Women in China are telling each other to bring their boyfriends to see 'Barbie' — and to use it as a litmus test for their thoughts on feminism and patriarchy

• Women in China are calling "Barbie" a litmus test for their partners and their thoughts on feminism.
• One Xiaohongshu user shared a guide for how women can test their boyfriends based on their reaction to the film.

For some women in China, "Barbie" is more than just a movie — it's also a litmus test for their partner's views on feminism and patriarchy.

The movie has prompted intense social media discussion online, media outlets Sixth Tone and the China Project reported this week, prompting women to discuss their own dating experiences.

One user on the Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu — a photo-sharing site similar to Instagram that's mostly used by Gen Z women — even shared a guide on Monday for how women can test their boyfriends based on their reaction to the film.

According to the guide, if a man shows hatred for "Barbie" and slams female directors after they leave the theatre, then this man is "stingy" and a "toxic chauvinist," according to Insider's translation of the post. Conversely, if a man understands even half of the movie's themes, "then he is likely a normal guy with normal values and stable emotions," the user wrote.

Another user shared in a post on Xiaohongshu that they used the film's criteria for rating one's partner, Sixth Tone reported. The post has since been deleted, Insider found.

"Barbie," which was released on July 20, had an underwhelming opening in China, with just over $10 million in box office earnings, per ticket-selling platform Maoyan. However, the film became the top trending topic on Weibo over the weekend, with over 630 million views across multiple posts, CNN reported.

Weibo is awash with posts of moviegoers recounting how they saw men walk out of theatres while vocally disagreeing with their partners about the movie's themes, according to Sixth Tone and the China Project.

Despite the movie's slow start, "Barbie" has received mostly positive reviews from Chinese viewers online, according to Chinese movie review site Douban. About 44% of users gave the film five stars on the review site.

One user wrote in their review: "There are not many opportunities for Chinese women to watch a purely female-perspective film in the cinema."