#its so important for young girls to know that femininity isn't a bad thing!!!

[floralovebot]

To me, the thing is that the show at first had different stypes for all the girls. They all felt comfortable both in skirts and in pants, it's just that each of them used one more than the other.

In the first seasons, each girl had their style and their outfits were unique and different to fit those stiles.

Now, it's like they're all wearing uniforms, the same ugly outfits to all of them, with just the colors to differ.

that's what i'm saying!! none of the girls were ever uncomfortable or against dressing femininely, they just all had their own styles and personal comfort levels with it. obviously the later seasons fucked that over but my problem is when people act like canon musa was never "girly" in the early seasons or that she would be against traditional femininity. i've seen people headcanon that she would make fun of stella for that and like... dude... she made fun of that one Very Creative dress stella made because it was ugly and she didn't understand why stella was so into the beauty pageant, but that doesn't mean she would ever make fun of her for being a high femme!! she's so supportive of stella being That Bitch and acting like she isn't is fucking weird!!

like again i have no issue with people criticizing the later seasons for getting rid of their individual styles and overly feminizing all of them (cause that's exactly what happened) nor do i have an issue with people headcanoning that musa is a tomboy or redesigning her looks to be less feminine, but i do have an issue with people treating canon musa as this Anti Feminine Tomboy Who Hates The Winx And Pink. it just screams racist misogynistic, especially when they do it with aisha too like DUDE

[biggestthighestgeminiest]

Here are my combined thoughts about Barbie (2023) as I saw it on the 18th and have had more time to think abt it.

Some good, some bad - overall I very much enjoyed it, laughed my ass off, cried quite a bit, was enthralled by the set and costume design, but left feeling like some things were off and perhaps not accomplished in the best way. This will all be delivered in bullet points in a very chaotic and random way and is NOT ordered in importance omg. Anyways i love media analysis and I will probably not explain this in the best way but HERE WE GO

the casting was fantastic, everyone read the assignment and lived their campiest life, margot robbie was phenomenal and ryan gosling absolutely killed me with laughter, glorious glorious

set design, costume, props,, perfection when it comes to bringing the mattel products to life. bangin'

i had that stupid fucking dog that eats and shits. i lost my mind when he came on hsdgkhakh

the message of barbie being representative of all little girls is still very lost on me. the idea brought up when barbie speaks to the teens, where they tell her that she gave them unrealistic body standards- well this never really gets resolved at all. Yes there was a diverse range of Barbies but they were all still beautiful in a conventional way that adheres to western beauty ideals. every barbie has perfect hair and skin and clothes even by the end of the movie. and yes i guess barbie is supposed to be this "above everything else" sort of divine feminine beauty but is still not representative of most young girls. as hilarious as the line narrator's line about margot robbie is, it sort of knows itself, that it is showing us the most perfect looking women, but doesn't address it at all beyond a simple joke. honestly what will mattel do beyond this? i imagine people will be more than happy with this movie so they won't have to make any big changes. i mean their "curvy" fashionista isn't close to being fat, and i don't believe they will ever make a barbie that isn't conventionally beautiful... so this movie just sort of gets to say it's about accepting yourself without actual real-life substance if that makes sense? it reminds me of that cartoon of all those diverse yet conventionally attractive models, with diverse people who don't fit those standards standing outside that box looking angrily. what's the point of the film at the end of the day when not addressing all those people left out of the conversation? also made me annoyed that cellulite was still the big thing that barbie was concerned about, like really?? it's a bad example as people are coming to embrace cellulite and it's also relatively easy to hide, i don't think they would have margot robbie have like, idk, dark under eye circles or a double chin,, idk someone say this better than me but the cellulite thing annoyed me (as someone who has loads of it!!)

the plot was BONKERS and i for one don't really care about plot holes or cartoon logic. there were some things that made me overthink about barbie lore and then i thought to myself that it doesn't really matter. the campiness of it is more important. im sure it will deter some people but again i dont mind it being silly in that way as long as it delivers on its messages and themes, which it does to a certain extent

absolutely lost it at the you are kenough shirt, ljadhkglkhd

as i said in a previous post i predicted that it was going to be the mom who was paired with barbie. i loved the idea sm and it was very heartwarming

i CRIED when barbie first sat down and watched the humans around her living their life, she was so overwhelmed by so many emotions and it was such a simple moment of show-dont-tell and man did i weep :))

i LOVED the ken bits and i did feel as though there was a bit too much ken. especially at the end. but at the same time i loved the dance sequence. its hard loving it so much yet wanting it not to have been to prevalent. i felt like it took away from the barbies a bit which goes against the whole point of the movie????

