There are versions of Ken and Barbie’s meet-cute that conflict
According to the debut Barbie commercial, Ken and Barbie met at a dance, where she saw Ken in “perfectly tailored clothes” for the first time. However, Mattel later stated that the dolls met while filming their first commercial! While that explanation is more meta, what we know for sure is that these two have known each other since 1961, and they fell in love immediately.
They never actually consummated the relationship
At some point, couples have to get down and dirty. It’s a natural part of love. However, since they weren’t actually designed with any private parts. Mattel executives had conflicting opinions about this – while Handler wanted him to have a small suggestive bump in the area, higher-ups in the company disagreed. As time passed, he developed a bump, but per Gerwig’s movie, Barbie and Ken have no idea what sex is, so it must not exist!
Barbie and Ken never got married or had kids
Although it looks like a picture-perfect fairytale from the outside, these two never went down the aisle or had kids, and this is all thanks to Ruth Handler. While the public attempted to domesticate Barbie as much as they could due to expectations of women in society, she was intended to be a symbol of choice for kids, and hence being a homemaker was just one option that was available to them.
Handler wanted young girls to feel they had as many options as possible, so rather than developing her own babies, they gave her seven siblings as well as a few babysitter Barbies. In 2002, a pregnant Midge doll with a removable pregnant tummy (an infant was revealed underneath) was developed, but it was very controversial and was discontinued in less than a year.
Is Ken the gay BFF of Barbie rather than her partner?
We’ve already discussed whether the two are siblings, but this plot twist would be pretty surprising given the heteronormative history associated with the dolls. However, an easter egg in “Toy Story 3” shows Ken as Barbie’s platonic friend who is obsessed with fashion, and we can’t forget the Magic Earring Ken, who represents queer counter-culture, wearing a mesh shirt and a suggestive ring-like necklace. The doll was discontinued due to the controversy, but he’s still extremely popular and has a legacy.
