CNN proclaimed today that the new Barbie movie had led to "everyone talking about" patriarchy. To what degree is this true on television news? The timeline below shows total mentions of the term across CNN, MSNBC and Fox News over the past decade, showing that it typically receives only a few mentions a month. In contrast to "everyone" talking about it with the Barbie movie's release, October 2018 and April-May 2023 represent the two biggest peaks over the past decade when it comes to television news, with the past month actually representing a noticeable decline in mentions. Though, it is important to acknowledge that this represents only explicit mentions of the term itself, not discussion broader societal manifestations. As seen below, the movie and doll have received 4-10 times as much coverage as the theme the movie embodies.

Fox News has actually dominated mentions overall.

Despite his show being canceled earlier this year, Tucker Carlson alone actually accounted for 12.4% of all mentions of the term over the past decade.

In contrast, Barbie itself has received 4-10 times as many mentions as the theme it embodies, with CNN leading.