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Salon
Salon
Lifestyle
Nardos Haile

Right wing vs Barbie "toxic femininity"

Greta Gerwig's "Barbie" is all the rage right now but conservatives like Sen. Ted Cruz have rallied against the film, insinuating that it spreads communist propaganda. Others have said it "neglects to address any notion of faith or family [values]."

Cruz's biggest issue with the film is the nine-dash line — a U-shaped dotted line on a map in the South China Sea, depicting territory that both China and Vietnam claim. Vietnam has banned the film, citing it threatened the countries sovereignty.

In a statement to the Dailymail.co.uk, Cruz's spokesperson said, "China wants to control what Americans see, hear, and ultimately think, and they leverage their massive film markets to coerce American companies into pushing CCP propaganda — just like the way the Barbie film seems to have done with the map.

Meanwhile, right-wing personality Ginger Gaetz, Rep. Matt Gaetz's wife, tweeted a lengthy post, voicing her pros and cons about the film and telling people to skip it because the film "tries to normalize the idea that men and women can't collaborate positively (yuck)."

Also, Fox News contributor Leslie Marshall shared on a panel that women "don't need to put men down to lift yourself up as a woman." Another conservative commentator, Douglas Murray, referred to Ryan Gosling's role as Ken as an example of "toxic femininity."

Additionally,Christian movie review site Movieguide.org says the film "forgets its core audience of families and children," to cater to "nostalgic adults and pushing transgender character stories."

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