Centuries have gone by, and the discrimination still unfolds. 

A heated debate arose in summer 2023 after the two competitive films, Barbie and Oppenheimer, were released on the same day. Both won many awards, although many feel the need to pick one over the other.

One recent event indicates the humiliation many women are put through for mere public entertainment. 

“Jokes” made by the host and comedian of the 2024 Golden Globes, Jo Koy, were more than just funny remarks. When comparing two famous movies competing for the Cinematic Box Office Achievement award, Koy said, “Oppenheimer is based on a 721-page Pulitzer Prize-winning book about the Manhattan Project, and Barbie is on a plastic doll with big boobies.” 

(How ironic when the Barbie movie ended up winning the honor.)

Not only was Koy’s slam crudely sexualized towards the Barbie movie, but it also stripped away the entire point of its creation. The Barbie movie was created to empower women of all ages. It connects relevant struggles of body image and how women deserve to be much more than that. 

For years girls have looked at a Barbie doll as being the societal expectation when really it is an impossible standard. The meaning behind bringing the Barbie to life was to express how feelings and relationships are more valuable than “perfect” looks. 

The worst part was how Barbie director Greta Gerwig and the cast women at the event were expected to either laugh along or have no reaction at all. 

Society creates these expectations for women, yet for men, it was more justifiable for Will Smith to slap Chris Rock at the Oscars after he commented on his wife Jada. Women are not allowed to react the way men are expected to. 

Commenting to diminish the essence of a film that relates to half the population should not have left Jo Koy expecting their laughter.