CONTENT WARNINGS FOR BIGOTRY AND HOMOPHOBIA
All of my newspapers sources for Earring Magic Ken in appearance order, courtesy of newspapers.com. Most of the 'letter to the editor' articles aren't here because I left them in their entirety on my EMK rambling entry and they're mostly just hateful bullshit.
The opinions and beliefs in these articles do not represent mine, they are here for context and historical purposes only.
St. Cloud Times
"New Ken doll sports an earring" (February 9th, 1993)
He's trendy, he's hip, he's Earring Magic Ken. Yes, Barbie's main man is sporting a stud in his left earlobe. (The doll costs about $11, out in April.)
"We tried to keep him as cool as possible," said Mattel's Lisa McKendall. And a Soul Train Jamal, the male teen doll in the popular Shani collection, is also wearing a single left-ear stud (about $11, out in July).
Newsday
"Something 'Different' About Ken" Frank DeCaro (February 23rd, 1993)
"Barbie, there's something I have to tell you. You'd better sit down, OK. I ran into Ken at the gym the other day and he looked a little, well, different."
"Different, Midge? What do you mean, different?"
"Well, hon, he streaked his hair. Ken's a blond now."
"Yeah, so? A lot of guys color their hair these days."
"Wait, there's more. He was wearing a lavender leatherette vest and a muscle T with the sleeves rolled up, and he had a ring pendant around his neck and, well, I'm just going to say it: He pierced his eft ear. He was sitting at the juice bar. I think he was reading the International Male catalog."
"Midge, exactly what are you saying?"
"Um, well, you know, uh..."
"Oh, Midge! How could you even think that!?! You know Ken does this makeover thing every few years. Remember in the seventies when he let his hair grow real long? I mean, he didn't start sleeping around just because he looked like Warren Beatty in 'Shampoo.' He was still the same sweet, wonderful, anatomically incorrect, molded plastic doll that I fell in love with in Nineteen-sixty-one. I'm positive his newest look is nothing to worry about. You did say it was his left ear, didn't you?"
Yes, Barbie, it's his left ear and Midge is just being an alarmist. Everyone knows pierced earrings and lavender leatherette don't mean what they used to. Only clip-on earrings and lavender leatherette hold that kind of meaningful allure for men, these days. America's favorite 12-inch boyfriend is just making a harmless fashion statement. Under his new Earring Magic look, he's just as hetero-hunky as ever. Or is he?
Ever since Mattel introduced Earring Magic Ken a few weeks ago, people have been wondering whether there's something more in the Dream House closet than a few Bob Mackie originals and some two-inch-wide hangers. As one mother of two said last week: "Look, he hangs around with women and changes clothes all day. You figure it out."
In recent years, the doll that Erma Bombeck once called "a taller version of Barbie who came wearing a jockstrap and an insincere smile" has been pushing the envelope of macho wardrobe acceptability. Last year, Sun Sensation ken hit the surf in a gold mesh crop top and neon green lycra shorts, perfect for South Beach. Then, Western Stampin' Ken do-si-doed into our lives in black leather-like chaps. Now Earring Magic Ken, who's supposed to look very "Beverly Hills 90210," shows up looking very "West Hollywood 90046." A sideburned boy toy.
Mattel says it's nothing like that.
"Ken's still a clean-cut guy, but he's just a little more contemporary," says Donna Gibbs, director of media relations for Mattel. "His hair—we're calling it streaked blond hair—is a more contemporary style than the side part. Ken changes just like Barbie does, not leading trends, but always right on top of them. Men are wearing earrings today, it's become a phenomenon. So Ken should have an earring, why not?"
"Dolls are a reflection of what's on TV and what's in the movies. They're reflections of our culture," says Richard Herson, a seller of collectibles at the shop called Love Saves the Day. "All little girls have to do is look around on the streets and they'll see a lot of Kens out there."
Especially in the West Village.
"Ken's not gay; everyone knows that. It's GI Joe I'm not sure about," says jewelry designer David Spada, the guy who came up with the Freedom Ring gay pride pendants. "Ken just proves that wearing earrings is a completely acceptable fashion statement today. When I got my ear pierced when I was a kid, my parents almost killed me. But now little boys wear pierced earrings because their parents tell them too."
