Greta Gerwig Included Gynecology Line in 'Barbie' So Girls Wouldn't Be 'Embarrassed' of Their Bodies

"I was like, if I can give girls that feeling of, 'Barbie does it, too,' that's both funny and emotional," the director/co-writer said

WARNING: Spoilers for Barbie below.

Greta Gerwig sought to empower young girls with a specific moment in Barbie.

In the final scene for the movie, the titular Mattel doll (played by Margot Robbie) is seen dressed to impress for what appears to be an important professional meeting of some sort after deciding to leave Barbie Land for the real world.

But upon entering a building and being greeted by a receptionist, Barbie says, as the movie's last line, "I'm here to see my gynecologist!"

Speaking with USA Today, director/co-writer Gerwig, 39, explained that the line was inspired in part by her teenage years, "growing up and being embarrassed about my body, and just feeling ashamed in a way that I couldn't even describe."

"It felt like everything had to be hidden," she said. "And then to see Margot as Barbie, with this big old smile on her face, saying what she says at the end with such happiness and joy — I was like, if I can give girls that feeling of, 'Barbie does it, too,' that's both funny and emotional."

"There are so many things like that throughout the movie. It was always about looking for the levity and the heart," Gerwig added, also saying of the gynecologist line specifically, "I knew I wanted to end on a mic-drop kind of joke, but I also find it very emotional."

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Related: 'Barbie' Cast on Representation and the 'Coolest Thing About Being a Barbie' (Exclusive Clip)

In an interview with Rolling Stone published earlier this month, Gerwig — who wrote Barbie alongside partner Noah Baumbach — revealed that the powers that be asked her to consider cutting a scene that she called “the heart of the movie,” depicting Barbie having a tearful moment sitting on a bench with an older woman.

Robbie’s scene partner, Oscar-winning costume designer Ann Roth, plays a stranger who greets Barbie at the bus stop as she’s taking in the overwhelming world outside the utopian Barbie Land. When the emotional Barbie calls her beautiful, she responds with a laugh, "I know it.”

“The way Margot plays that moment is so gentle and so unforced,” Gerwig told Rolling Stone. “There’s the more outrageous elements in the movie that people say, ‘Oh, my God, I can’t believe Mattel let you do this,’ or, ‘I can’t believe Warner Bros. let you do this.’ "

"But to me, the part that I can’t believe that is still in the movie is this little cul-de-sac that doesn’t lead anywhere — except for, it’s the heart of the movie," she added, recalling elsewhere in the interview, "I said, ‘If I cut the scene, I don’t know what this movie is about.' "

Related: America Ferrera Reveals She Performed Her Epic 'Barbie' Speech '30 to 50 Times' on Set

Another emotional moment in Barbie involves a monologue spoken by America Ferrera near the end of the film, during which she touches on the impossible expectations of women.

The Ugly Betty alum, 39, shared with Vanity Fair that she “initially felt” the monologue would not end up as “straightforward and real” as it did in the movie.

"I assumed that there might be a tone that maybe made it ... I guess easier for people to hear or to swallow,” Ferrera said. “Greta really didn't want that. She wanted it to just sound like the truth.”

The film came out on top at the box office over the weekend, scoring $155 million in its opening run and marking the biggest debut ever for a movie directed by a woman.

Barbie is in theaters now.

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