By: Rosemary Noelke
Introduction
Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” has challenged traditional conceptions of Barbie, introducing various new characters to the Barbieverse and capturing the hearts of many viewers. The film presents “Weird Barbie,” a social outcast living outside of “Barbieland,” tasked with repairing malfunctioning Barbies. Weird Barbie’s appearance differs from that of the rest of the Barbies, with short asymmetrical hair, makeup, and clothing that appear to be drawn on by a child (see Figures 1 & 2). As Castel and Jenson reveal, Weird Barbie is a product of gender dysphoric play, which the film describes as being “played with too hard” (2024, p. 122). This suggestion of a correct way to play with Barbie mimics gendered agendas within mainstream society, associating Weird Barbie with transness and queerness. Weird Barbie’s role in the film reveals a hierarchy in Barbieland, in which gender non-conformity and queerness equate to marginalization (Castel & Jenson, 2024). As Castel and Jenson illustrate, “Inclusion, in Barbieland, means making yourself useful in a world where everybody else plays” (2024, p. 122). Throughout the film, Weird Barbie’s value and acceptance are determined by her utility. She takes on an emotionally laborious role to support Stereotypical Barbie on her journey to save Barbieland, often at the expense of her own pleasure. Thus, Weird Barbie represents a complex interplay of gender, queerness, and marginality where outcasted identities must conform, serve, and sacrifice for the sake of collective happiness.
Figures 1 & 2: Weird Barbie
Commodification and Labour Exploitation of Marginalized Identities
Weird Barbie’s caretaking responsibility and repair shop symbolize the commodification and exploitation of marginalized labour within capitalist frameworks. When Stereotypical Barbie is directed to Weird Barbie to solve her malfunction, she winces, exclaiming that she has never had to visit Weird Barbie before. Another Barbie replies, “That is because you have never malfunctioned” (Barbie, 18:00). Weird Barbie is thus portrayed as only worth visiting when she can provide utility. As a result, to be valued and accepted in Barbieland, Weird Barbie must demonstrate her utility to the other Barbies. She is expected to guide the other Barbies in their journeys, providing maps, directions, and guidance throughout Barbie’s mission to save Barbieland. Moreover, Weird Barbie’s acceptance into Barbieland at the end of the film is denoted by a job offer she is given by President Barbie (1:38:00). Thus, even when Weird Barbie is welcomed into Barbieland, her labour remains the determinant of her worth.
As Patricia Hill Collins explains, controlling images are designed to make social injustice appear to be natural, normal, and an inevitable part of everyday life. (Collins, 2000, p. 69). Controlling images such as the mammy have justified the economic exploitation of Black women, portraying them as inherently suited for domestic and caretaking roles. In Barbieland, Weird Barbie’s labour is normalized and exploited, creating a character who is indispensable yet marginalized.
The conditional acceptance of Weird Barbie reflects the commodification and exploitation of marginalized identities for the benefit of the majority (hooks, 1992). As E. Patrick Johnson explains, through commodification, Blackness is stripped of cultural and political significance and made into a palatable product for mass consumption (Johnson, 2003, p. 13). Weird Barbie represents this reduction of marginalized identities to mere objects of exchange (Johnson, 2003). Such portrayals of queer labour have resulted in Pink Capitalism, in which LGBTQ+ identities are commodified and reduced to mere marketable and profitable assets (GAYINTHECLE, 2023).
Weird Barbie and Emotional Labour
Weird Barbie’s labour is physical and emotional, as she supports the well-being of other Barbies, embodying the pressures marginalized groups face to maintain the happiness and functionality of the dominant society. Collins’ analysis of the matriarch reveals how Black women are depicted as excessively strong, blamed for the failures of their communities, “thus bearing the emotional burden of social problems.” (Collins, 2000, p. 76). Weird Barbie’s role in repairing and supporting other Barbies positions her as a caretaker, reflecting the societal expectation that marginalized groups must perform emotional labour. Such stereotypes depict Weird Barbie as naturally suited for care or service roles while encouraging her to neglect her needs (Collins, 2000). She is expected to share the lessons of bravery and non-conformity inherent to her queer experience to encourage and support Stereotypical Barbie. Even when Weird Barbie is not actively playing a therapist role, her home is used in critical therapeutic moments of the film, such as attempts to fix the brainwashed Barbies (1:11:00) and America Ferrera’s famous speech about womanhood (1:15:00).
Weird Barbie is described as “fated to an eternity of making other Barbies perfect while falling more and more into disrepair herself” (Barbie, 19:05). As Sara Ahmed explains, happiness becomes a gifted burden, passed on through the willingness to sacrifice personal happiness (Ahmed, 2010). The framing of happiness as a duty is used to enforce conformity and burden marginalized individuals with the responsibility for others’ happiness (Ahmed, 2010). When Stereotypical Barbie refers to Weird Barbie as ugly and unwanted, even screeching at her appearance, Weird Barbie responds with, “Its okay, I understand, I set myself up for that one,” and continues to affirm Barbie in her journey to the real world (Barbie, 24:06). This normalization of insulation reveals the emotional labour which often accompanies queer expression (McGuire, 2017). Weird Barbie is expected to accept negative comments about her appearance and continue to act in a therapeutic role, even after being insulted various times. Trans people are often expected to bear similar emotional burdens when asked invasive questions about gender-affirming surgery or other aspects of trans-identity (Rebekah, 2019). Just as Weird Barbie accepts Barbie’s inappropriate and offensive comments, Queer people are expected to suppress their feelings to fulfill the emotional demands placed on them by cis-hetero people (Rebekah, 2019).
