but notice the story isn't focused on the
gendered experience

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00:12:23,790 --> 00:12:25,890
of being a man in society

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00:12:27,810 --> 00:12:32,313
In fact, all of Christopher Nolan's film
center very important men

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00:12:32,681 --> 00:12:34,791
but none are about their gender

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00:12:35,114 --> 00:12:40,376
They are built as stories representative
of the human experience writ large

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00:12:41,548 --> 00:12:44,512
Greta Gerwig's movies on the other hand
all center women

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00:12:44,512 --> 00:12:50,274
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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00:12:52,035 --> 00:12:53,108
[Inaudible]

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00:12:53,458 --> 00:12:56,049
That's not a criticism of
either director by the way

235
00:12:56,049 --> 00:12:59,665
It's just a stark illustration of what
male centered means

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00:13:00,092 --> 00:13:04,030
In patriarchy men are viewed as
the default for human

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00:13:04,030 --> 00:13:09,466
and therefore, male experiences are framed
as an exploration of the human condition

238
00:13:10,242 --> 00:13:12,142
While women's experiences are

239
00:13:12,142 --> 00:13:15,798
first and foremost, framed as
being about womanhood

240
00:13:17,878 --> 00:13:18,983
"Okay"

241
00:13:19,453 --> 00:13:23,776
Incidentally this deep-seated 
cultural expectation of male centrality

242
00:13:23,776 --> 00:13:27,652
helps explain the waves of 
backlash against any entertainment

243
00:13:27,652 --> 00:13:32,463
that's made for a general audience 
but doesn't center men or masculinity

244
00:13:34,755 --> 00:13:37,555
Male identification 
is a little more complicated

245
00:13:37,555 --> 00:13:40,610
but it is a critical piece 
of the patriarchal puzzle

246
00:13:40,880 --> 00:13:44,921
It means that "core cultural ideas 
about what is considered good,"

247
00:13:44,921 --> 00:13:49,723
"desirable, preferable or normal
are culturally associated"

248
00:13:49,723 --> 00:13:53,607
"with how we think about men,
manhood and masculinity"

249
00:13:55,293 --> 00:14:00,239
This is why professions that elevate 
qualities like toughness, competitiveness

250
00:14:00,239 --> 00:14:05,780
strength, control, rationality 
and invulnerability are so highly valued

251
00:14:05,780 --> 00:14:08,345
and highly paid in our society

252
00:14:09,186 --> 00:14:10,032
"Monsters"

253
00:14:10,032 --> 00:14:12,545
While occupations that revolve
around qualities

254
00:14:12,545 --> 00:14:16,950
thought of as feminine like
compassion, sharing or caregiving

255
00:14:16,600 --> 00:14:20,004
tend to be systematically
devalued and underfunded

256
00:14:20,004 --> 00:14:21,965
"You know Greg's in medicine too, Larry"

257
00:14:21,965 --> 00:14:23,563
"Oh, really what field?"

258
00:14:23,746 --> 00:14:24,438
"Uh, nursing"

259
00:14:24,739 --> 00:14:25,510
[Laughter]

260
00:14:27,210 --> 00:14:31,832
In the Barbie movie, The Kens establish
an aggressively male identified society

261
00:14:32,878 --> 00:14:36,259
They do this by stripping 
Barbie land of its feminine identity

262
00:14:36,259 --> 00:14:40,999
and superimposing a version of hyper
masculinity that seems to have been

263
00:14:40,999 --> 00:14:43,181
lifted from 1980s action movies

264
00:14:44,654 --> 00:14:48,177
They replace all the pink furniture with
black leather recliners

265
00:14:48,531 --> 00:14:51,833
drape everything in obnoxious 
cowboy motifs

266
00:14:51,833 --> 00:14:54,919
and litter the landscape with gym
equipment and sporting gear

267
00:14:55,211 --> 00:14:57,377
"Don't question it 
just roll with it, tiny baby"

268
00:14:58,622 --> 00:14:59,847
"He call me baby?"

