Had a good week so far with our studies and so we rewarded ourselves with a movie. This time we were able to get a couple good seats at the Barbie movie. There has been a lot of hype for this one and I had high expectations. I expected to laugh and laugh a lot. I laughed some and most of those laughs were courtesy of Ryan Gosling's performance of Stereotypical Ken.

More than anyone, I think he understood the tone the movie needed to take. Not serious. He leaned into the role of beefcake on the side, but also inspired compassion in the viewer, even after discovering the depth of the Ken's subjugation, he takes over Barbiland with patriarchy and brainwashing.

Gosling had the best performance, but Barbie the best line. It seems you are either brainwashed or a weird and ugly. It has certainly felt that way at times.

If this movie is in any way a feminist movie, it is in thanks to Gosling's performance. It is in Gosling that the viewer ... well me ... found herself identifying. Despite the dumb blonde façade, he actually embodied some real feelings. He loved Barbie. He was just her accessory.

Barbie, as portrayed by Margo Robbie, is cute and sweet but also a narcissist, completely unaware of how atrocious she and the other Barbie's treat the Kens. Yes. I understand that this was a conscious choice on the part of the writers to illustrate what it was once like to be a women. But it really isn't like that now.

I have always considered myself a feminist but the kind that wants to make things better for everyone. Respect and equity for the sexes ... equality where human rights are concerned. That kind of feminism lifts up the whole of society. Men included. It just does.

I want choice and respect, to be paid a fair wage, not to be subjugated as a lesser citizen. Not to swap out patriarchy for matriarchy. I do NOT want to subjugate men. Alas this is often the narrative spread about feminism. Barbie does nothing to dispel the myth, but ladles it on. The myth that men and women cannot makes decisions together, have respect for one another, and also enjoy romantic love. Barbie more than suggests that love and even family make a woman weak and uninteresting, from smashing baby dolls to trashing Midge. Glamour, fashion, and position, not family, is what makes a woman valuable. I can't get behind that kind of feminism. Newsflash ... you can be a mother and still be a feminist; still be interesting; still cleverAF. Still adore men and want to see them self-actualized as well. You may want pink as a choice but certainly not the only one.

Diffusion

Diffusion is the process where particles of a gas or a dissolved substance in a liquid. naturally spread out from each other in a gas or liquid.

The particles will move from an area of high concentration to an area of low concentration. The particles continue to spread out until they are evenly distributed, that is there is a uniform concentration of the particles throughout the gas or liquid. If there is no concentration gradient, diffusion cannot be observed.

The movement of oxygen and carbon dioxide through the alveoli in the lungs is an example of diffusion. There is also facilitated diffusion where particles still move across a concentration gradient but a carrier protein is required.

Osmosis

Osmosis is similar to diffusion in that it requires a concentration gradient, but it only involves the exchange and/or movement of water. It is the movement of water from a solution with a high concentration of dissolved particles to a solution with a low concentration of dissolved particles.

The water molecules move across a partially permeable membrane, that is water can move across it but not other particles. The water molecules move at random, both back and forth, but eventually the concentration gradient in equalized and equilibrium is reached. Plant roots use osmosis to take up water.

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