Queerness and Happiness
The distribution of happiness in Barbie Land further reflects broader societal norms and exclusions. Ahmed explains that happiness constructs a world by developing a sense of coherence (Ahmed, 2010, p. 53). Happiness is often tied to conforming to societal norms, with deviations framed as threats to happiness (Ahmed, 2010, p. 37). In Barbieland, Weird Barbie is marginalized and denied the full right to happiness because she deviates from the norm. As Stereotypical Barbie explains towards the end of the film, “Either you’re brainwashed, or you’re weird and ugly” (1:11:30). Queer lives are represented as unhappy lives in which “Queer unhappiness is framed as a failure to be redeemed by happiness, which is promised through heteronormativity” (Ahmed, 2010, p. 92). In Barbie, queerness is represented as human malfunction, symbolized by Weird Barbie’s cohabitation with the other discontinued Barbies (Barbie, 1:12:32).
The Right to Pleasure
While Stereotypical Barbie experiences pleasure throughout the film, Weird Barbie is designed to help the other Barbies find pleasure rather than experience it herself. As Lorde explains, pleasure is a source of power which threatens the exploitation and subordination of women (Lorde, 1984). Patriarchal society fears and devalues women’s depth of feeling, keeping women in inferior positions to exploit their emotional labour (1984). Living by external directives rather than internal erotic guides limits lives to conform to non-human structures (1984). Non-male pleasure is valued merely as a tool to be used in the service of men. Such patriarchal and capitalist systems prioritize profit over human need and strip work of its erotic value and fulfillment, reducing it to mere necessity (1984).
Societal structures encourage marginalized groups to fear inner desires as a strategy to enforce obedience, docileness and the acceptance of oppression and exploitation (1984). Weird Barbie is denied any personal pleasure, as all happiness is tied to the service and pleasure of the other Barbies. Her journey in the film illustrates the struggle for recognition and the right to pleasure in a world that values conformity over individual fulfillment. Erotic knowledge is a form of empowerment that calls for scrutinizing oppressive structures and challenges the notion that happiness must be earned through labour and sacrifice, advocating instead for the inherent right to joy and self-expression (1984). Weird Barbie’s denial of pleasure contributes to the capitalist structures which repress and exploit the pleasure of marginalized groups, preventing their liberation.
Conclusion
Barbie’s portrayal of Weird Barbie underscores the inherent inequities faced by marginalized groups to conform, serve, and sacrifice personal needs to be valued by the dominant society. Weird Barbie’s acceptance is conditional on her utility and emotional labour, mirroring the broader societal norms that marginalize queer and diverse identities. The film portrays marginalized labour as indispensable and undervalued, inadvertently reinforcing the capitalist dynamics it seeks to critique. To challenge the frameworks which devalue transness and queerness, Barbie and popular culture must move beyond conditional acceptance and recognize the inherent worth and right to joy for all individuals, irrespective of their utility. True resistance is a form of internal empowerment in which the radical rejection of conformity defies binary norms (Lorde, 1984). It is through this unapologetic expression and pleasure that queer and trans liberation can be realized.
References
Ahmed, S. (2010). The promise of happiness. Duke University Press.
Castell, S., & Jenson, J. (2024). Up-cycling Barbie: “Bad feminism” for mixed-up times. Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Gender Research, 7(1). https://doi.org/10.34190/icgr.7.1.2105
Collins, P. H. (1990). Mammies, matriarchs, and other controlling images. In Black feminist thought: Knowledge, consciousness, and the politics of empowerment (pp. 67–90). Routledge.
Gay in the CLE. (2023, June 3). Pink capitalism: Is it empowering or exploiting the LGBTQ community?
https://gayinthecle.com/2023/06/03/pink-capitalism-is-it-empowering-or-exploiting-the-l gbtq-community/
Gerwig, G. (Director). (2023). Barbie [Film]. Warner Bros. Pictures.
hooks, b. (1992). Eating the other: Desire and resistance. In Black looks: Race and
representation (pp. 21-39)—south End Press.
Johnson, E. P. (2003). Appropriating Blackness: Performance and the politics of authenticity.
Duke University Press.
Lorde, A. (1984). Uses of the erotic: The erotic as power. In Sister Outsider: Essays and speeches (pp. 53–59). Crossing Press.
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McGuire, L. (2019). THE SHIRT OFF OUR BACKS: THE EMOTIONAL LABOR OF QUEER CLOTHING. Spectrum South. https://www.spectrumsouth.com/emotional-labor-queer-clothing/
Rebekah, A. (2019). Being Trans Does Not Mean I Have To Perform Emotional Labor For Free. Trans & Caffeinated Consulting. https://transandcaffeinated.com/trans-emotional-labor/thing to suit your every need for content creation. And don’t forget to check out the List View: click the icon a few spots to the right of the plus icon and you’ll get a tidy, easy-to-view list of the blocks and patterns in your post.
Rosemary Noelke 