America Ferrera's powerful monologue in Barbie leaves viewers stunned (2024)

24 July 2023, 22:07

Barbie viewers can't stop talking about America Ferrera's "It is literally impossible to be a woman" monologue.

If you've seen Barbie, chances are you probably thought America Ferrera's Gloria was one of the standout characters of the film. If you haven't seen Barbie, you've probably heard about America Ferrera's Gloria being one of the standout characters of the film...

It's true. She is. And that, in part, is thanks to one perfectly delivered speech about womanhood that has now gone viral on social media.

In Barbie, Gloria is a Mattel employee from the Real World. As the trailers show, she meets Barbie (Margot Robbie) in the Real World and plays a key role in her return to Barbie Land. What viewers weren't expecting, however, was for Gloria to be front and centre of such a pivotal and emotional moment in the film.

Read America Ferrera's Barbie monologue in full below.

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After following Barbie back to Barbie Land, Gloria and her daughter Sasha are present when Barbie falls into a depression and the other Barbies end up 'brainwashed' following the Ken takeover. It's not until Gloria delivers a monologue about the struggles of being a woman that they're able to break the spell and return to themselves.

In an interview with Vanity Fair, America discussed how the speech was crafted and how it ended up becoming one of the film's standout moment.

“There was a little bit of healthy pressure around it," she continued. "I assumed that there might be a tone that maybe made it, I don't know, I guess easier for people to hear or to swallow. Greta really didn't want that. She wanted it to just sound like the truth."

In the end, America said it took two days to film and "probably 30 to 50 full runs of it, top to bottom." Ariana Greenblatt, who plays Sasha, revealed America said the speech so many times, she knew it by heart by the time they'd finished that scene.

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Read America Ferrera's Barbie monologue in full here:

"It is literally impossible to be a woman. You are so beautiful, and so smart, and it kills me that you don’t think you’re good enough. Like, we have to always be extraordinary, but somehow we’re always doing it wrong.

You have to be thin, but not too thin. And you can never say you want to be thin. You have to say you want to be healthy, but also you have to be thin. You have to have money, but you can’t ask for money because that’s crass. You have to be a boss, but you can’t be mean. You have to lead, but you can’t squash other people’s ideas.

You’re supposed to love being a mother, but don’t talk about your kids all the damn time. You have to be a career woman, but also always be looking out for other people. You have to answer for men’s bad behaviour, which is insane, but if you point that out, you’re accused of complaining.

You’re supposed to stay pretty for men, but not so pretty that you tempt them too much or that you threaten other women because you’re supposed to be a part of the sisterhood. But always stand out and always be grateful. But never forget that the system is rigged. So find a way to acknowledge that but also always be grateful.

You have to never get old, never be rude, never show off, never be selfish, never fall down, never fail, never show fear, never get out of line. It’s too hard! It’s too contradictory and nobody gives you a medal or says thank you! And it turns out in fact that not only are you doing everything wrong, but also everything is your fault.

I’m just so tired of watching myself and every single other woman tie herself into knots so that people will like us. And if all of that is also true for a doll just representing women, then I don’t even know."

Read more about Barbie here:

• Every single Barbie referenced in Margot Robbie's Barbie press tour outfits (so far)
• Margot Robbie explains why she refused to use a foot double for Barbie
• Ryan Gosling's response to people saying he's "too old" to play Ken in Barbie is hilarious
• Ryan Gosling says he "doubted" himself as Ken before joining Barbie cast
• Is Barbie a lesbian in the Barbie movie? Here's why fans thinks she's gay

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