"It's part of the complete '90s statement. He's moving forward. I'm sure Ken has a great body, too," says the hair colorist to the stars Louis Licari, owner of the Louis Licari Color Group in New York and Beverly Hills. "The faux pas here is that it sounds like Ken used a little too much frost and tip. When men color their hair, it should look kissed by the sun and totally natural." Ken, of course, looks totally plastic.
OK, so the earring is no biggie and the hair color is nothing but overdone, but the lavender vest?
"It just shows that Ken's in tune with his own sexuality. He's not afraid to wear any color," says Tyler Henderson, catalog director at International Male and Underwear, who adds: "He's a faithful customer."
Mattel's reason for the loaded color choice pales in comparison. "Probably so he can match Barbie," Gibbs says. "Ken is a girl's product. Little girls buy it. And, time and again, a little girl's favorite color is pink and the secondary colors are lavender and light blue. Boys don't play with Ken."
They might not play with Rhogit-Rhogit and Zhdrick, either. But that hasn't stopped Billy Boy. The expatriate Barbie chronicler whose book "Barbie: Her Life & Times" is perhaps the definitive ode to the plastic goddess and her friends has introduced a line of limited-edition male dolls in France that really raise the stakes. Rhogit-Rhogit and Shdrick are anatomically correct dolls, based on Paris "nightclubs and the social whirl." They have tattoos, come with condoms, and cost roughly a grand each. The order form says "Basic Stud."
Maybe Ken should meet them.
Philadelphia Daily News
"Bring Ken out of the closet" (April 13th, 1993)
This is the '90s, and Barbie's blue-eyed boy toy isn't the same stud he used to be. Boyfriend's latest incarnation, Earring Magic Ken, doesn't exactly look like a ladies' man, working it in lavender leatherlike vest, lavender mesh muscle shirt and black slim pants (with lavender stitching).
Sure, his silver hoop earring is in his left earlobe, not his right, and he's got macho muscles, but Coming Out Ken—as you might call him—certainly seems gay and proud.
And until President Clinton completes his military maneuver so G.I. Joe can come out too, Coming Out Ken has got a companion in Glitter Beach Ken, who's been out and about for a while now. This surfer dude is an even mo' gay glamour boy in purple sleeveless midriff, hot pink/green/yellow/aqua/purple shorts sprinkled with glitter and sunstreaked hair.
The folks at Mattel maintain that their hunk isn't homosexual. "This is an impression that adults put on toys that children don't. It's an adult reaction." said spokesperson Lisa McKendall. "Ken is Barbie's boyfriend, and has been for 32 years."
Still, if these guy dolls can help keep some young minds free from homophobia, give them two snaps up.
News and Messenger
"His reputation ruined by an innocent earring" (September 6th, 1993)
Being a Barbie collector and a Christian I had to write in response to the letter in Friday's paper. A women [sic] heard on one of the Christian Broadcasts, that Mattel was making a gay Ken. I would like to think they received the wrong information.
If one would take a minute to check the Barbie isle of their favorite store, they will see "sets" of Barbie, her friends and Ken in matching type outfits.
The one referred to on the broadcast was "Earring Magic." Barbie and two of her friends are all dressed in leather looking outfits with earrings and necklaces.
Ken has a purple top with black slacks and a small hoop hearing in one ear—also a necklace with small silver hoop.
Does this make Ken gay?
I've seen lots of guys with an earring or two and some strange outfits. This does not make them gay.
It's a shame rumors have to get started and ruin the reputation of a company or persons or whatever.
I just felt the need to write to defend Mattel and Ken, as they probably have their hands full of angry consumers, and for what?
I think we need to devote our time on things that really reduce the morals of our society.
Roanoke Times
"The best thing Earring Magic Ken could do would be to disappear" Ben Beagle (March 15th, 1993)
Those of you who care about the Ken doll should be appalled to learn of the latest degradation he has endured to please barbie.
I felt like taking my bed when Newsday recently revealed that Mattel has introduced Earring Magic ken. My God. He wears an earring and a lavender-colored leatherette vest!
Don't let anybody kid you. Ken got into that weird outfit just to satisfy some kinky idea Barbie has of what he ought to look like.
