Barbie’s Portrayal of the Corporate World Is a Clever Commentary on DEI
Much has been written about Barbie’s good, brightly-coloured takedown of the patriarchy because it arrived in theaters in late July. Greta Gerwig’s live-action movie based mostly on the enduring doll has obtained equal measure of reward and backlash for its feminist agenda, which cleverly factors out the pitfalls of the “real world,” the place girls should “always be extraordinary, but somehow we’re always doing it wrong,” as America Ferrera’s character delivers in her now-viral monologue.
Ferrera performs Gloria, a mom and Mattel government, who aids Barbie on her journey from the actual world again to Barbie Land. The scenes that happen on the Mattel Inc. headquarters and different company environments depicted within the movie ship a poignant commentary on gender fairness within the office. The Barbie film exposes the facade of variety, fairness and inclusion, utilizing humour to make clear the intense subject of performative fairness—phrases and insurance policies that firms put in place that declare they do fairness work, however don’t really lead to any measurable enhancements or influence for equity-deserving teams. Instead, performative fairness usually simply additional cements systemic points and maintains the established order.
Where are all the ladies?
The first glimpse of the fictionalized Mattel headquarters, situated in Los Angeles, takes place early within the film when a workers member, Aaron, bursts into the C-suite boardroom to disclose a shocking sight: a dozen or so males in fits gathered round a heart-shaped desk. The irony is so obtrusive that it’s hilarious—an organization that markets itself as a champion of younger ladies’ goals and ambitions lacks a single lady in its prime government ranks. Shortly after, Barbie arrives and calls for to fulfill the “woman in charge.” There isn’t one. The Mattel CEO, performed by Will Ferrel, makes an attempt to defend the make-up of his workforce, saying “We are a company literally made of women! We had a woman CEO in the ’90s and then another one…at some point. So that’s two right there!”
It’s laugh-out-loud humorous—largely as a result of it’s a situation many people can relate to. It exposes simply how absurd it’s that, in Canadian firms, for instance, girls solely occupy 18 per cent of board positions. And that’s largely white girls. Racialized girls make up lower than one per cent of that. Over the previous a number of years, particularly for the reason that world-changing disruption of Covid and the tidal rise of social justice actions like Black Lives Matter, many firms have been striving to look progressive to appease stakeholders and clients with liberal values that have been galvanized by these actions. They employed Chief Diversity Officers, or CDOs, and made public pledges to work in the direction of fairness of their hiring processes, however three years later they’re failing to substantively make strides towards gender parity and illustration of their management. Companies have gotten too snug with superficially showcasing a dedication to inclusivity by highlighting token representations of ladies and people from equity-deserving teams on their social media channels, web sites and annual stories. But the absence of real variety throughout the higher echelons of energy reveals that these gestures are extra about optics than precise progress.
The outdated boys’ membership persists
When Ken and Barbie are exploring the actual world within the first half of the movie, Ken shortly turns into enthralled by the thought of the patriarchy, one thing that didn’t exist in Barbie Land. He wanders into the foyer of a modern-looking workplace constructing and confidently asks for a job from one of many business executives he encounters. When he’s turned down as a result of his lack of credentials, he asks “Isn’t being a man enough?” The government replies, “Actually, right now it’s kind of the opposite,” suggesting that ladies and minority teams are favoured in pursuit of superficial variety optics. Ken then says, “You guys are clearly not doing patriarchy very well.” In a winking reply, the chief responds, “We are doing it well, we just hide it better now.”
Again, Ken’s audacity garners loads of stomach laughs within the theatre. But it’s additionally not that removed from actuality. Not solely does the boys’s dialogue means that hiring from numerous expertise swimming pools is a method to look good quite than really acknowledge that candidates from equity-deserving teams are equally, and generally extra certified than their white male counterparts, the interplay can be an ideal instance of affinity bias—consciously or unconsciously favouring individuals who look, act and/or have the same background to us (regardless that, sure, Ken is carrying a spangled cowboy swimsuit on this explicit scene).
Using the finance sector as a microcosm of a pervasive subject, we see that though there are lots of girls working within the trade, analysis exhibits that they’re in roles that pay much less and are much less senior in comparison with males, and in recruitment males are employed for his or her potential whereas girls should show themselves first. Women are 14 per cent much less prone to be promoted as a result of managers underestimate their management potential as in comparison with males.
Genuine DEI work entails evaluating each applicant equitably and giving everybody a good probability, no matter gender. Practices akin to blind evaluations of purposes, the place names are redacted from these reviewing, may also help take away bias. As properly, fastidiously contemplating what adjectives are utilized in job bulletins can get rid of alerts of gender choice (for instance, utilizing “chairperson” as a substitute of “chairman” or “resourcing” as a substitute of “manpower”).
The finish of the CDO?
The poignant theme of performative fairness in Barbie resonates profoundly with the latest layoffs of CDOs throughout North America. According to a latest Wall Street Journal article, hundreds of variety employees have misplaced their jobs previously yr. These layoffs, usually seen as cost-cutting measures throughout financial downturns, elevate eyebrows in regards to the true dedication of establishments to fostering inclusivity. CDOs, when employed merely as reactionary measures to public opinion exemplify performative fairness in its most disheartening kind. Resting the burden of DEI solely on one position may be exhausting for professionals who maintain these positions, and signifies a scarcity of real dedication to fostering widespread, intercultural change at an organization degree.
In a Forbes article from earlier this yr, a number of CDOs revealed that they’re merely not given the sources, affect or authority to enact any significant change inside their firms, rendering their title and positions fully performative—and but extraordinarily burdensome as they’re usually confronted with a dropping battle to realize funding and sources. Giving CDOs energy to truly do fairness work means being arrange for fulfillment with the appropriate instruments. This can appear to be investing in analysis and expertise targeted on illustration and inclusion analytics, offering entry to and funding in adequate staffing and guaranteeing buy-in from management. A real dedication to fairness, variety and inclusion throughout the whole firm means aligning DEI targets with long run business technique, even (and particularly) in difficult occasions.
Barbie‘s satirical portrayal of performative equity leaves us with a sobering reflection on the state of diversity and inclusion in corporate North America. The movie’s cleverly crafted scenes function a poignant reminder that superficial gestures fall brief in effecting actual change. For the finance sector to really champion variety, fairness and inclusion, it should transfer past pretence and embark on a real journey in the direction of reshaping its inside tradition with extra equitable management achieved by means of truthful hiring and promotion practices, in addition to investing (each in time and sources) of their CDOs.
It is excessive time that we discard the heart-shaped government tables and the outdated patriarchal assumptions and create a brand new company narrative; one the place performative fairness has no place, and real inclusion is the tenet for a affluent future.
