This post contains spoilers—for the movie and women's health care.
There's nothing like stirrups and a speculum to welcome one to womanhood, but for some, the recent Barbie movie apparently offered its own kind of eye-opening introduction.
The smash-hit film ends with the titular character making the brave decision to exit Barbieland and enter the real world as a bona fide woman. The film's final scene follows her as she fully unfurls her new reality, attending her first woman's health appointment. "I’m here to see my gynecologist," she enthusiastically states to a medical receptionist. For many, the line prompted a wry chuckle, given her unsuspecting eagerness and enigmatic anatomy. But for others, it apparently raised some fundamental questions.
Online searches in the US for "gynecologist"—or alternate spellings, such as "gynaecologist"—rose an estimated 51 percent over baseline in the week following Barbie's July 21, 2023 release, according to a study published Thursday in JAMA Network Open. Moreover, searches related to the definition of gynecology spiked 154 percent. Those search terms included "gynecologist meaning," "what is a gynecologist," "what does a gynecologist do," "why see a gynecologist," and the weightiest of questions: "do I need a gynecologist."
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Ars Technica
July 26, 2024
