‘Barbie Feminism’: Gender Studies Fiat Lux course takes on silver screen giant
“Barbie” took the world by storm last summer, dominating both movie theaters and social media. Now, the movie has reached the UCLA course catalog.
Gender Studies 19: “Barbie Feminism” unpacks how director Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” fits into the current feminist movement, said Juliet Williams, a professor of gender studies.
“I will feel my mission accomplished if students emerge from the course realizing that when it comes to feminism, the question we shouldn’t be asking is, ‘What is it?’” Williams said. “In this course … our task is to give substance and meaning to the notion of a distinctive new expression of feminism that we’re calling ‘Barbie Feminism.’”
As a Fiat Lux class, the course is one unit, consists of around 20 students and is taught by a member of the Academic Senate faculty on a topic they are passionate about. Williams said she was attracted to the Fiat Lux course design and how it gives students the chance to participate in a seminar class, something their degree plan might not offer.
