Shakira Calls Out Greta Gerwig’s ‘Barbie’ And Says Her Sons Found It “Emasculating”

Greta Gerwig‘s Barbie, starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, took the world by storm last summer, capturing the hearts of viewers and critics alike. However, not everyone was impressed by the feminist film.

In her April 2024 cover story with Allure, pop sensation Shakira revealed her two tween sons — Milan, 11, and Sasha, 9 — “absolutely hated” the movie. And she didn’t quite love it, either.

“They felt that it was emasculating,” she said. “And I agree, to a certain extent. I’m raising two boys. I want ’em to feel powerful too [while] respecting women.”

As a symbol of girl power for women all around the world, Shakira’s disapproval of the Barbie movie is a bit of a surprise, but the music icon explained her views further to Allure, saying, “I like pop culture when it attempts to empower women without robbing men of their possibility to be men, to also protect and provide.”

She added, “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 continued, “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 … Why not share the load with people who deserve to carry it, who have a duty to carry it as well?”

Shakira’s cover story comes almost two years after her divorce from Gerard Pique, former Spanish football player and father to her two children. Also in the Allure profile, she reflected on how her messy divorce influenced her upcoming album, Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran, which translates to Women No Longer Cry.

“I was in the mud. I had to reconstruct myself,” she said, per Allure. “I had to reunite all the pieces that had fallen apart. Making this music has shown me that my pain can be transformed into creativity.”

The singing sensation hopes her album will help women rebuild themselves in the same way she has: “I want this music to build bridges, to empower people, to help women discover their own strengths,” she told Allure.