Shakira is causing quite a stir. In an interview with Allure magazine published on April 1, 2024, she opened up about her opinions about the 2023 Greta Gerwig movie, Barbie. Shakira’s two sons, Milan and Sasha, did not love the movie because of how it portrayed men. Shakira agrees with them.
Shakira’s family seems to favor traditional gender roles. She believes men should “protect and provide.” Many on the internet had a strong reaction to this sentiment. It is especially perplexing since Shakira is a strong single mom. She separated from the boys' father, Gerard Piqué, in 2022.
Shakira was honest about her family’s opinions on the film. “My sons absolutely hated it. They felt that it was emasculating. And I agree, to a certain extent,” she began.
“I’m raising two boys,” Shakira explained further. “I want ‘em to feel powerful too [while] respecting women. I like pop culture when it attempts to empower women without robbing men of their possibility to be men, to also protect and provide.”
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Shakira’s brand of feminism is uniquely hers. Her new album is entitled Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran (Women No Longer Cry) and explores her messy break up with Gerard. Her goal with her new music is to empower women. At the same time, she is the product of a strict Lebanese dad and a Colombian mom. She was raised in the traditional city of Barranquilla, Colombia.
“I believe in giving women all the tools and the trust that we can do it all without losing our essence, without losing our femininity,” she explained. “I think that men have a purpose in society and women have another purpose as well. We complement each other, and that complement should not be lost.”
The author of the piece, Patricia Alfonso Tortolani, asked a clarifying question. “Just because a woman can do it all doesn’t mean she should?” she inquired. Shakira answered with another question. “Why not share the load with people who deserve to carry it, who have a duty to carry it as well?” she responded.
Shakira’s opinions have caused quite a stir on the interwebs. Most people strongly disagree with her. X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, is full of criticism for the pop star.
“Not Shakira saying women’s success in society is linked to our femininity,” one X user quipped.
Another X user wrote: “Women don’t owe femininity to anyone, not even themselves… what an awful take. Disappointing.”
“The Shakira take is so stupid every time I see it on my TL it makes me itch lol it just makes no sense,” chimed in another X user. “I feel like it has nothing to do with the movie too seems like she watched it and just projected her hollow thoughts on feminism onto& validated her boys' 'ew pink' feelings.”
It is apparent that even though Shakira’s hips don’t lie, many of her fans believe her opinions on feminism do.