269
00:14:59,847 --> 00:15:03,769
But male identification goes
much deeper than aesthetics

270
00:15:04,174 --> 00:15:08,999
When Ken decides to embrace patriarchy,
his behavior shifts accordingly

271
00:15:08,999 --> 00:15:12,285
as he tries to project
male identified values

272
00:15:12,421 --> 00:15:15,500
"You can stay if you want,
as my bride wife"

273
00:15:15,500 --> 00:15:18,020
"or my long-term low commitment
distant girlfriend"

274
00:15:18,020 --> 00:15:21,401
He buries self-doubt and hides 
his hurt feelings

275
00:15:21,401 --> 00:15:23,566
behind a layer of false bravado

276
00:15:23,566 --> 00:15:24,938
"Bruski beer me?"

277
00:15:25,163 --> 00:15:27,743
"I will not Bruski beer you"

278
00:15:27,743 --> 00:15:29,644
"Ha ha ha, that's fine"

279
00:15:29,980 --> 00:15:34,438
Under patriarchy the concept of leadership
and indeed power itself

280
00:15:34,438 --> 00:15:37,856
is closely identified with masculinity

281
00:15:38,812 --> 00:15:43,551
It follows then that all men are
socially elevated by default

282
00:15:43,935 --> 00:15:48,428
while women and feminine things
are devalued and seen as inferior

283
00:15:48,730 --> 00:15:49,822
"Oh you got fries with that?"

284
00:15:49,822 --> 00:15:52,038
"If I said you had a hot body
would you hold it against me?"

285
00:15:52,038 --> 00:15:55,892
This means that even men
who don't hold any institutional power

286
00:15:55,892 --> 00:15:59,349
can still see themselves
as superior to women

287
00:16:00,497 --> 00:16:02,238
That point is underscored

288
00:16:02,238 --> 00:16:05,930
when we see that the Kens
are generally inept at running society

289
00:16:05,930 --> 00:16:08,163
"Go face day drunk right now"
[laughter]

290
00:16:08,371 --> 00:16:09,632
[inaudible]

291
00:16:09,832 --> 00:16:14,013
They spend their time day drinking,
playing games, and goofing off

292
00:16:14,691 --> 00:16:16,400
"Every night is boy's night"

293
00:16:16,621 --> 00:16:19,932
And yet they still see themselves 
as superior

294
00:16:19,932 --> 00:16:23,539
simply by virtue of being men 
living in a patriarchy

295
00:16:23,951 --> 00:16:26,928
"You're like I can't believe how great 
this place is!"

296
00:16:26,928 --> 00:16:29,907
In Kendom land, all the Barbies 
are reduced to servants

297
00:16:29,907 --> 00:16:33,354
"Where are my hungry boys who want snacks"

298
00:16:33,704 --> 00:16:37,306
But in the real world a small number of 
women can gain power

299
00:16:37,306 --> 00:16:40,218
even inside of male identified systems

300
00:16:40,618 --> 00:16:44,663
However, in order to do so they
must prove themselves worthy

301
00:16:44,663 --> 00:16:49,579
by appearing to be just as aggressive,
competitive and even less emotional

302
00:16:49,579 --> 00:16:52,356
than any man in that same position

303
00:16:52,785 --> 00:16:56,988
In other words, even though they are women
they must adopt and perform

304
00:16:56,988 --> 00:16:59,966
male-identified patriarchal values

305
00:17:02,589 --> 00:17:07,145
The fourth and final feature of patriarchy
is "an obsession with control"

306
00:17:07,145 --> 00:17:11,877
"as a core value around which social and 
personal life are organized"

307
00:17:11,877 --> 00:17:16,967
"Men maintain their privilege by 
controlling both women and other men"

308
00:17:16,967 --> 00:17:18,579
"who might threaten it"

309
00:17:20,478 --> 00:17:23,926
The Barbie movie downplays it 
but men's violence against women

310
00:17:23,926 --> 00:17:26,141
and the everpresent threat thereof

311
00:17:26,141 --> 00:17:27,558
"Give us a smile, blondie"

312
00:17:27,558 --> 00:17:30,670
is a critical element in maintaining 
patriarchal control

313
00:17:30,670 --> 00:17:34,698
"I'm not getting any of that. I feel
that can only be described as admired"

314
00:17:35,425 --> 00:17:39,236
"but not ogled and there's no 
undertone of violence"

315
00:17:39,236 --> 00:17:41,703
"Mine very much has an 
undertone of violence"

316
00:17:41,873 --> 00:17:44,295
Control can also be achieved in other ways

317
00:17:44,295 --> 00:17:46,741
and since the Kens don't really 
understand violence

318
00:17:46,741 --> 00:17:51,112
they use coercion and manipulation
to control daily life in Barbie land

319
00:17:51,429 --> 00:17:52,759
"What is wrong with them?"