You can hear it now:
Ken, baby, you can hit that road unless you stop being so straight. Look at you. You're wearing Rockport loafers, for Pete's sake. That won't do, Jack."
"You mean?"
"Right, baby. Get an earring and leatherette vest, and we'll talk."
You have to ask yourself if Ken hasn't had enough of this kind of treatment and how much more he can take before he does something we will all regret.
If I had the money, I'd form a company that would manufacture a female doll that wouldn't want Ken to be somebody he isn't and love him for what he is.
She'd love him when he wore rock-washed blue jeans, Reeboks, and a much-launder T-shirt that said "Ohio State" on the front.
I'd name her Martha. She'd be the kind of girl who drives a 3-year-old Hyundai and goes to see her parents every Sunday. None of that Alfa Romeo stuff for her.
I'd like to see the day when Ken meets Martha at church picnic, tears off his earring and decides to ditch Barbie.
There she is sitting around in one of those sheer outfits and feeling like she's he Queen of Sheba, and in comes Ken wearing his "Ohio State" T-shirt.
"Get out of here, you grubby person," she says. "Some of my crowd might see you like that."
"Yeah, well," says Ken. "give this earring to some of your crowd. I've met a real person who likes me for what I am.
"No more drinking myself crazy about you, boopsie. No more of those weird outfits I wore when I was Sun Sensation Ken or Western Stampin' Ken. I'm through with mesh tops and Lyca shorts and leather chaps.
"Go ahead, you little worm," Barbie says. "You'll be back in a week begging me to take you back."
In your ear, toots," Ken says. "Take off your pancake makeup some time and get a good look at yourself."
It won't happen, of course, because I don't have money for my Martha doll.
I don't know what further humiliation ies ahead for Ken—although it's hard to imagine anything worse than wearing a lavender leatherette vest.
Bradenton Herald
"Barbie prefers MR. MACHO; Ken, what (or who) caused you to look this way?" Katie Pursell (March 31st, 1999)
Oh, Ken you scamp!
I know it's been tough over the years, being Barbie's main squeeze with nothing much to do but dress in goofball outfits and always having bad hair days, but really, this latest episode is quite distressing.
EARING MAGIC KEN?!!!
Pleeeeaaaase.
Frankly my dear, I do care because you look so darn ridiculous decked out in that lavender mesh shirt and matching faux leather vest. And that hair! Wow, pardner.
There must be some bad, bad people at Mattel. That freeze dried, two-tone 'do of yours is enough to look forward to the day when you go bald.
What could those toy people have been thinking? I know, they were sitting around a big table, talking in toy terms ("So, Stan, do you think the DEMONSLAYER/DRAGON/NINJA whirlygig should spit green gunk or just twirl on his tippy toes?") when some brilliant type decided, "Hey, let's make Ken the ultimate hipster!"
They delivered, Ken, boy did they deliver.
The sad part of this unseemly episode is that Barbie is lookin' elsewhere, kid, for some male companionship in the hunkster category.
And she didn't have to look far, what with the strapping, brawny buck from "Rapid Deployment Force" muscling his way in on your turf.
You know the guy, the one dressed in Desert Storm sand fatigues, with the rippling chest and pecs who isn't flashing his pearly whites in some moronic way like you are?
Mr. Macho wouldn't be caught dead in lavender. Stomping about in lace-up boots and sporting a machine gun, this guy means business. And he's got some tough-looking buddies to back him up. They've got the scowling department cornered.
So when Barbie sashayed over to say, "Hi ya honey, just call me Babs," you were history, Ken, ancient times.
But cheer up. There's this mermaid lady I want you to meet, and Ken, she just loves lavender.
Times Recorder
Let's give Christmas a politically correct label; David Ball (December 2nd, 1993)
I'm not typing out this entire article, fuck that shit. Here's a better one from the Lincoln Star.
"PC is Velcro label, it sticks to everything" unsigned editorial (December 22nd, 1993)
Politically correct was the language originally used to describe those (particularly in academic circles) who put the First Amendment guarantee of free speech secondary to honest, open and sometimes disagreeable discourse about issues.
So politically correct was used to mock the "thought police" who monitored the language for all insensitivities.
