Taylor Swift and Margot Robbie are just two of the many celebrities who have faced a flood of recent misogyny. Despite societal progress, men still continue to tear down successful women. Graphic by Will Gaffey
By Mila Segal
Millions of viewers watched as “Barbie” was diminished next to its peer “Oppenheimer” and unimpressed silence fell over the audience at the Golden Globes.
The “Barbie” movie was the highest grossing movie of 2023 reaching over $1.4 billion dollars, and explored themes of gender inequality and patriarchy. Despite its monumental success and role as a cultural milestone, it was underrecognized by Oscar nominations and was ridiculed at the Golden Globes.
Ironically, Ryan Gosling was nominated for best supporting actor in his role as Ken, while Margot Robbie and director Greta Gerwig were not recognized. A male side character in a movie about the pitfalls of patriarchy was deemed worthy of nomination over the female director who made the highest grossing movie of last year. Even in the most successful movie focused on women and made by women, men will still somehow demand the attention.
Additionally, during the Golden Globes, host Jo Koy joked about “Barbie” in his opening monologue, saying it was a movie about “big boobies”. By reducing the movie to a crude joke, he manages to completely ignore its message and success at the box office, while also sexualizing the women in the film. This is just one example of men belittling the achievements of women.
A similar situation occurred when Taylor Swift attended her boyfriend, Travis Kelce’s, football games. Over the season, the “Dads, Brads, and Chads,” as Swift called them in an interview, have constantly complained about Swift, saying that she is a bad luck charm or is televised too much during games. Neither of these statements are even close to the truth.
In addition to the faulty logic, these ridiculous statements are used to cover up football fans’ blatant misogyny. Over the course of the entire regular football season, Swift appeared on screen for 0.46% of the screen time per game, according to the New York Times. Not to mention the Kansas City Chiefs won the Super Bowl, completely contradicting the protests of enraged fans. It is also important to note that Swift is a celebrity, and for that reason, just like other celebrities who attend sporting events, her presence will be televised.
The reality beneath the surface is that many men likely feel intimidated by Swift’s presence on their screens. She is one of the most successful, influential and wealthiest women in the U.S. and is in a happy relationship with a football player. If it bothers some men that she is shown for a few seconds in between plays then that speaks more to their character and self-worth than it does to Swift’s.
Men don't need to be fans of Taylor Swift, but they do need to respect her and the nature of her relationship. This applies for all other situations. It should not be normalized to constantly degrade women for simply living their lives, or being successful.
Despite the progress we think has been made as a society, every year it becomes more and more clear how deeply ingrained misogyny is in our culture. The examples seen at the Golden Globes and social media are only a small portion of what women go through every day. At the end of the day, men’s attempts to belittle women only draws more attention to them, fueling their success.