320
00:17:52,759 --> 00:17:55,784
"We just explain to them the immaculate
impeccable seamless gaunlet of logic"

321
00:17:55,784 --> 00:17:57,566
"that is patriarchy and they crumbled"

322
00:17:57,566 --> 00:18:00,360
Not the Kens take over 
every institution

323
00:18:00,360 --> 00:18:02,493
they also take control of the Dream Houses

324
00:18:02,493 --> 00:18:07,566
"This shall henceforth be known as 
Ken's Mojo Dojo Kasa house"

325
00:18:07,566 --> 00:18:11,680
and they manipulate the Barbies into 
embracing their new status

326
00:18:11,680 --> 00:18:12,682
as objectified servants

327
00:18:12,682 --> 00:18:14,874
"Anyone need a Bruski beer?"

328
00:18:15,054 --> 00:18:17,585
"What are you doing? You're a doctor"

329
00:18:17,585 --> 00:18:19,601
"I like being a helpful decoration"

330
00:18:19,601 --> 00:18:23,063
The illusion of intellectual
and rational superiority

331
00:18:23,063 --> 00:18:28,100
is critical to enforcing the myth 
that men are in control of every situation

332
00:18:28,100 --> 00:18:29,734
"Let me show you"
"Here, let me show you"

333
00:18:29,734 --> 00:18:32,008
"Here, let us show you"

334
00:18:32,008 --> 00:18:35,293
and therefore deserve their 
privilege status

335
00:18:35,546 --> 00:18:36,826
"Now you listen to me"

336
00:18:36,826 --> 00:18:39,436
This is emblematic of how men 
in the real world

337
00:18:39,436 --> 00:18:42,974
will often compensate for feelings of 
personal inadequacy

338
00:18:42,974 --> 00:18:46,494
by exercising extreme control
over those closest to them

339
00:18:46,494 --> 00:18:49,330
"You are going to be home at 6 o'clock 
every night"

340
00:18:49,330 --> 00:18:52,238
"and you are going to have dinner
ready on this table"

341
00:18:52,424 --> 00:18:55,258
Especially women and children

342
00:18:55,432 --> 00:18:56,254
"No"

343
00:18:56,552 --> 00:18:59,957
[Kens play "Push"]
"I wanna push you around. Well, I will"

344
00:18:59,957 --> 00:19:03,805
Returning to The Gender Knot:
"Men are assumed and expected"

345
00:19:03,805 --> 00:19:09,172
"to be in control at all times
to be unemotional except for anger and rage"

346
00:19:09,172 --> 00:19:13,519
"to present themselves as invulnerable,
autonomous, independent"

347
00:19:13,519 --> 00:19:19,030
"strong, rational, logical, dispassionate,
knowledgeable, always right"

348
00:19:19,030 --> 00:19:24,115
"and in command of every situation
especially those involving women"

349
00:19:24,115 --> 00:19:25,805
[Barbie chuckles]

350
00:19:26,137 --> 00:19:27,319
"Who are you texting?"

351
00:19:27,319 --> 00:19:29,231
"Huh?"
"Who are you texting?"

352
00:19:30,069 --> 00:19:30,729
"No one"

353
00:19:30,729 --> 00:19:32,431
"Hmm, let me just"

354
00:19:32,431 --> 00:19:33,311
[Ken giggles]

355
00:19:33,311 --> 00:19:34,321
"Ken!"

356
00:19:34,321 --> 00:19:37,578
This obsession with control is
so strong in our culture

357
00:19:37,578 --> 00:19:42,471
that any man who is perceived
as not exerting enough control over women

358
00:19:42,917 --> 00:19:46,096
is likely to be ridiculed as 
pussy whipped, packed

359
00:19:46,096 --> 00:19:48,867
or tethered to the old balling chain

360
00:19:49,858 --> 00:19:53,181
Notice that there are no equivalent 
derogatory terms for men

361
00:19:53,181 --> 00:19:57,908
who do control women
only for men who don't

362
00:19:59,772 --> 00:20:05,240
The obsession with control manifests
in countless ways, big and small

363
00:20:05,240 --> 00:20:10,468
"We would love it, if you could just
get into that giant box"