In the beginning political correctness was linked solely to liberal leanings. Pro-whale, anti-meat, ban the bomb were all politically correct.
But politically correct has moved beyond liberal. It has become the ubiquitous label for anything that anyone else finds disagreeable.
It's everywhere. The phrase appeared in three separate stories in a single issue of the staid Wall Street Journal this month.
Sometimes politically correct is associated with mainstream, majority attitudes.
Joycelyn Elder's suggestion that we might want to study the ramifications of legalizing drugs has a liberal tinge. But her statement was described as being politically incorrect—because she disagreed with the mainstream attitudes on drug legalization.
Sometimes politically correct is used to label a politician's desire to avoid controversy. The senator who decries the deficit and disavows high taxes is described as politically correct.
For state agency heads being politically correct right now means making certain they don't say something the Republicans could use in the pending government.
Sometimes the politically correct designation is used to disparage simple politeness.
Some words are best left out of polite conversation because they are odious to many. The F word being one. The N word being another. Avoiding those kinds of words is being polite, by most folks' definition.
But some folks have been ridiculed as being politically correct for suggesting that using racial epithets is not good manners.
So we come full circle.
A word used to condemn the word police of the left has degenerated into a two-word silencer of any discussion at all.
The scream of politically correct has become a substitute for discussion about our differences in attitudes and philosophies.
Politically correct covers everything and means nothing.
It's the mother of all labels.
It's the whine of our times.
Let's throw it out with the old year.
Daily American Republic
Barbie's Life Takes An Abrupt Change; Linda Redeffer (November 7th, 1993)
"It had to happen," Chlorine said. "I've suspected it for years."
When Chlorine read that Mattel was marketing an "Earring Magic Ken,"—Barbie's friend, who is now being perceived as gay—she began crowing "I-knew-its" with the regularity of a Metamucil junkie.
"Now you know the story behind Barbie's Dream House," Chlorine chortled. "Ken decorated it."
Whether or not Mattel intended it that way, Earring Magic Ken is a gay stereotype; he wears a lavender mesh shirt with matching jacket, an earring and a ring around his neck. Reportedly, gay men on the West Coast are buying these Ken dolls and displaying them like they were fine art.
It does make one wonder. For 30 years Barbie and Ken have been paired together like burritos and Maalox. But you never heard of Barbie complaining to Ken that her biological clock was ticking, and he was going to fish or cut bait.
"You also never heard of Barbie counting days on the calendar and going into a panic," Chlorine said. "If nothing else, these two are abstinence's best endorsement."
Barbie and Ken's relationship has always been a little unreal. What future could they possibly have together?
"Can you really imagine Ken with a briefcase and a minivan with a faulty muffler coming home to Barbie in a pair of sweats and a clogged-up sink? Or Barbie as a mommy?" Chlorine said. "There's no glamour in it. Children's television would go belly-up if the commercial's were changed to: 'Be the first on your block to get Barbie's Brat. Diapers, spit-up towels, strained banana on bibs—all sold separately.'"
I wouldn't buy it. No more than I can imagine Barbie with stretch marks, swollen ankles and wearing one of those maternity jump suits that makes every pregnant woman look like a beach ball.
According to Chlorine, Barbie and Ken were doomed from the beginning to be no more than "just friends." When you're selling fantasy, things get a little muddled after happily ever after. It's the hunt that sells; not the catch. That's what Mattel never could overcome: after Barbie lands Ken, then what? There would by only TV sitcoms left for little girls to use to imagine what adulthood is really like.
"Look in any toy department," Chlorine said. "You have Barbie with her fluffy blonde hair and her improbable figure. She shops where the well-dressed hooker buys her clothes. Barbie has never been to college, but she's a doctor, an astronaut, a fashion model, and a saloon keeper."
A what?
"Well, she had her own disco. She drives a corvette; you don't see her in a six-year-old Toyota with a basket full of dirty dry-cleaning in the trunk. She has a motor home and a dream home, but she never has to stretch a secretary's salary or hustle for tips.
"But—scoot down the aisle for a bit and what else do you find for little girls to play with? Toy kitchens, little washers and dryers, mini-ironing boards, mops and brooms and tiny bottles of Lysol. Which tells little girls they can be a drudge, or they can be like Barbie."
