If you want ‘Barbie’ to be masculine, call it ‘Brad’: Karith Foster
Comedian Karith Foster discusses the themes present in the new ‘Barbie’ movie on ‘Fox & Friends.’
Pop icon Shakira is blasting the "Barbie" movie, saying her sons "absolutely hated it" and felt it was "emasculating," according to a report.
"I'm raising two boys," the star told Allure in a Monday feature. "I want ‘em to feel powerful too [while] respecting women. I like pop culture when it attempts to empower women without robbing men of their possibility to be men, to also protect and provide."
The singer says she believes in "giving women all the tools and the trust that (they) can do it all" without "losing" their femininity.
"My sons absolutely hated it. They felt that it was emasculating. And I agree, to a certain extent. I'm raising two boys. I want ‘em to feel powerful too [while] respecting women. I like pop culture when it attempts to empower women without robbing men of their possibility to be men, to also protect and provide," she said.
"I believe in giving women all the tools and the trust that we can do it all without losing our essence, without losing our femininity. I think that men have a purpose in society and women have another purpose as well. We complement each other, and that complement should not be lost."
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Shakira is voicing her concerns over the depiction of men in the Barbie movie, which stars Margot Robbie. (Michael Blackshire/ Los Angeles Times via Getty Images and Jason Kempin/Getty Images for MTV)
The article presented Shakira as a feminist with some nuance.
"This is part of the Shakira Paradox. Women deserve all the power, all the agency, and all the sexiness they wish to embody or express. And yet it doesn’t betray her brand of feminism to expect men to man up," it said.
For example, Shakira questioned the notion that women have to show up and do anything a man can do.
"Just because a woman can do it all doesn’t mean she should," the "Hips Don't Lie" singer said. "Why not share the load with people who deserve to carry it, who have a duty to carry it as well?"
SOME CONSERVATIVES HAVE SURPRISING 'BARBIE' TAKE DESPITE CRITICISMS OF LIBERAL AGENDA
The "Barbie" movie has fielded both praise and intense criticism for its presentation of some of its male characters.
Hollywood critics have praised the film as a stunning "takedown of toxic masculinity" and a "master’s thesis on feminism," according to a previous Fox News report.
Shakira criticized the "Barbie" movie as "emasculating."
"Once an equal parts fascinating and controversial Mattel toy, both loved and hated—a tiny-waisted, vacuously smiling, slender doll designed like a straight-male fantasy—is now the complicated feminist symbol of empowerment in Gerwig's hands," The Wrap wrote. "But we aren't talking about an empty you-go-girl kind of empowerment here. That would be too simple-minded for Gerwig, whose articulate and accessible feminism has always been fiercely multifaceted and complex."
However, not every critic is praising the film’s alleged "feminist" agenda. Some claimed it pushed politicized messages.
"The new BARBIE movie forgets its core audience of families and children while catering to nostalgic adults and pushing lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender character stories," Movieguide, a Christian movie review site, warned. "Furthermore, the movie was poorly made with multiple premises, losing even the most die-hard fans."
GOP lawmakers have slammed the film over a map that appears to endorse Beijing’s dominance of the South China Sea.
Margot Robbie (R) and Ryan Gosling attend the European premiere of 'Barbie' at the Cineworld Leicester Square in London, United Kingdom, July 12, 2023. (Wiktor Szymanowicz/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
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"While it may just be a Barbie map in a Barbie world, the fact that a cartoonish, crayon-scribbled map seems to go out of its way to depict [China’s] unlawful territorial claims illustrates the pressure that Hollywood is under to please CCP censors," Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., chairman of the House select committee on China, told Fox News Digital in a previous report.
"This is yet another disgraceful example of Hollywood being in the pocket of communist China," Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla, chimed in. "Not only does it undermine our national security, but exposes the film industry’s blatant hypocrisy on social justice and human rights."
Fox News’ Kristine Parks, Elizabeth Elkind, and Nikolas Lanum contributed to this report.
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