364
00:20:10,468 --> 00:20:14,429
But, control over women, their bodies
and their sexuality

365
00:20:14,429 --> 00:20:16,937
is a core tenant under patriarchy

366
00:20:17,635 --> 00:20:19,829
"Get in the box! You Jezebel"

367
00:20:20,689 --> 00:20:23,411
Recall that the Kens take control
of the government

368
00:20:23,411 --> 00:20:27,729
and use its power to actively exclude
the Barbies from civic life

369
00:20:27,729 --> 00:20:30,388
"That's right. In just 48 hours 
all the Kens will head to the polls"

370
00:20:30,388 --> 00:20:34,276
"and vote to change the constitution to 
a government for the Kens of the Kens,"

371
00:20:34,276 --> 00:20:35,621
"and by the Kens!"

372
00:20:36,538 --> 00:20:40,633
Since these are children's toys,
the Barbies can't reproduce

373
00:20:40,633 --> 00:20:42,565
Well, aside from Midge that one time

374
00:20:42,777 --> 00:20:45,357
But, the rest of the Barbies
can't have babies

375
00:20:45,736 --> 00:20:48,305
but if they could the Kens
would have no doubt

376
00:20:48,305 --> 00:20:52,816
curtailed their reproductive rights
just like in the real world

377
00:20:54,545 --> 00:20:59,560
The social system I've just described
is very obviously oppressive to women

378
00:20:59,928 --> 00:21:02,899
But while patriarchy definitely
benefits men

379
00:21:02,899 --> 00:21:08,360
it's paradoxically a poison chalice
because it robs men of their full humanity

380
00:21:08,360 --> 00:21:11,214
"Okay, here's the deal.
It's not just about how they see us"

381
00:21:11,214 --> 00:21:13,458
"it's about how they see themselves"

382
00:21:13,458 --> 00:21:16,740
We only have time to scratch the surface
on this topic

383
00:21:16,740 --> 00:21:19,319
but embedded in Ken's story,
we can find a few hints

384
00:21:19,319 --> 00:21:22,170
as to how patriarchy ends up harming men

385
00:21:23,772 --> 00:21:28,240
Even though Hollywood loves to play on
themes of a war between the genders

386
00:21:28,352 --> 00:21:30,590
that framing misses a critical point

387
00:21:30,590 --> 00:21:34,522
because patriarchy is not
a competition between men and women

388
00:21:35,329 --> 00:21:38,357
Rather, it's an endless competition
for dominance

389
00:21:38,357 --> 00:21:42,997
wherein men are pitted against each other
for a place in what R. W. Connell calls:

390
00:21:42,997 --> 00:21:45,743
"the hierarchy of masculinities"

391
00:21:47,199 --> 00:21:50,216
The white heterosexual hyper
masculine ideal

392
00:21:50,216 --> 00:21:52,334
is at the top of the hierarchy

393
00:21:52,844 --> 00:21:56,550
All other forms of manhood especially
those in any way associated with

394
00:21:56,550 --> 00:22:01,426
homosexuality or femininity
are pushed further down on the hierarchy

395
00:22:01,426 --> 00:22:03,857
"When you're slapped, you'll
take it and like it"

396
00:22:06,117 --> 00:22:10,297
Recall that when the Kens go to war
it isn't against the Barbies

397
00:22:10,971 --> 00:22:12,773
it's against the other Kens

398
00:22:13,029 --> 00:22:14,111
"We go to war"

399
00:22:15,358 --> 00:22:16,277
"Against the Barbies?"

400
00:22:16,277 --> 00:22:17,100
"No, against the Kens"

401
00:22:17,100 --> 00:22:18,101
"But we are the Kens"

402
00:22:18,101 --> 00:22:19,259
"The other Kens"

403
00:22:19,397 --> 00:22:22,919
Up until this point, I've been mining
the Barbies movie to help illustrate

404
00:22:22,919 --> 00:22:24,756
how patriarchy works

405
00:22:25,012 --> 00:22:27,961
But the usefulness of the film's
narrative is limited

406
00:22:27,961 --> 00:22:30,483
especially when it comes to
male competition

407
00:22:30,632 --> 00:22:33,101
"Looks this beach is a little
too much beach for you, Ken"

408
00:22:33,101 --> 00:22:36,281
"If I wasn't severely injured,
I would beach you off right now, Ken"

