America Ferrera says ‘a lot of people need Feminism 101’ as she responds to complaints about Barbie monologue

America Ferrera has responded to complaints that her popular monologue from Greta Gerwig’s Barbie film “oversimplifies feminism”.

The Ugly Betty star appeared in the highest-grossing film of 2023 as Gloria, an employee of toy company Mattel who ends up helping Barbie (Margot Robbie) when she ends up in the real world.

In one of the film’s most talked-about moments, Ferrera delivers a monologue to Robbie’s “Stereotypical Barbie” and her fellow Barbies about the contradictory demands made of women under the patriarchy, and how it is “literally impossible to be a woman”.

The scene proved divisive among viewers of the film. While many praised the speech, others suggested that it presented a basic and un-nuanced version of feminism, with similar monologues being delivered on social media for years

In a new interview with The New York Times, Ferrera was asked about this discourse, and claims that the film’s feminism is a little shallow.

Ferrera responded: “We can know things and still need to hear them out loud,” adding that it can be “cathartic” for viewers to have that moment of recognition in the speech.

“There are a lot of people who need Feminism 101, whole generations of girls who are just coming up now and who don’t have words for the culture that they’re being raised in. Also, boys and men who may have never spent any time thinking about feminist theory,” she said.

“If you are well-versed in feminism, then it might seem like an oversimplification, but there are entire countries that banned this film for a reason.”

Ferrera continued: “To say that something that is maybe foundational, or, in some people’s view, basic feminism isn’t needed is an oversimplification. Assuming that everybody is on the same level of knowing and understanding the experience of womanhood is an oversimplification.”

Her comments come after revealing in another recent interview that she found it “bittersweet” after meeting a young girl who had used the monologue while auditioning for a local theatre programme.

While Ferrera noted that she found it “hilarious,” at the same time, she said that she found it “super sad that 11-year-old girls resonate with that monologue and already feel like they know what it’s saying”.

In the speech, Gloria tells Barbie: “You have to never get old, never be rude, never show off, never be selfish, never fall down, never fail, never show fear, never get out of line.

“It’s too hard, it’s too contradictory, and nobody gives you a medal or says thank you.”