we all knew barbie was going to be funny. we all knew it’d have something to say about the “female coming-of-age,” as all of greta gerwig’s movies have thus far. and we all knew margot robbie and ryan gosling would turn in note-perfect performances as barbie and ken. and they did.

what i didn’t know was how much barbie would mean - not truly, not fully. how much it would mean to me, to the women sitting to my left…

he was the boy every girl in school liked, but i liked him most. to be fair, it wasn’t much of a competition. i knew him best, because i was his best friend. but for awhile, i thought that’s all i’d ever be. because i’d had the misfortune of being a girl born in a boy’s body.

we met in eighth grade. he was the new kid, and i was his first friend. later, i liked to say that i…