Chilliwack – The Chilliwack School Board is not new to controversy.
Trustee Teri Westerby, Canada’s first openly Trans school trustee, posted a Barbie (movie) themed meme that took a shot “Christian Values”. Many of the faith did not see the humour in the meme that comes as the number one movie in the country is the new “Barbie” movie (starring Ryan Gosling and Margot Robbie).
At least that what some critics thought was a slam. That included former Chilliwack MLA John Les and former Trustee Barry Neufeld (who is a stanch opponent of the SOGI-123 program initiated by the Province some seven years ago).
Les posted to Facebook: This was apparently posted on FB by Chilliwack School trustee Teri Westerby. Excellent agenda exposure. It is to weep.
Neufeld on Facebook:
Trustee Westerby is showing his true colors!
This priest(ess?) of this diabolical spiritual cult (and all transitioned adults) should be banned from all contact with our children in public schools! Currently, he is visiting schools and looking for converts to his worldview: encouraging them to secretly transition, mutilate their bodies and alienate their parents and extended families.
I was prohibited from contact with children because I might upset the 0.5% of kids who were gender dysphoric. Westerby is making over 40% of the student body feel threatened because of their families’ traditional worldview!
School Board Chair Willow Reichelt posted the apology on behalf of the School District:
The Chilliwack School District embraces families of all religious faiths (and no faith) and recognizes that different families have different values. We strive to create learning spaces where people of all different backgrounds can come together and treat each other with respect. The meme that Trustee Westerby shared on his personal Facebook page was intended to poke fun at online commentators who are upset that the Barbie movie has a feminist message. If you know the history of the meme, you know that the intent is not to advocate crushing traditional values but to point out the absurdity of saying that the Barbie movie has that power. However, if you do not know the meme’s history, it’s understandable that the image could be hurtful. I apologize on behalf of the board, and I want to offer my assurance that Christians and other people of faith are welcome and supported in this district.
Further comments from Westerby’s Facebook page, explaining the meme:
Conservatives are pearl clutching that the Barbie movie is destroying traditional family / Christian values – this is a meme that mocks them. It’s based on an oatmeal cartoon that mocks a right wing facist who said
“Someone must not be afraid to say, ‘moral perversion is wrong.’ If we do not act now, homosexuals will ‘own’ America! If you and I do not speak up now, this homosexual steamroller will literally crush all decent men, women, and children who get in its way … and our nation will pay a terrible price!”
And the entire comic is capped off with the amazing satirical comic of a rainbow steamroller labelled “GayRoller 2000” literally crushing people to death.
It’s a mockery of people who are grasping at straws when it comes to commentary about equity.
Barbie the toy debuted in 1959 and what made her unique was that she was a single woman, who owned her own car and house and could work anywhere she wanted (something American women could not actually do at the time… and many women around the world still can’t). The Ken doll was made after, as an accessory to Barbie – if the kid playing with them chose to have a ken around. Otherwise, Barbie did not need her Ken, she could be and do whatever she wanted. This was the dream of Ruth Handler, it’s creator. In the Barbie movie, Barbie’s exist in this perfect world run by women, where women do all the important jobs and Ken’s only job and reason for being is to be there for whenever Barbie wants him around. Sound familiar?
The Barbie Movie takes the patriarchal world we live in and flips it. Ken goes through what women in the real world very often have to face – a world that was not built for them, that they have to find their place in – to realize that he is more than just an “add on” to his partner. He is a real, whole person, with his own thoughts, needs and desires, who can contribute to the world the way HE wants to, and be an equal player in its creation. This movie was intentionally made for all genders to see gender roles flipped on their head. To see that being a leader and being part of the world isn’t about gender at all.
Barbie director Greta Gerwig responded to the right-wing backlash to the New York Times, calling it unexpected and stating: “My hope for the movie is that it’s an invitation for everybody to be part of the party and let go of the things that aren’t necessarily serving us as either women or men. I hope that in all of that passion, if they see it or engage with it, it can give them some of the relief that it gave other people.”