409
00:22:36,281 --> 00:22:37,927
" I'll beach you up with you any day, Ken"

410
00:22:37,927 --> 00:22:39,417
You may remember for example

411
00:22:39,417 --> 00:22:43,665
that long before they ever discover
what patriarchy even is

412
00:22:43,665 --> 00:22:47,390
Ken and Ken are engaged
in a bitter competition

413
00:22:47,390 --> 00:22:50,442
over control of Barbie's
time and attention

414
00:22:51,082 --> 00:22:53,074
"Bet you can't do a flip like that, Ken"

415
00:22:53,436 --> 00:22:55,467
This is where the Barbies script
is perhaps

416
00:22:55,467 --> 00:22:57,527
a little too clever for its own good

417
00:22:57,747 --> 00:23:01,323
Because it's many overlapping
metaphors and allegories

418
00:23:01,323 --> 00:23:04,975
leave us with some mixed messages
about the Kens

419
00:23:05,819 --> 00:23:09,503
The rivalry between the Kens
may work as a sort of gender flipped

420
00:23:09,503 --> 00:23:13,705
commentary on how women are taught
to seek validation through male attention

421
00:23:13,705 --> 00:23:19,091
"I only exist within 
the warmth of your gaze"

422
00:23:19,091 --> 00:23:24,406
It is less successful however, as part of 
the film's larger critique of patriarchy

423
00:23:24,530 --> 00:23:28,502
because the Ken's competitive rivalry 
carries with it some uncomfortable

424
00:23:28,502 --> 00:23:29,649
echoes of male entitle

425
00:23:29,889 --> 00:23:32,836
"I bet you're scared and 
I bet she doesn't even wanted to go"

426
00:23:32,836 --> 00:23:37,669
And that behavior is not attributed to
patriarchy in the first half of the movie

427
00:23:37,669 --> 00:23:40,097
which is confusing because it
definitely should be

428
00:23:40,097 --> 00:23:40,776
"Hi, Barbie"

429
00:23:40,776 --> 00:23:41,442
[Ken groans]

430
00:23:41,442 --> 00:23:42,436
"Hi, Ken"

431
00:23:42,436 --> 00:23:43,379
"Hi, Ken"

432
00:23:43,448 --> 00:23:45,807
The thing about being obsessed
with control

433
00:23:45,807 --> 00:23:48,035
is that it traps men in a cycle of fear

434
00:23:48,378 --> 00:23:49,343
"Hi, Barbie"

435
00:23:50,152 --> 00:23:51,003
"Hi, Ken"

436
00:23:51,003 --> 00:23:55,425
The more men value control,
the more they're afraid of losing it

437
00:23:56,804 --> 00:24:01,187
This leaves men riddled with anxiety
about not measuring up to other men

438
00:24:01,842 --> 00:24:06,786
which means they can never truly feel
secure in their own masculinity

439
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"

440
00:24:11,416 --> 00:24:12,630
"Ken's not cool!"

441
00:24:12,854 --> 00:24:13,843
"He is to me"

442
00:24:13,843 --> 00:24:16,338
In the movie the patriarchal battle
for dominance

443
00:24:16,338 --> 00:24:19,246
culminates in an absurdest dream ballet

444
00:24:19,994 --> 00:24:23,416
but in reality the consequences
can be deadly serious

445
00:24:25,216 --> 00:24:30,355
Most violence in the real world
is perpetrated by men against other men

446
00:24:32,156 --> 00:24:37,259
This Grim reality is part of why the
Barbie's plan to overthrow patriarchy

447
00:24:37,259 --> 00:24:42,095
by tricking the Kens into fighting
each other is so wildly misguided

448
00:24:42,205 --> 00:24:45,205
"You play on their egos and their
petty jealousies"

449
00:24:45,205 --> 00:24:47,404
"and you turn them against each other"

450
00:24:47,404 --> 00:24:51,974
While the scene is undoubtedly funny
and the song choice, absolutely perfect

451
00:24:51,974 --> 00:24:57,523
aggressive competitive male behavior is
a core feature of patriarchy

452
00:24:57,523 --> 00:24:59,639
not a bug that can be exploited

453
00:25:00,679 --> 00:25:02,849
"And now they destroy themselves"

454
00:25:02,849 --> 00:25:06,399
And for the record, men's violence
is definitely not something

