Feminist criticism is a study of people from all professions and walks of life who believe that women and men are equal. As a social movement, feminist criticism highlights the various ways women, in particular, have been oppressed, suppressed, and repressed. Feminist literary criticism focused on the image and stereotype of women, examining misconceptions about women. It analyzes women writers and their works from female perspectives. ( Copeland 184-This essay aims to criticize the song Not Your Barbie Girl by Ava Max using feminism theory. The song that will be studied was written by Ava Max, Cirkut, Claus Noreen, Johnny Mosegaard, Karsten Dahlgaard, Lene Crawford, Madison Love, Rene Dif, Soren Rasted and was released as a promotional single on August 14, 2018 through Atlantic Records. With this analysing using a feminist approach, the writers hope that it will reveal the feminisme side of the song.
Almost the majority of girls all over the world know and have barbies. This doll has been a child’s plaything since 1959. This doll suggests an image of the “ideal” physical proportion of women with small hips, long legs, tyrian faces and long hair. Unconsciously, since childhood, women have been indoctrinated by barbie standards that are almost unreal. The doll is so perfect and girls are attracted to that kind of beauty.
Therefore, the beauty standard didn’t come from the creation of a barbie doll back in 1959, though. But Barbie seemed to perpetuate the standard of beauty. Although barbies are produced today in an underdeveloped form, in black colors, or in curvy bodies to enhance racial representations other than white people and promote positive body movements, still, beauty is lifeless and is already well into the head of many girls.
The song was adapted from the song “Barbie Girl” by Aqua. On “Barbie Girl ”, Aqua sings about allowing a boy to do anything he wants with her, to touch her anyway, which is why she is called a barbie. However, on “Not Your Barbie Girl ”, Ava takes a twist on the song. She tells the boy that she’s not his Barbie girl and that he can’t touch her without permission. She also talks about how some men like girls with breast implants or butt injections, but a lot of girls are real and not plastic. It is based on the lyrics of the following song:
Pull up to that dream house, god gate heels down
How much do you like this?
Welcome to my bedroom, hallway go down
Say he’s got permission
Not your Barbie girl, I’m livin’ in my own world
I ain’t plastic, call me classic
You can’t touch me there, you can’t touch my body
Unless I say so, ain’t your Barbie, no
This song is meant to be a friendlier remake of Aqua’s 1997 “Barbie Girl,” but with Ava’s own unique twist. In Aqua’s song, there were many themes that marginalized women and painted them as objects. In Ava Max’s “Not Your Barbie Girl” though, there are instead of feminism of how Ava Max is an independent woman in the lyric of the song :
I’m my own boss, I’m remindin’ you of it
Somethin’ that you just can’t get
Words don’t tempt me, tryin’ to break me
In these heels I ain’t tryin’ to trip, no
I can take myself on a dinner date
Buy myself diamonds and a champagne
Order five courses, then chocolate cake, uh-huh
Actin’ like I care when I want a man
Actin’ like I care but I don’t, and?
I do my own thing, yeah watch me dance, uh-huh
At this point, it shows that there is evidence to indicate that women were indoctrinated to dress up and have a proportional body as a barbie for a dance party. In this song Ava Max also reminds the men that she is real, women are real and breathing. It is shown in the part of following lyrics:
Did you forget I’m real?
Oh, I’m breathing, touch me, feel
Oh, say I’m your toy to play with, wanna put me in a box
You ain’t gonna talk to me like that, you better stop
In conclusion, there are a lot less marginalizing and much more empowering, and they align with Ava Max’s own views on equality between the genders and female empowerment. The song is also interesting because it makes a point to say the exact opposite of the objectifying lyrics from “Barbie Girl” in the first few verses. Overall, the purpose of this song is really to provide a more empowering version with great beats of the popular, but marginalizing song “Barbie Girl.”
Author : Helen & Ahmad Luay