um the barbie's plans of distracting the kens was... i guess reminiscent of all these spy or superhero movies where women use their beguiling nature against men to get the upper hand? like i am woman so i will flirt with man to distract while my team escapes and hooho it works :)) it was slightly different and not overly sexy or about flirting but it still had the same undertone. like really? the best way to get the other barbies out was to continue to conform to patriarchal standards and pump the ken's egos? surely there's a better way? yes the kens are idiots and turning them against each other works but it still felt a bit icky. i guess i just find this trope annoying being like... ok i am being taken advantage of men so i will USE the thing they oppress me for against them,, idk surely surely there's another way.

also America's character's plan of kidnapping the barbies and ... using very true and very valuable feminist lines to snap them out of it felt... weird? like what she was saying was 100% true but taking them out of context and almost using them as one liners made them feel less serious???? like making women "wake up" by just telling them about how the patriarchy takes advantage of them is just... idk. like in real life women who are indoctrinated and truly believe misogynistic things won't just wake up by being told such a line. and i know the barbies are brainwashed to forget their powerful feminist backgrounds so it's not entirely comparable to the women i just mentioned but... idk it felt disingenuous. i did laugh my ass off at the guitar scene but it still had that ickiness attached like..

i would watch this movie again, no doubt about it and i will definitely pick up on new things and easter eggs etc

mattel's board did make me laugh, perfectly casted and performed but again- mattel has its name on this. they know what they are doing. they know we will love this movie and not demand any change. it will still be full of men controlling the output of production. it will still put out products that don't reflect all young people's desires. it will still make products that uphold current societal norms. so having these buffoons in the board meeting just gets soured a bit when knowing these people will still be in power in real life....

the ruth bit made me cry and no i do not care that her ghost is just around. i loved it

the marketing team knows exactly what they are doing. the huge push of promotion made me gobble up all their interviews and im sure people will be buying all the barbie products. i am yet another victim of capitalism and i will thank them for it when i inevitably buy their you are kenough sweater

again i loved this movie despite all the bad things abt it. i love being critical of the wider impact of this movie while still enoying it as a piece of media and entertainment. i needed this movie and fuck it i want to go to barbieland so bad. i know i shouldnt. i love ken and think about ken more than i do barbie which is fucked up but the movie also played into it in a way,, as described before. i mean even ryan gosling being so iconic in all the interviews is adding into this lol. how many people are posting videos of him vs videos of the actresses i wonder.

also cockring ken. BUT HE WASNT WEARING THE COCKRING SO WHATS THE POINT EVEN???

the narrator was an interesting choice, personally wasn't a huge fan of it but it did somewhat fit with the rest of the cinematic language of the story so i can't say much about it

mattel knows exactly what its doing with putting its name on this movie. i think greta did a great job despite the constraints that mattel probably put on her,, it's hard to tell if the flaws of the movie come from the corporation's infuence or from the writer and director's creative decisions, most likely it's a combo of both. again i believe that the actors and designers and production team did a fantastic job with what they had, they committed to the bit. i would have loved for the movie to have been better, but it is still a great film in my book. as said before i would watch it again and would still enjoy it despite the flaws. the himbo part of my brain can shake hands with the media literacy one and emerge with an overall positive experience, yet PLEASE do not think this is the ultimate feminist movie, it is a step in the right direction, it could have been better, and i understand if you don't like it at all. but also i dont think it would be right to blindingly love it and call it perfect bc it's not.

[luffythinker]

Thought of something kinda fucked up about trans Shigaraki cause I wanna talk about gender so bad it's an interesting topic for me. I DONT MEAN THIS IN A LIKE TERRIBLE WAY I mean this in a character growth way? Level with me I'm not being weird or any sort of phobic please.

What if All for one gaslit Shigaraki about his gender?

Since he created him from the start he manipulated his life into something he could control but he had no control over Shigaraki being born a female and looking exactly like Nana down to her black hair and mole and this fucking scared him lol.