455
00:25:06,399 --> 00:25:09,105
that women manipulate men into doing

456
00:25:10,452 --> 00:25:12,512
Something else the movie doesn't show

457
00:25:12,512 --> 00:25:17,068
is how the enormous pressures patriarchy
places on men can lead to self harm

458
00:25:17,068 --> 00:25:21,475
either directly or indirectly through
addiction and other risky behaviors

459
00:25:23,945 --> 00:25:28,154
The prohibition on expressing vulnerability
compounds the problem

460
00:25:28,154 --> 00:25:31,794
by making it difficult, if not impossible,
for men to ask for help

461
00:25:31,794 --> 00:25:33,835
or build emotional support networks

462
00:25:34,890 --> 00:25:35,635
"Ken?"

463
00:25:35,635 --> 00:25:36,544
"Oh hey, Barbie"

464
00:25:36,544 --> 00:25:37,276
"Hi"

465
00:25:37,276 --> 00:25:38,651
"How much of that did you see?"

466
00:25:38,651 --> 00:25:43,419
Of course all people need love,
intimacy and nurture

467
00:25:44,700 --> 00:25:50,010
But since patriarchy devalues caregiving
and labels it as feminine

468
00:25:50,010 --> 00:25:53,840
many men feel compelled to sacrifice
their emotional sides

469
00:25:53,840 --> 00:25:56,980
in order to preserve 
their identity as real men

470
00:25:57,925 --> 00:26:00,839
As a result, many guys, especially
straight guys

471
00:26:00,839 --> 00:26:04,102
falsely believe that women are
somehow responsible

472
00:26:04,345 --> 00:26:06,512
"Oh, but I don't want you here"

473
00:26:07,012 --> 00:26:07,754
"Is it Ken?"

474
00:26:08,231 --> 00:26:09,976
"Ken's just a really good friend"

475
00:26:09,976 --> 00:26:10,462
"Goodnight"

476
00:26:10,462 --> 00:26:16,257
That being rejected is tantamount to
women holding emotional intimacy hostage

477
00:26:16,257 --> 00:26:20,160
when in reality it's not women
but patriarchy

478
00:26:20,160 --> 00:26:24,497
that's blocking men's access to
emotional and physical intimacy

479
00:26:25,399 --> 00:26:29,318
So when Barbie refuses Ken's advances
he becomes resentful

480
00:26:29,318 --> 00:26:30,565
He lashes out

481
00:26:30,565 --> 00:26:32,823
"No you failed me!"

482
00:26:33,275 --> 00:26:36,449
And he ends up harming everyone,
including himself

483
00:26:36,449 --> 00:26:38,269
[Ken bursts out of cry]

484
00:26:38,269 --> 00:26:39,953
"Don't look at me"

485
00:26:41,803 --> 00:26:44,157
In her excellent book: The Will to
Change

486
00:26:44,157 --> 00:26:47,791
Bell Hooks doesn't mince words when
describing what happens to men

487
00:26:47,791 --> 00:26:49,453
inside of patriarchy

488
00:26:49,773 --> 00:26:54,501
"Teaching boys to despise their
vulnerability is one way to socialize them"

489
00:26:54,501 --> 00:26:57,878
"to engage in self-inflicted soul murder"

490
00:26:59,705 --> 00:27:03,803
It's no wonder then that Ken isn't really
happy living in patriarchy

491
00:27:04,188 --> 00:27:08,649
In fact, in Kendom land he was even further
alienated from Barbie

492
00:27:08,732 --> 00:27:12,139
From his own feelings and
from the other Kens

493
00:27:14,074 --> 00:27:16,566
Part of this interview with Julia Fox

494
00:27:16,566 --> 00:27:18,633
where she's hooked up to
a polygraph machine

495
00:27:18,633 --> 00:27:20,914
became a viral meme on Tik Tok

496
00:27:20,914 --> 00:27:24,242
"I hate the patriarchy. There's
a lot of really good men"

497
00:27:24,242 --> 00:27:25,264
"Answer the question"

498
00:27:25,264 --> 00:27:27,124
"Do I hate men? No"

499
00:27:27,432 --> 00:27:28,578
"That's a lie"

500
00:27:29,281 --> 00:27:32,101
The viral audio snippet stopped there

501
00:27:32,101 --> 00:27:36,570
But when we play the rest of it her answer
is Illuminating and nuanced

