Child at Barbie Movie Tribune Content Agency
When Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” came out in July 2023, the film took the internet by storm. Through its heartfelt story about girlhood told through the lens of the iconic Barbie doll, discussions about what it means to be a woman have become all the more popular on social media platforms such as TikTok.
And while these discussions about what it means to be a woman are very fascinating, I think what we really need to wonder is why is it so hard to be a woman?
Why are there so many expectations? Why have we gotten to the point where we needed Hollywood to make a movie about the female experience, before we could have such open discussions about womanhood?
Why is womanhood only talked about when it becomes a trend? Or even worse, when it becomes something dangerous?
Recently, there has been a new ‘trend’ on TikTok where women are documenting random men coming up to them on the street punching them in the face, and then running off. This horrible trend has now made its way to Chicago, and will most likely spread across the nation. Every single documented victim has been a woman.
Surprise acts of violence against women are nothing new. In fact, most women are taught how to defend themselves and are gifted their own pepper spray before they can even drive. Most women can probably remember the first time they held their pepper spray like they can remember the first time they held their childhood pet.
Despite the years of efforts to create equality between men and women, there are some things that just cannot be equalized.
For example, I love hearing the stories from my male friend about all his solo adventures, and how sometimes he’ll just go for a walk late at night because he feels like it. I will never be able to do that. In fact, walking around a grocery store alone in the middle of the day already makes most women feel like a target.
When I watch one of my favorite movies, “Stand by Me,” I have to accept that no matter how great of a childhood I had, I never got to have the freedom a young boy is awarded because being a girl meant I always had to be protected and accounted for.
The female experience is not all darkness though, as there are many beautiful aspects to being a woman. No matter how many great friendships I have with some men, they will never be as strong as the friendships I have with other women.
There is a sort of special, inexplicable connection that women just have with one another. Maybe it’s the shared experiences or the unspoken understanding that passes between us naturally.
I think that sometimes it is so hard for men to grapple with why women flocked to see “Barbie” because they can never truly understand that that was the first time this unspoken and inexplicable connection between women was given a spotlight.
While “Barbie” is not the only female-centered film to exist, it is the first one that highlighted the expectation of womanhood so well, and the first one that brought these conversations about the hardships of being a woman to light in the mainstream media.
Maybe highlighting the beauty, as well as the grief, of being a woman more accurately and more frequently will allow for there to be more conversation that helps answer the question of why is it so hard to be a woman.
Hopefully, addressing these hardships and having open conversations about them will allow for women to heal together, and to strive towards a better world together.
Like almost all women, I have faced some of my own hardships just because of my gender, but that does not take away from all the beautiful moments girlhood has given me.
Every laugh and smile I share with an important woman in my life helps heal the wounds of womanhood.