All For One, seeing Shigaraki's resemblance to Nana Shimura, so once he gets his hands on him he convinces Shigaraki that being male is essential to their success and power. This manipulation helps All For One control Shigaraki's identity and distance him from his Nana further never even giving him the chance, the only chance he had was when his sister showed him the picture but at that point Hana and Tenko were sisters

All For One could instilled in Shigaraki from a young age the belief that men are inherently superior in strength and capability, manipulating Shigaraki's perception of gender roles which is really fucked up but I'll get to a point later where this is better

All For One's teachings could be reinforced by traumatic experiences, such as punishing Shigaraki for any behavior or appearance that he deems "feminine," further cementing the idea that being male is safer and more powerful. All For One pushing him to suppress any and all femininity, cause kids dont know anything about gender, a little kid will pick up and play with anything, a doll or a toy car kids only see people. So AFO makes him associate being "female" with weakness and failure. And we cant have that if we wanna destroy the world can we?

This whole situation creates a rich vein of internal conflict, leading to moments of self-doubt, body dysphoria, ect of the sort. PROBABLY SELF HARM? Not just the scratching my poor child *hugs Shig*

Now, Shigaraki gets with the league, AFO isn't here after Kamino incident to power on these things though its ingrained in his brain. The league is the safe haven that allows Shigaraki to explore his gender, Magne,Toga,Dabi girls and boys working in the same team and neither of them are more or less important then the other. Kurogiri took care of Shig and having Oboro as a base made Kurogiri not wanna make Shigaraki do these things cause Oboro is an alley as much as Mic and Aizawa are and he took that with him in the Nomu-afactation process, he never enjoyed forcing Shigaraki to present as Male and is now given the opportunity to let Shigaraki be whatever he wants, hes not going to stop him, he'll encourage him cause he is the safe parent.

Shigaraki getting ok with himself presenting as Male or Non binary, Magne telling him where he could get top surgery if he wants it , Himiko sharing her gender story with him. Dabi telling Shigaraki women can kick just as much ass as a dude maybe even more, look at Mirko lol

the league just being supportive HAPPY FAMILY :) a very safe place for Shigaraki

And since we are ShigaHaul, Overhaul body worshiping Shigaraki durning spicy times. Kissing his chest (breast or chest scars depending which route we take) Overhaul servicing Shigaraki the first time they ever do it and telling him everything he needs to/should hear. Shigaraki is crying the whole time from pleasure and the conformation. Maybe, I peg Shigaraki as having a lot of pent up emotionalness so when he starts crying he can't stop himself.

Was listening to Bryce savage - inside of her head while i was writing this, hope you can understand what I was going for here wasn't trying to be weird with this sorry 😔🙏

No need to be sorry, I think there always needs to be a space to explore gender in all the ways it might happen, while I agree this route is a bit dark I love the way it ends on a positive trans-affirming note!! Also, fiction is a really good place to make up scenarios on how certain experiences could go, cause what you described here might as well be an allegory for what trans people can feel like in a society that constantly tries to tell them they are wrong or less for being who they are (especially for women, cis or trans)

But getting into the scenario, I can see AFO doing that, weaponizing gender for his own selfish goals and needs is just something a master manipulator would do. This leads to Shigaraki always feeling like he's lacking both as a vessel and as a man, we could even look at his fight with Star and Stripe with new eyes having this scenario in mind, cause he wants to be perfect so bad, he wants to hold AFO and be the best, but he might see as him proving that he is a man, that he finally achieve what his sensei wanted for him.

And thinking about him existing without AFO and getting closer to the LOV could be a really transformative experience for him because it shatters the view he built (or rather it was built for him) of gender and what gender roles look like. I think this could end with him being non-binary because he just feels like he is never gonna be one or the other and would rather exist in the in-between. He gets top surgery cause his breasts were always a point of discomfort and dysphoria, and is relieved to realize he actually feels good without them.

SHIGAHAUL IN THE AREAAAA this got me thinking of service top overhaul.... he would adore tomura's body during sex and aftercare, he takes his time worshipping every inch of it, and i agree with you that shigaraki is not a crier by any means but when it happens it takes hours to fully stop!!

I did not know the song but i just listened to it and it fits this shigaraki so much :')