That's scary. Where's the male equivalent in all this?
"Well, there's Ken," Chlorine said. "He's cute, but for 30 years he's been about as bright as a stump. All he did was surf and hang out with Barbie. Now they tell us he's coming out of the closet.
"Little boys' action figures—heaven forbid you call them dolls—are super macho, half-human, half-robot and they have few moveable parts—a lot like a bureaucrat. You got Rambo, Batman, Superman, Robo-Cop—but not an accountant or mechanic in the bunch. None of these action figures coach little league, change a flat tire or push a lawn mower around the yard."
That reminds me. Whatever happened to GI Joe?
"Don't ask; don't tell."
Him too? You think maybe he and Ken...?
"He's laying low. The U.N. troops aren't scoring well anywhere they go right now. So the hero factor is diminished some. If he musters out, gets a job as the manager of a fast-food restaurant, settles down and gets involved in the PTA, who'd buy him?
"But what I can't figure out," Chlorine went on, "is if Ken is coming out of the closet, and GI Joe is trying to keep out of sight until his commission is up; and if that's all Barbie has to choose from so she's leading the party life—where did all those ugly Cabbage Patch Kids come from?
Gallup/Knight Ridder Tribune
Changing opinion on gays, Judy Treible (January 29th, 1993)
National polls show Americans are divided over gay and lesbian issues, but attitudes have changed in the past 10 years.
- Should homosexuality be considered an acceptable alternative lifestyle?
1982: 34% yes, 51% no
1992: 38% yes, 57% no - Should homosexual relationships between consenting adults be legal?
1982: 45% yes, 39% no
1992: 48% yes, 44% no - Should homosexuals have equal rights in terms of job opportunities?
1982: 45% yes, 39% no
1992: 48% yes, 44% no - Homosexuals should be hired for these occupations.
- Salesperson
'82: 70% yes
'92: 82% yes - Armed Forces
'82: 52% yes
'92: 57% yes - Doctors
'82: 50% yes
'92: 53% yes - high school teachers
'82: Not available
'92: 47% yes - Clergy
'82: 38% yes
'92: 43% yes - Elementary teachers
'82: 32% yes
'92: 41% yes
A survey of 1,002 adults with a margin of error of 3%.
SOURCE: Gallup Polls
The Wall Street Journal
Later, Barbie; new Ken hits big with gay men(August 31st, 1993)
After years of playing second fiddle to Barbie, Ken is coming into his own as a doll that makes dollars for Mattel Inc.
But not any old Ken. It's Earring Magic Ken—a new model that sports and earring, faux-leather vest, lavender mesh shirt with rolled up sleeves, black pants and two-tone hairdo.
And it isn't only girls and their parents who are buying. It's also gay men.
Interest in the doll first spread in February, after the Gay Advocate did a blurb on Ken's wardrobe. Since then, buying the doll has become an opportunity for some gay men to tweak the sensibilities of those with more conventional views of gender and toys.
"How much more middle American can you get than Barbie?" asks Randy Snyder, a member of Gays and Lesbians Against Discrimination. It's like "a pariah setting foor in one of America's sanctuaries," adds Dennis McNult, a San Francisco-area resident.
"A couple of years ago there was Desert Storm Ken in khaki fatigues, and as soon as he heard President Clinton was going to lift the ban on gays in the military he came out as Earring Magic," jokes Rick Garcia, a gay lobbyist in Chicago. He says that the doll's outfit—right down to the two-tone hair—evokes a hot gay fashion of the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Stores around the country report thinning stocks of the doll. And at F.A.O. Schwarz in Chicago, there's a waiting list. "We'll put you down with the other guys," a store clerk told a recent caller.
Because of the demand, some retailers in San Francisco are marking up the Earring Magic Ken to $17-$24 apiece. Earring Magic Barbie usually sells for $11.
At Kiddie World Toys in Capitola, there has not been "yelling and screaming for Earring Magic Ken," said Karen Stagnaro. assistant manager of the store. Sales of the earring Barbies "are just like that of other kinds here," she said.
Kmart stores locally reported they are not carrying the doll.
