Shakira calls Barbie ‘emasculating’ for her sons, saying pop culture should not 'rob men of their possibility to be men'
1 April 2024, 19:35 | Updated: 1 April 2024, 19:46
Shakira has branded the Barbie movie 'emasculating' for men, adding that she believes women should be empowered 'without robbing men of their possibility to be men'.
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The Colombian popstar, 47, said her sons "absolutely hated" the film, which was the highest-grossing film across the world last year.
The superstar was commenting on the Greta Gerwig-directed Barbie, which sees Barbieland controlled by women until the dolls experience patriarchy by entering the real world in the comedy film.
Shakira told Allure magazine: "My sons absolutely hated it. They felt that it was emasculating and I agree, to a certain extent. I'm raising two boys. I want (them) to feel powerful too (while) respecting women.
Read More: 'There is no Ken without Barbie': Ryan Gosling breaks silence after Margot Robbie Oscars snub
The Hips Don't Lie singer continued: "I like pop culture when it attempts to empower women without robbing men of their possibility to be men, to also protect and provide.
"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. 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. Just because a woman can do it all doesn't mean she should.
"Why not share the load with people who deserve to carry it, who have a duty to carry it as well?"
Barbie, which stars Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, also features a powerful monologue delivered by actress America Ferrera about the hypocritical expectations placed on women by society and has been seen as a tongue-in-cheek feminist tale.
Shakira shares sons Sasha, nine, and Mila, 11, with her ex-partner Gerard Pique, a former Spanish professional footballer for Barcelona and Manchester United.
Elsewhere in the article, she reflected on separating from Pique in June 2022 after 11 years together and releasing her first album in seven years.
She said following the break-up she was "in the mud" and she "had to reconstruct myself, to reunite all the pieces that had fallen apart" which is explored in the new record Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran, or Women No Longer Cry.
The three-time Grammy-winner said women used to have "to mind their manners, to hide the pain, to cry in silence" but in today's society "no one will tell us how to heal, how to clean our wound".
"No one tells me how to cry or when to cry, no one tells me how to raise my children, no one tells me how I become a better version of myself," she also said. "I decide that."
Shakira said there is "something refreshing about women when they get to be themselves and be unapologetic".
"Because we've had to apologise so many damn times in the past," she added.
The singer, known for hits including Hips Don't Lie and Waka Waka, has spent the last few years fighting a tax dispute case with Spanish authorities, who have claimed she failed to pay more than 14.5 million euros (£13 million) between 2012 and 2014.
In November, she resolved the long-running case by accepting the charges and was fined more than £6 million.
