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Shakira has criticised the Barbie movie as “emasculating”, adding men and women both have a “purpose” in society and one shouldn’t be at the expense of the other.

Speaking to Allure magazine, the 47-year-old Colombian popstar spoke about the blockbuster film released last summer, as well as her new album and her break-up with former footballer Gerard Pique.

Barbie is set in Barbie Land – a matriarchal system where women work all the high-end jobs, while the men (Kens) are subordinates to the Barbies and spend all their time at the beach.

The Mattel dolls travel to the real world where they experience the patriarchy which Beach Ken (Ryan Gosling) wishes to include in the Barbie Land constitution, but is thwarted by Barbie (Margot Robbie) and her team.

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But Shakira said her two young sons “absolutely hated” the movie, feeling it was “emasculating”, something that she agrees with “to a certain extent”.

She said: “I’m raising two boys. I want them to feel powerful too [while] respecting women.

“I like pop culture when it attempts to empower women without robbing men of their possibility to be men, to also protect and provide.

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“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.”

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Greta Gerwig’s Barbie is among the top-grossing movies of all time, earning $1.4bn (£1.15bn) globally.

The film also features a monologue delivered by actress America Ferrera, a Mattel employee, about the expectations placed on women by society which ultimately inspires the other Barbies to revolt and save Barbie Land from the new rule.

Margot Robbie as Barbie. Pic: Warner Bros
Image:
Margot Robbie as Barbie. Pic: Warner Bros

However, Shakira gave a more nuanced perspective, saying: “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?”

Allure call this the “Shakira Paradox” where she believes women merit agency and power, as do men, who should also exhibit traditional signs of masculinity.

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Barbie v the patriarchy

‘Women No Longer Cry’

Shakira’s sons Sasha, nine, and Mila, 11, are shared with her ex-partner Pique, a former Barcelona defender and Spanish international.

The Hips Don’t Lie singer reflected on her separation with Pique in June 2022 after 11 years together and the release of her first album in seven years – Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran, or Women No Longer Cry.

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 album.

Shakira celebrates the official release of her new album, "Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran," early Friday, March 22, 2024, in Hollywood, Fla. (AP Photo/Michael Laughlin)
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Shakira celebrates the official release of her new album. Pic: AP

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”.

Speaking about her autonomy, she said: “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. I decide that.”

Shakira said there was “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.

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Test your knowledge of 2024’s best memes, words and phrases with our quiz

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Test your knowledge of 2024's best memes, words and phrases with our quiz

The past 12 months have been the gift that’s kept on giving when it comes to newly-coined words and phrases entering our lexicon.

But how well do you know the terminology that’s been all over socials in 2024? Can you sort your brats from your clean girls?

Test your knowledge with our quiz below and let us know how you do!

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Dayle Haddon: Former Sports Illustrated model dies of suspected carbon monoxide poisoning

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Dayle Haddon: Former Sports Illustrated model dies of suspected carbon monoxide poisoning

Dayle Haddon – the actor, activist and former Sports Illustrated model – has died from what authorities believe was carbon monoxide poisoning.

Authorities found the 76-year-old dead in a second-floor bedroom on Friday morning after emergency dispatchers were notified about a person unconscious at the house in Solebury Township, Pennsylvania.

A 76-year-old man, later identified as Walter J Blucas, of Erie, is in a critical condition.

Responders detected a high level of carbon monoxide in the property.

Investigators believe the leak was caused by “a faulty flue and exhaust pipe on a gas heating system”.

As a model, Haddon appeared on the covers of Vogue, Cosmopolitan, Elle and Esquire in the 1970s and 1980s, as well as the 1973 Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue.

She also appeared in about two dozen films from the 1970s to 1990s, including 1994’s Bullets Over Broadway, starring John Cusack.

Haddon (Left) with Angela Merkel and Christine Lagarde (Right) during a meeting of the Gender Equality Advisory Council. Pic: Michael Kappeler/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images
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Haddon (left) with Angela Merkel and Christine Lagarde (right) during a meeting of the Gender Equality Advisory Council. Pic: AP

Haddon left modelling after giving birth to her daughter, Ryan, in the mid-1970s, but then had to re-enter the workforce after her husband’s 1991 death.

This time, she found the modelling industry far less friendly: “They said to me, ‘At 38, you’re not viable’,” Haddon told The New York Times in 2003.

Read more on Sky News:
Olivia Hussey, star of 1968 film Romeo and Juliet, dies at 73

Working for an advertising agency, she began reaching out to cosmetic companies, telling them there was a growing market to sell beauty products to aging baby boomers.

She eventually landed a contract with Clairol, followed by Estee Lauder and then L’Oreal, for which she promoted the company’s anti-aging products for more than a decade.

She also hosted beauty segments for CBS’s The Early Show.

In 2008, Haddon founded WomenOne, an organisation aimed at advancing educational opportunities for girls and women in marginalised communities, including in Rwanda, Haiti and Jordan.

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Haddon’s daughter, Ryan, said in a social media post that her mother was “everyone’s greatest champion. An inspiration to many”.

“A pure heart. A rich inner life. Touching so many lives. A life well lived. Rest in Light, Mom,” she said.

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Olivia Hussey, star of 1968 film Romeo and Juliet, dies at 73

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Olivia Hussey, star of 1968 film Romeo and Juliet, dies at 73

Actress Olivia Hussey, best known for playing Juliet in Franco Zeffirelli’s 1968 production of Romeo and Juliet, has died aged 73.

She died peacefully at her home in California, surrounded by her loved ones on Friday, according to a post shared on her official Instagram account.

The message, posted with a sunset photo of Hussey in her youth, paid tribute to “a remarkable person whose warmth, wisdom, and pure kindness touched the lives of all who knew her”.

It went on: “Olivia lived a life full of passion, love, and dedication to the arts, spirituality, and kindness towards animals”.

Calling her a “truly special soul”, her family said while her “immense loss” was grieved, they would also “celebrate Olivia’s enduring impact on our lives and the industry”.

Born in Buenos Aires in 1951 to an Argentinian father and English mother, Hussey returned to London aged seven with her mother and studied at the Italia Conti Academy drama school.

Spotted by Italian director Zeffirelli in a stage show of The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie opposite Vanessa Redgrave, Hussey’s performance as Juliet aged just 15 made her a star and won her a Golden Globe.

Sixteen-year-old actor Leonard Whiting played her Romeo, with the pair going on to sue Paramount Pictures in 2022 for sexual abuse due to the Oscar-nominated movie’s nude scene.

(L-R) Franco Zeffirelli, Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting pictured in 1968. Pic: AP/Eustache Cardenas
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(L-R) Franco Zeffirelli, Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting in 1968. Pic: AP/Eustache Cardenas

The case was dismissed by a judge the following year.

Hussey would work with Zeffirelli again, playing the Virgin Mary in the 1977 TV miniseries Jesus Of Nazareth.

Appearances in horrors including Black Christmas and Psycho prequel Psycho IV: The Beginning established Hussey as a scream queen over the years.

Other notable appearances included Hercule Poirot movie Death On The Nile and Mother Teresa biography Madre Teresa.

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Hussey was reunited with Whiting in the 2015 British film Social Suicide, which was loosely based on Shakespeare‘s Romeo and Juliet.

Her daughter, actress India Eisley, played her on-screen daughter in the movie.

It was Hussey’s final screen role, according to IMDB.

Hussey leaves behind three children, Alex, Max, and India, her husband of 35 years David Glen Eisley, and grandson, Greyson.

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