Women, work and the freedom to go see Barbie at the movies.

AND also happened in Italy this summer of 2023. Groups of girls – more or less young, a cross between Boomer, X, Millennial and Zeta – who went to the cinema to watch a movie. Barbie Greta Gerwig. Never alone and often all in pink.

In the United States, those numbers have increased, bringing meaning (and money) to the season of women’s successes.

And also a celebration of Margot Robbieas the “stereotypical Barbie” who finds freedom from her perfection and celebrates her first visit to the gynecologist, Taylor Swift and Beyoncé, both on tour, created lines and turnover.

Different stories, with a minimum common denominator. Scripts, poems, music, performances: everything was invented and signed by women.that reflect on what it means to “be a woman” and ignite a sense of community in viewers.

The figures are world records. I am always responsible for shopping lists and the family budget, women began to “spend on goods or experiences for their own pleasure”» (Misty Heggeness, economist and professor at the University of Kansas, Wall Street Journal).

That’s in at least one country, America, where labor force participation among women aged 25 to 54 increased by two percentage points. in 2022 compared to 2012, reaching 76.4 percent, and the availability of weekly resources has jumped 28 percent over the past 5 years.

This means that buying beaded bracelets or wearing a cowboy hat to dance at Swift and Beyoncé concerts, or laughing/crying at the Barbie parable is not foam.

This reflects social changes that are here to stay. In the perimeter of brilliant commercial operations, traces of new life and a desire to take space and time for oneself are felt.

And in Italy? The prolonged crisis, aggravated by the effects of the pandemic and now intertwined with inflation, has destroyed a treasure trove of resources that could be spent on satisfying personal desires. And, basically, female employment remains stuck at 50 percentwhich is below the European Union average.

So: we still went to the cinema, maybe even a couple of times, to see Barbie, but… daily fatigue exceeds collective female happiness. This is an opportunity to see yourself as part of a creative and victorious movement rooted in greater economic independence.

As Jamila Ribeiro – Brazilian philosopher and activist, guest Women’s timeheir to generations of slaves and maidservants – the key to freedom is choice. Always. Break away from established models and you can decide where to invest your money: even if it’s just money for tickets.

How do you organize outings with friends? Write to us at iodonna.parliamone@rcs.it

All articles by Barbara Stefanelli

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