Last year, I came across the most meaningful movie I have ever watched, Barbie. At first glance at the poster, I thought it was merely a fantasy comedy movie, but it turned out to teach me a significant lesson.

At the beginning, Barbies and Kens live in Barbieland, happily ever after. During a party, Barbie is suddenly stricken with worries about mortality. Overnight, she develops bad breath, cellulite, and flat feet, disrupting her usual routines the next day. To cure her affliction, she sets off to the real world to find the child who played with her. In the real world, Barbie tracks down her owner, Sasha, who criticizes Barbie for encouraging unrealistic beauty standards. Distraught, Barbie discovers that Gloria, a Mattel employee and Sasha’s mother, inadvertently caused her existential crisis after playing with Sasha’s old Barbie toys in a similar deteriorated state. As Mattel attempts to remanufacture Barbie, she returns to the real world with Sasha and her mother.

Meanwhile, Ken learns about patriarchy and feels respected for the first time. Before Barbie returns, he persuades the other Kens to take over, and the Barbies are indoctrinated into submissive roles, such as agreeable girlfriends, housewives, and maids. When Barbie arrives in Barbieland, she is shocked to see the changes. She feels depressed. Then, Gloria delivers a speech about society’s conflicting expectations of women, restoring Barbie’s self-confidence. Soon, Gloria extends her speech to all Barbies in Barbieland, and they regain their confidence. The Barbies apologize to the Kens and emphasize the need for better treatment of Kens and all outcasts. Finally, Barbieland returns to peace.

Just after watching the movie, I realized that everything has its benefits and drawbacks. Patriarchy seems perfect for men as it often grants them greater power. Nevertheless, it puts pressure on sentimental men, as crying is considered weak and girly in a patriarchal society. Women’s rights have been fought for centuries, but they have not yet led to complete success, and many men still live in a patriarchal society, believing women are only capable of cooking and taking care of children. Clearly, we still need to make efforts to change this patriarchal society. From my point of view, everyone is different but equal. We shouldn’t be judged or constrained by anyone. You can continue living in your patriarchal world, but you can’t stop me from continuing to fight for my rights.