For some women in China, “Barbie” is more than just a movie — it’s also a litmus test for their partner’s views on feminism and patriarchy.

The movie has prompted intense social media discussion online, media outlets Sixth Tone and the China Project reported this week, prompting women to discuss their own dating experiences.

One user on the Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu — a photo-sharing site similar to Instagram that’s mostly used by Gen Z women — even shared a guide on Monday for how women can test their boyfriends based on their reaction to the film.

According to the guide, if a man shows hatred for “Barbie” and slams female directors after they leave the theatre, then this man is “stingy” and a “toxic chauvinist,” according to Insider’s translation of the post. Conversely, if a man understands even half of the movie’s themes, “then he is likely a normal guy with normal values and stable emotions,” the user wrote.

    • mashbooq@infosec.pub
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      11 months ago

      Sure, fascists probably would be terrified about a movie that’s “aware of social injustices and systems of oppression”. They should be.

    • mayo@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      Woke has taken on a meaning of pretty much anything that could be seen as disrupting the nuclear family, heterosexuality, masculinity, and religion. Stuff that conservatives value. The term has been used as a catch all, so if you’re using it you’re not saying anything other than ‘I’m conservative and think masculinity is important’. They aren’t dangerous ideas to anyone but conservatives, which is fine. You do you. And others will do what they choose, like they have every right to do.

      Authoritarianism seems to come more from making ideas illegal, especially when it’s about imposing values on others through law. Eg. the Taliban.