One user on the Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu shared a guide for how women can test their boyfriends based on their reaction to the film.

For some women in China, “Barbie” is more than just a movie — it’s also a litmus test for their partner’s views on feminism and patriarchy.

The movie has prompted intense social media discussion online, media outlets Sixth Tone and the China Project reported this week, prompting women to discuss their own dating experiences.

One user on the Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu — a photo-sharing site similar to Instagram that’s mostly used by Gen Z women — even shared a guide on Monday for how women can test their boyfriends based on their reaction to the film.

According to the guide, if a man shows hatred for “Barbie” and slams female directors after they leave the theatre, then this man is “stingy” and a “toxic chauvinist,” according to Insider’s translation of the post. Conversely, if a man understands even half of the movie’s themes, “then he is likely a normal guy with normal values and stable emotions,” the user wrote.

    • ClarkDoom@lemmy.worldEnglish
      1·
      1 year ago

      I don’t think that’s fair. The “feminism” shown in the movie is highly reductive and at times completely out of touch. I liked the movie as a whole but the women forming a plan to distract the men while they take over the world behind their back completely eliminated the possibility of this being a movie that could serve as a good model for feminist arguments. Equality isn’t reached by tricking people or politically disenfranchising the other sex on purpose. It’s done by moving forward together. This movie showed the men being terrible and then showed us that women should fight back by being just as terrible? I think you can see how this isn’t really a good feminist argument or one that is so solid that it should receive universal support from every audience member. Especially if you’re gonna argue someone is a misogynist if they didn’t agree with the movies take.