502
00:27:36,992 --> 00:27:41,999
"There's a lot of men that benefit from
the systemic oppression of women"

503
00:27:41,999 --> 00:27:47,279
"in our culture and society 
and religions. And I do wish that"

504
00:27:47,279 --> 00:27:49,685
"more men could stand up for us"

505
00:27:49,685 --> 00:27:53,720
She explains that she obviously does
not hate all individual men

506
00:27:53,963 --> 00:27:58,291
What she hates is the fact that most men 
do absolutely nothing

507
00:27:58,291 --> 00:28:00,878
to help end the oppression of women

508
00:28:01,199 --> 00:28:05,528
So what can men do to make a difference
in ending this system?

509
00:28:05,528 --> 00:28:06,901
"The Kens.
They found us"

510
00:28:07,988 --> 00:28:11,857
Let's use Allan as our proxy for this
part of the discussion

511
00:28:11,857 --> 00:28:15,085
since he's the only guy who joins
the Barbies' revolution

512
00:28:15,175 --> 00:28:17,597
Well, aside from these two brief cameos

513
00:28:17,597 --> 00:28:18,344
"Sugar daddy?"

514
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"

515
00:28:22,811 --> 00:28:24,893
"And I have an earring, a magic earring"

516
00:28:24,999 --> 00:28:28,083
Notice that all three of these
characters are queer coded

517
00:28:28,083 --> 00:28:30,573
and despite being men, 
they're marginalized

518
00:28:30,573 --> 00:28:32,310
in the hierarchy of masculinities

519
00:28:33,365 --> 00:28:36,631
Allan in particular, embodies a bunch of
common mistakes

520
00:28:36,631 --> 00:28:41,322
that men make when trying to disentangle
themselves from the system of patriarchy

521
00:28:41,823 --> 00:28:45,679
The first thing Allan does is nothing

522
00:28:46,111 --> 00:28:49,328
He is a bystander who is nonetheless
still afforded

523
00:28:49,328 --> 00:28:51,554
a measure of privilege in Kendom Land

524
00:28:51,554 --> 00:28:53,457
that the Barbies are not

525
00:28:53,457 --> 00:28:55,977
"And Alan likes to help me give
all the Kens foot massages"

526
00:28:55,977 --> 00:28:57,347
"No, I don't, I don't like that"

527
00:28:57,347 --> 00:28:58,673
"We love it"

528
00:28:58,673 --> 00:29:02,733
Like some men in the real world,
Allan might not be actively or consciously

529
00:29:02,733 --> 00:29:05,285
participating in the oppression of women

530
00:29:05,285 --> 00:29:07,629
but he doesn't speak out against it either

531
00:29:10,329 --> 00:29:13,350
The next thing Allan does is
try to escape

532
00:29:13,605 --> 00:29:17,320
As soon as he spies a way out for himself,
he tries to take it

533
00:29:17,320 --> 00:29:17,869
"How are you?"

534
00:29:17,869 --> 00:29:20,703
"I'm Allan.
Don't tell the Ken I'm trying to escape"

535
00:29:20,703 --> 00:29:23,912
"I cannot sit on one more leather couch
it's going to break my spirit"

536
00:29:23,912 --> 00:29:27,658
The problem is man can't just
opt out of patriarchy

537
00:29:27,959 --> 00:29:31,960
because it's been woven into the very
fabric of our whole society

538
00:29:32,840 --> 00:29:33,765
"What, what do we do?"

539
00:29:33,765 --> 00:29:35,635
"Just get in the car and keep it singing"

540
00:29:35,635 --> 00:29:39,913
The next thing Allan tries is to engage
in displays of chivalrous violence

541
00:29:42,073 --> 00:29:45,317
After learning the extent of the
injustice women face

542
00:29:45,317 --> 00:29:48,288
some men try to distance themselves
from the problem

543
00:29:48,288 --> 00:29:53,332
and from any personal culpability
by going after particularly bad men

544
00:29:54,737 --> 00:29:57,007
But patriarchy isn't a person

545
00:29:57,007 --> 00:30:00,027
and you can't punch a a social system
in the face

546
00:30:00,027 --> 00:30:01,676
as much as you might want to

547
00:30:03,060 --> 00:30:03,914
"Guess what happened?"

548
00:30:03,914 --> 00:30:06,390
"I got into a fight. I'm fine, but I..."