Mattel denies making the doll for gay men. Its aim is to "produce wholesome and fun products for young girls," says spokeswoman Donna Gibbs. "Men wearing earrings have become more of a mainstream phenomenon." But Gibbs adds that "everybody loves Barbie, and we're pleased that gay men are finding something to enjoy in our products as well."
At least on the record, the doll hasn't been a topic of conversation in Baltimore, where some 600 Barbie collectors are holding a convention. "Earring Magic Ken isn't one of my favorites," says Mark Ouelette, the convention's chairman. "Me opinion is that Earring Magic Ken looks great with Barbie, and that's who he should be with."
Modesto Bee
"The Ken Controversy" Rusty Coats (September 24th, 1993)
The band will not play on for Earring Magic Ken, the Barbie beau who boogied into toy stores wearing a lavender vest, mesh shirt, silver earring and chrome-ring necklace.
Spin doctors at Mattel Inc. gave him three months. Tops.
Not because he didn't sell.
"At this point, he's running "neck-and-neck with Hollywood Hair Barbie, our biggest seller," said Gary Jockers, manager at FAO Schwarz in San Francisco. Nearby, Skipper steers a plastic yacht and fountains gargle 3,000 Barbie high heels (Size: .005).
"Our flagship store in New York sold out for a while. We only have a few left."
So why would savvy toymaker Mattel give this moneymaking Ken the bum's rush? One guess: "We're not selling to kids," Jockers said. "Mostly we sell him to gay men."
Born in February, Earring Magic Ken instantly caused a stir. The stoic squarehead now resembled a rave-party boy-toy. Mattel called him "a big breakthrough," referring to the earring. But the pendant attracted the most attention, particularly from gays. The chrome ring, they pointed out, is a common sight in gay clubs. Usually sold in sexual-aid stores, men wear the ring elsewhere to maintain an erection.
Mattel called it a charm necklace. Even Chevy Chase knew better.
Since then, Earring Magic Ken received more ink than Barbie could sail. Last year's Talking Barbie—who voiced the bimbo stereotype "Math is tough!"—is a minor flap in comparison, so Mattel pulled the plug.
Mattel spokeswoman Lisa McKendall, throughout the year, has maintained Earring Magic Ken "is still clean-cut" and that he was designed to be modern, not gay. This week, she said his demise has nothing to do with his alleged sexual preference.
"We change 98 percent of the product line every year," she said. Dolls are minor part of a product line that includes every Barbie accessory, from bikinis to Corvettes. "We've done it that way for 30 years. The reason Barbie and Ken remain popular is because we update them to keen them trendy and cool."
Maybe that's it. Two years ago, Mattel introduced a rugged Desert Storm Ken for the war, and now has the gays-in-the-military substitute.
G.I. Joe's new motto: "Don't ask, don't tell."
Some say Ken only follows a national trend away from stiff gender models, joining the likes of Madonna and "The Crying Game." Gay writers called him "Queer Ken" and hailed him as a sign that gays were finally accepted enough to be toys for "breeders."
But Earring Magic Ken, if he is gay, isn't the first. That would be Gay Bob, who hit toy stores in the 1970s in tight plaid pants and brown turtleneck, but was soon drummed from the shelves.
According to doll collectors, Gay Bob is now worth $300.
Earring Magic Ken doesn't have to wair 20 years. McKendall said China has shipped its last earringed stud. And Ken, who sells for $10.99, now fetches at least twice that in some stores.
"We could charge anything," Jockers said. "and we'd still sell out of them. The controversy certainly hasn't hurt."
But while staring at Ken's various personalities—Western Stampin' Ken (in leather chaps), Glitter Beach Ken (in neon surfer duds), Hollywood Hair Ken (with stars in his hair), and My First Ken (in ballet tights)—"controversy" isn't a word that comes to mind.
Earring Magic Ken just looks like one of the Village People, one who refuses to die quietly.
Cincinnati Post
"Some say newest Ken doll matches gay stereotype" Mary Jo DiLonardo(October 18th, 1993)
Is Ken coming out of the closet in Barbie's Dream House?
One of the newest incarnations of Barbie's beau sports an earring, a lavender best and two-tone hair. Because some say he fits the stereotypical gay image, Earring Magic Ken is flying off the shelves into the arms of gay consumers.
