Why Barbie And Ken's Namesakes Make Their Relationship A Little Awkward

The image of Barbie has transformed over the decades, which Greta Gerwig's "Barbie" both celebrates and critiques. But throughout her evolution, Barbie and Ken have never gone beyond being boyfriend and girlfriend, with Ken being more of an accessory to Barbie than anything. And it's likely that their relationship will stay this way so long as Ruth Handler's vision for the iconic doll stays intact. 

Handler might have been a mother who embodied all that women were capable of achieving, but the demand her work required took a toll on her family time. In a BBC interview, Handler commented, "I felt tremendous guilt about being a mother away from my children, because in those days, there were no career women. Other women didn't know quite how to treat me." In this regard, Handler chose not to have Barbie and Ken marry or give them children, even after increased demand from the public. To Handler, the idea would have reinforced the traditional path that society expected for women, especially at that time. 

Later years would prove this notion to be the right one. In 1991, Midge, one of Barbie's lesser-known friends introduced in 1963, got married to the similarly obscure Allan. Midge also had a three-year-old son named Ryan and was pregnant with another child. This "Happy Family" set was created with good intentions, but quickly garnered complaints from customers and was pulled from Wal-Mart shelves in 2002. Emerald Fennell plays pregnant Midge in "Barbie," and the film even alludes to her controversial past. Whichever way folks see Barbie and Ken's connection, it has done little to halt the movie's box-office domination.