549
00:30:06,390 --> 00:30:08,030
"I think we solved feminism"

550
00:30:08,030 --> 00:30:09,530
"Yeah! once and for all"

551
00:30:09,530 --> 00:30:12,156
"It was just like a a total melee,
like on the news"

552
00:30:12,156 --> 00:30:16,352
And most of the time men lashing
out in violence isn't helpful

553
00:30:16,352 --> 00:30:19,597
as it simply replicates
the core values of patriarchy

554
00:30:20,218 --> 00:30:25,057
Allan fumbles around for a while, but
eventually he joins the Barbies' revolution

555
00:30:25,057 --> 00:30:28,146
and figures out how to stand with
them in solidarity

556
00:30:28,735 --> 00:30:32,012
Notably though, Allan never tries to
confront the Kens

557
00:30:32,012 --> 00:30:33,818
about what they're doing

558
00:30:34,380 --> 00:30:37,631
And that's unfortunate because
the most important thing men can do

559
00:30:37,631 --> 00:30:40,220
is challenge other men
on their behavior

560
00:30:41,043 --> 00:30:44,974
and encourage them to rebel 
against patriarchal expectations

561
00:30:47,676 --> 00:30:51,045
Despite all the harm it does to women
and to men's well-being

562
00:30:51,045 --> 00:30:55,036
the system of patriarchy remains
invisible to most people

563
00:30:55,381 --> 00:30:59,339
And the Barbie movie for all its flaws,
makes it visible

564
00:30:59,562 --> 00:31:03,812
This is, I'd argue, at the root of why
so many right-wing pundits

565
00:31:03,812 --> 00:31:07,871
were so extremely threatened
by this cartoony fantasy land

566
00:31:07,872 --> 00:31:11,278
Not only does the film acknowledge
the existence of patriarchy

567
00:31:11,278 --> 00:31:16,078
it dares to suggest that it's not a
natural or inevitable institution

568
00:31:16,469 --> 00:31:21,776
And in doing so it lays bare the
fundamental truth about all social systems

569
00:31:21,776 --> 00:31:23,233
they can be dismantled

570
00:31:23,233 --> 00:31:27,459
"No Barbie or Ken should be
living in the shadows"

571
00:31:27,459 --> 00:31:28,778
"Or Allan"

572
00:31:29,090 --> 00:31:31,932
Choosing to confront such an
entrenched system

573
00:31:31,932 --> 00:31:36,288
can be risky for men and
extremely dangerous for women

574
00:31:36,962 --> 00:31:41,437
Nonetheless, all over the world women
are challenging patriarchy

575
00:31:41,437 --> 00:31:44,233
like never before in modern history

576
00:31:44,563 --> 00:31:48,292
And the reality is that every day
more and more men

577
00:31:48,292 --> 00:31:53,037
are choosing to stand with those women
to join the struggle for liberation

578
00:31:53,037 --> 00:31:55,760
and to reclaim their full humanity

579
00:31:57,019 --> 00:31:58,464
"Thank you"

580
00:32:00,645 --> 00:32:01,621
Thanks for watching

581
00:32:01,621 --> 00:32:04,393
Umm, If you like these kind of long form
video essays

582
00:32:04,393 --> 00:32:07,923
please consider going over to Patreon
to help back our project there

583
00:32:07,923 --> 00:32:10,685
I've also left a link to Paypal in
the description below

584
00:32:10,685 --> 00:32:11,665
if you prefer that

585
00:32:11,868 --> 00:32:15,314
Uh, these videos are 100% funded by
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586
00:32:15,314 --> 00:32:17,634
there are no ads and
no corporate sponsorships

587
00:32:17,634 --> 00:32:20,376
so anything you can do to help out
is much appreciated

588
00:32:20,612 --> 00:32:22,766
I have a whole bunch 
of other videos in the works

589
00:32:22,766 --> 00:32:24,880
including one on the myth
of the alpha male

590
00:32:24,880 --> 00:32:28,868
another one on redemption in death, for
male characters in Hollywood

591
00:32:28,868 --> 00:32:32,720
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and colonialism

592
00:32:32,720 --> 00:32:35,947
So, if you'd like to see any of those
uh, please make sure you subscribe

593
00:32:35,947 --> 00:32:37,699
leave a like, all the jazz

594
00:32:37,699 --> 00:32:39,959
and I will see you again next time