"I personally find it kind of amusing," said local gay and lesbian activist Greg Gajus. "A lot of gay men collect Barbie dolls and here's an opportunity to sell the quote 'gay' Ken doll to gays."
Though many gays say the similarities are obvious, a spokeswoman for Mattel, makers of Ken for more than 30 years, denies that the new Ken is being marketed towards gays.
"Absolutely not," said Lisa McKendall of the Los Angeles-based company. "This is a wholesome product designed for little girls."
In fact, the folks at Mattel were quite surprised, Ms. Kendall said.
"We design our products to appeal to little girls. That's why we choose those clothes and colors," she said. "If here are other people that enjoy our products, that's fine, but it's not our intent."
At least one toy store owner refuses to sell the bejeweled Ken, reported People magazine.
Earring Magic Ken is "just further proof that gay and lesbian culture has permeated the mainstream," said Gajus.
"When I go up to UC, for example, I see students wearing the kinds of clothes, haircuts and earrings that gay men were wearing years ago," he said, comparing it to the whole interest in vogueing—a style of dancing that includes model-like posing—that surfaced a few years ago.
"There were these drag queen gangs in New York City who had these balls and danced in a way called vogueing," he said. "After they did it for a few years, Madonna made a song about it and now in every nightclub around the country straight kids are vogueing."
Richmond Times Dispatch
"Some men think he's a real doll; is Barbie's beau out of the closet?" Bonnie Newman Stanley, October 22nd, 1993
Clothes make the man.
Or do they sometimes make him something other than intended?
Take a man dressed in a lavender faux leather vest with matching mesh T-shirt, a stud earring in the left ear, a medallion around the neck, and two-toned hair.
What do you have?
A stereotypical gay male. Or, more specifically, a gay Ken doll, according to People magazine, that arbiter of news you can't always use.
The magazine apparently decided that Barbie's longtime beau is gay based on the outfit he wears as part of the Magic Earring Barbie line. Says People with an attribution to no one: "A lot of gay men think he's made just for them, causing a run on Ken at toy stores."
A check at two Richmond-area toy stores didn't support the theory. David Garrett, manager of Toys 'R' Us on Quioccason Road in Henrico County, said records showed just eight purchases of Earring Magic Ken since the dolls arrived in stores two or three months ago.
Ditto, said a manager at the Midlothian Turnpike store in South Side, who asked that her name not be published.
A number of "gay" Ken dolls sold at the two stores: 16.
(A manager for the Regency Square Kay Bee Toy & Hobby Shop said company policy would not allow him to comment. Attempts to reach a spokesman at company headquarters in Pittsfield, Mass. were unsuccessful.)
Dana Gibbs, a spokeswoman for Mattel, maker of the doll, said the El Segundo, Calif.-based company has noticed "no noticeable increase" in sales of the $11 Ken.
Explaining Ken's getup, Gibbs said the earring is intended as a "fun and wholesome product."
"We did not set out to create a gay stereotype doll," said Gibbs. "When our designers decided to give him an earring, it's because wearing one had become a mainstream phenomenon."
Alicia Herr, publisher of "Our Own Community Press," a lesbian/gay newspaper circulated throughout the state, was amused and delighted at the prospect of a gay Ken doll.
"I can honestly say I don't know a soul that owns a Ken doll, but I could see that gay community doing just that (buying the dolls) and rising to the occasion just because there were no dolls or books or anything for my generation," said Herr. "If it's funny and campy, we'll do it."
Chris Burnside, chairman of the Department of Dance and Choreography at Virginia Commonwealth University and a vocal member of the gay community, said he'd heard about the doll and "how the outfit made it seem he was gay."
Like Herr, he was buoyed by the thought.
"I think it's great if there are gay dolls," said Burnside. "I think anything that can be a part of the process of acceptance and assimilation is great. But I'm not a doll collector, so I wouldn't know. I mean, how would you know?"
Anchorage Daily News
"Barbie, the social barometer" Kim Severson, December 3rd, 1993
She and all her plastic pals deserve their own category, if only because they consistently reflect a changing social landscape.
The most controversial doll on the shelves this year is Gay Ken. Actually, the doll is called Earring Magic Ken. But some gay men claim the doll—with earring, highlighted hair, and a fake leather lavender vest and a necklace—looks like a spoof of dated gay male fashion.
