Shakira graces the cover of Allure magazine and holds nothing back when asked about her thoughts on “Barbie,” the Greta Gerwig-directed blockbuster that topped the 2023 box office with $1.4 billion worldwide and earned eight Oscar nominations, including best picture. The music icon said she somewhat agreed with her two sons who strongly disliked “Barbie,” suggesting that it was a piece of pop culture that robbed “men of their possibility to be men.”
“My sons absolutely hated it,” Shakira said. “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. 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,” the singer added. “We complement each other, and that complement should not be lost.”
“Just because a woman can do it all doesn’t mean she should?” the interviewer asked.
“Why not share the load with people who deserve to carry it, who have a duty to carry it as well?” Shakira answered.
Shakira’s interview is not the first time a public figure has perceived “Barbie” as emasculating. The fantasy comedy ruffled the feathers of some conservative figures during its theatrical release, with podcaster Matt Walsh condemning it as “the most aggressively anti-man, feminist propaganda fest ever put to film.” Bill Maher later slammed the film as “man-hating.”
Gerwig, who also co-wrote the “Barbie” script with Noah Baumbach, weighed in on the backlash in an interview with The New York Times in which she said she never expected such a response.
“Certainly, there’s a lot of passion,” the filmmaker added. “My hope for the movie is that it’s an invitation for everybody to be part of the party and let go of the things that aren’t necessarily serving us as either women or men. I hope that in all of that passion, if they see it or engage with it, it can give them some of the relief that it gave other people.”
The backlash prompted other celebrities to speak out in support of “Barbie,” including Marc Maron.
“The fact that certain men took offense to the point where they, you know, tried to build a grift around it in terms of their narrative is right wing [explicative],” Maron said on his podcast. “It’s so embarrassing for them. I mean, so embarrassing for them. Any dude that can’t take those hits in that movie, they’ve really got to look in their pants and decide what they’re made of. I mean, Jesus Christ, what a bunch of fucking insecure babies.”
Shakira is making the press rounds in support of her new album, “Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran.” Read her full Allure magazine cover story here.
From Variety US