From the ashes of the explosive box office debut of Greta Gerwig's "Barbie," think pieces have emerged about who the titular figure really is. Some argue that she's a subversive feminist. Others have even made the case that she's a communist. But now, the movie has stirred up a new conversation that Barbie is in fact an asexual icon.
As the movie follows its titular figure from Barbieland into the real world, and thus her eventual transition from doll to human, Barbie (Margot Robbie) remains consistently disinterested in Ryan Gosling's Ken. She neither wants to sleep with him nor be anywhere near him for that matter. In the beginning of the movie, he asks if he can sleep over (and presumably with) Barbie to which she refuses, saying, "Why? What for?" before happily enjoying a girls night. The punch line lands because they are children's toys with no reproductive organs. Why would they know what sex is? But this scene also hammers home a crucial point: Barbie doesn't have sex.
