CNN —When she leaves Barbie Land for the real world, Barbie must keep up with her regular health maintenance, which includes seeing her gynecologist. Those examples and others inspired the researchers to look into the “Barbie” effect on interest in women’s reproductive health. But the authors noted that an increase in seeking gynecologic care may not be accurately captured in search trends. It’s possible that the searches were from people who don’t need gynecologic care, the authors note in the study. “I feel like (the scene) starts the conversation — anything that starts the conversation about reproductive health tends to cause folks to want to explore that and go in and take a look at what they should be doing about their own health,” Irobunda said.

---

Persons: Barbie, Barbie ”, ”, Katie Couric, Angelina Jolie, Eva Sénéchal, ” Sénéchal, he’s, Nitu, Bajekal, —, “, “ I’m, Barbie exuberantly, ‘, ’, Kate Connors, “ Barbie, Greta Gerwig, ‘ Barbie, ” Gerwig, Gynecologists, Heather Irobunda, ” Irobunda Organizations: CNN, JAMA, McGill University, American College of Obstetricians, USA Today, The American College of Obstetricians, New York, New York City Health, Hospitals Corporation Locations: Montreal, London, Perimenopause, New, New York City