Discussions of Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig getting snubbed are all the rage right now. Ryan Gosling got candid in a statement about how “there is no Ken without Barbie, and there is no Barbie movie without Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie.” Even former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton voiced her opinion on the matter on X, formerly known as Twitter: “While it can sting to win the box office but not take home the gold, your millions of fans love you. You’re both so much more than Kenough.” There are a lot of feelings on both sides of the discourse, and there are myriad discussion points to make, from the Academy failing to give comedies their due to how female directors have to work so much harder to earn a best director nomination.

However, while there was plenty of backlash upon learning about the snubs, there’s now backlash to that backlash, with more people taking Whoopi Goldberg’s point of view. X and TikTok are filled with people offering more nuanced perspectives on the matter, such as TikToker @eleanor.stern, who said, “It’s weird to act like it’s a loss for feminism that Ryan Gosling got nominated instead of [Margot Robbie] because the category is best actress … All that happened is that a different woman got nominated instead of Margot Robbie.” 

Others have discussed how the “Barbie” snub discussion has distracted from genuine wins for feminism within the Oscar nominations, such as Lily Gladstone being the first Native American woman nominated for best actress. The Academy Awards still have a long way to go in terms of inclusion, but it’s essential to recognize steps forward when they occur.