While she’s normally making headlines for her controversial body stature, Barbie is now making news for another reason: coming to a theater near you on July 21 is Greta Gerwig’s real-life adaptation of “Barbie”—but we would be remiss if we didn’t discuss how this stereotypical casting contributes to the unrealistic beauty standard discourse.
It’s easy to see how all media, and really all of human activity, is political — every social activity involves making decisions, every set of humans is organized in some way and these organizations will influence the decisions that are made.
The concept of himbos has become popularized because it is the antithesis of toxic masculinity — all the masculinity without the toxicity. Himbos show us that masculinity can be healthy, and is not intrinsically linked to aggressive traits. And that is exactly why himbos are so important.
While we are all struggling through the monotonous yet unpredictable lifestyle that comes with the pandemic, we must not forget that oppression still holds prominence in our society. And we would be foolish to believe that it has not gotten worse.
