Shakira and her sons were not the biggest fans of the Barbie movie.
“My sons absolutely hated it. They felt that it was emasculating. And I agree, to a certain extent,” Shakira, 47, said in an Allure cover story published on Monday, April 1. “I’m raising two boys. I want ‘em to feel powerful too [while] respecting women.”
The film, which premiered in July 2023, follows Barbie’s journey from Barbie Land to the human world where the iconic doll (played by Margot Robbie) and Ken (Ryan Gosling) learn that human women’s lives are completely different than the toys due to the patriarchy (which, it turns out, is not just about horses). The film earned over $1 billion at the box office and picked up an Oscar nomination for Best Picture.
The singer, who shares her two boys, Milan, 11 and Sasha, 9, with ex Gerard Piqué, explained she likes when pop culture empowers women while men are also able to “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,” she said. “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.”
Shakira further elaborated by questioning, “Why not share the load with people who deserve to carry it, who have a duty to carry it as well?”
The Grammy winner has gone through a series of life changes over the past couple of years. In June 2022, Shakira and Piqué, 37, after 12 years of dating. Following her split, Shakira moved from Barcelona to Miami with her sons to get a fresh start. Earlier this year, Shakira opened up about the sacrifices she made throughout her career to put her family first.
“For a long time I put my career on hold, to be next to Gerard [Piqué], so he could play football,” she said to The Sunday Times in March. “There was a lot of sacrifice for love.”
In addition to caring for her sons, Shakira is also making her return to music with a new album after a seven-year hiatus. As Shakira worked on her 12th studio album, which drops later this month, she gushed about how supportive her little ones were as she decided to follow her dreams.
“They understand how important making music is for me, how important it is to remain productive, to feel relevant in society, to find your own place in the community,” Shakira shared in an interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe in March. “They are really great at understanding that and supporting me.”
Shakira confessed that she previously felt “guilty” about having to choose between being a mom and her career. However, now she has a different mindset when it comes to balancing her life.
“Now, it feels totally different. Even though it’s more challenging because now I’m in charge of these two kids, these two babies that depend on me so much,” she said to Lowe. And I’m a single mother, I don’t have a husband at home to help out with anything.”
