Top tip for men dating women this year: Be more Ken

Male vulnerability is hot for 2024, writes Franki Cookney, but it might not look the way you think. Just ask Ryan Gosling...

For all his airheadedness, Ken’s struggle to balance bravado with the intense insecurity that comes with trying to live up to a masculine stereotype clearly struck a nerve (Atlantic Records)

About a third of the way into Barbie, Ryan Gosling’s Ken tries to persuade Barbie to let him come along on her adventure. He has, he explains, made a bet with (another) Ken and the thought of losing face is panic inducing. “You can’t make me look uncool in front of Ken,” he pleads. When Barbie replies, exasperated, “Ken’s not cool!” he turns his head away. Eyes down to hide the stricken look on his face, he mutters: “He is to me.”

For all his airheadedness, Ken’s struggle to balance bravado with the intense insecurity that comes with trying to live up to a masculine stereotype clearly struck a nerve last summer, with many calling him the “real” star of the movie, sadly snubbed at last night’s Golden Globes.

Gosling himself became something of a darling in 2023 as he carried this guileless “Kenergy” through his interviews and even onto the red carpet. So, right on cue, dating app Bumble has tipped “open-hearted masculinity” as a major trend for 2024.