Responding to the times Mattel, the makers of Barbie, have updated Ken (legal name, Ken Carson) with a range of more ethnically diverse suitors for Barbie.

There's cornrows Ken, Asian Ken, Ken with a man bun, who as Caity Weaver points out in her GQ report from inside the Mattel HQ, is his entire personality. 

"Meet Ken: He has a man bun, and that's his whole thing."

He's totally that guy on Tinder. You know the one.

There's horn-rimmed glasses and flannel shirt Ken, he's into cold drip coffee and Jack Kerouac, and don't you think flat top Ken totally leaves angry 1 star reviews on Yelp?

Other than offering skin tone beyond "anaemic" (the brand did introduce its first African-American Ken in 1981, and maybe my favourite, the best-selling Earring Magic Ken in 1993, who was reportedly a hit among gay men), perhaps the most interesting new iteration is plus-size Ken (you can also buy "slim" and "original" Ken).

Sorry, "broad." 

Yep, finally there is the male equivalent of the kind of meaningless term that has long haunted women's fashion and media - "curvy." 

The thing is, 'broad' Ken, rather disappointingly, isn't really that tubby. He's no dad-bod Ken, and sadly, just a little, well, thicker. And according to Weaver, landing on broad was a difficult decision for the dream makers/body image arbiters at Mattel.

"With Barbie [it was] clear what was offensive with the curvier doll versus what wasn't," Michelle Chidoni, a Mattel marketing executive tells Weaver.

"People [in focus groups] didn't want to be called 'plus-size.' 'Curvy' was the clear winner. [But] where 'curvy' in the female world of fashion has become something that's desirable and sexy and positive, the men's fashion world has not gone there yet."

Meanwhile, the word 'husky' - a term borrowed from the US boy's clothing department - apparently was not going to cut it.

"'Husky' just turned off every guy we talked to," says Chidoni, shaking her head. "A lot were really traumatised by that—as a child, shopping in a husky section."

"Athletic" was rejected on the notion that athletes can have vastly different body types. "Brawny" didn't fare much better. And so: "broad."

But is broad that helpful? Is curvy? Like, he definitely doesn't have a beer gut. Or man boobs. Or a duck bum. Or any of the "flaws" that men might find when measuring themselves up against masculine ideals/a Hemsworth. Then again, Ken also doesn't even have any genitals.

So does it matter? 

Are we doomed to only buy well-meaning, 'realistic' dolls for children to play with?

Kelsey Miller, who often writes about body image, noted in Refinery29 of the backlash that ensued when Mattel released its line of "curvy" Barbie doll last year,

"Just like OG Barbie, Curvy Barbie is problematic. In fact, she embodies the biggest, most valid complaints from the body positive community. First of all, she's curvy, a somewhat dated euphemism for all plus-size women, implying that if you're not thin, then you'd better be a voluptuous hourglass. Second, she doesn't appear to be the size of a plus-size woman, but a plus-size model. (Don't get me wrong, Ashley Graham is the bee's knees, but most little girls won't grow up into bodies like hers.)"

But ultimately, as Miller notes,  the introduction of Curvy Barbie is a win. The point being, that hopefully one day it won't be such a big deal to see dolls that look like a range of bodies. And for little girls and boys to see themselves, in some way, reflected back at them. Like having a man bun, it won't be the most interesting thing about you, but just another facet. 

So 'broad' Ken might be as essentially restrictive a body type as 'curvy' but at least there's a few more options out there. 

And most importantly, that go-getting woman of the world Barbie has a range of arm candy to choose from.