Although gay men across the country are snapping up Ken, a Mattel Inc. spokeswoman said the doll is designed to be a fun wholesome toy for young girls. Toys "r" Us carries Earring Magic Ken, but Hlavaty said he would rather not talk about it on the record.
Gay Ken doesn't sell particularly well in Alaska. What does sell are Kens and Barbies dressed in military garb—including Marine Corp. Barbie, complete with a very non-military blond 'do.
But perhaps the most surreal addition to the line is My Size Barbie, a towering 3 feet of molded plastic with blond hair, complete with three outfits your child can share with the doll. In this way, the child actually BECOMES Barbie. And parents pay $139.99 for the transformation.
Newsday
"1993: Don We Now Our Gay Agenda" Frank DeCaro (December 21st, 1993)
Has this been a way gay year or what?
We Marched on Washington. We lusted after k.d. lang. We soared with "Angels in America." We sat glued to our sets during the gay Super Bowl—"Gypsy"—and stayed home nights reading "Queer in America" and "Conduct Unbecoming." We made miniature kilts for our Earring Magic Ken dolls, ran off to "Orlando," got "Very" into Pet Shop Boys. And, no matter how hard we tried to resist, we fell in love with RuPaul again and again and again. Being "out" was never as "in" as it has been in 1993. Thank God. Thank Martina Navratilova. Thank you.
- Thanks to poet Maya Angelou for saying the G-word as the world watched bill Clinton's inauguration. You reminded everyone who ever felt disenfranchised—straight, gay or in-between—that they were Americans, too.
- To every man, woman and child who grabbed a rainbow flag, pink triangle pin or MY DAUGHTER CAME OUT OF THE CLOSET AND ALL I GOT WAS THIS LOUSY T-SHIRT t-shirt and hauled butt to Washington, D.C., for the march to end all marches in April. If you missed it, you missed history. But don't worry, there'll be more. If you were there, tell your children.
- To RuPaul Andre Charles, drag queen deluxe. For "Supermodel" and "Strudelmodel." For going "Back to My Roots" and making "Little Drummer Boy" uniquely his own. "I am a poor boy, too..." was never so pregnant with meaning. And, to Elton John, the cuddly-cute inspiration for a generation of flamboyant ear-sighted men, for asking Ru to be his partner on a disco duet version of "Don't Go Breaking My Heart." It's the gayest remake since Andy Bell and k.d. lang redid "Enough is Enough," and the queeniest rock video ever. May it top the charts in 1994. Cheers, too, to Nirvana and Lemonheads and all the other homo-friendly straight musicians who preach tolerance over the feedback to their smart, young audiences. As RuPaul would say, "Everybody say 'Love'!"
- To Boy George, for "The Crying Game" theme, for the compilation CD "At Worst...The Best of Boy George and Culture Club" and for writing in the liner notes, "thanks to my parents for making me the twisted confused queen I am today."
- To Tony Kushner, the wisest playwright in these parts, for taking us from "Millennium Approaches" to "Perestroika." For giving us all the hope of fabulousness and glorious wings to ride on with "Angels in America." More Tony. More Tonies.
- To Paul Rudnick, the wittiest openly gay writer America's got, for making us laugh with "Jeffrey" and howl through "Addams Family Values," his "Revenge of the Nerds" for the all-black clothes set. Wednesday was never more fun.
- To Howard Crabtree, for making a big "Whoop De Doo!"
- To Melissa Etheridge, for coming out and not making a big whoop-de-doo.
- To Vanity Fair for that k.d. lang cover with Cindy Crawford, because every rock star should have their own model. To New York magazine for their "Lesbian Chic" cover, because everyone deserves to be the flavor of the month at least once.
- To the New York Times Magazine for its "Whatever Happened to AIDS?" cover story. Jeffrey Schmalz, wherever you are, we owe you a big one. We'll miss you.
- To Sandra Bernhard, Kate Clinton, Lea Delaria, Frank Maya, Planet Q, Pomo Afro Homos, Scott Thompson, and all the other openly gay and lesbian comics who are making sure their voices and ours are finally being heard. Thanks for telling the truth. Without you, we'd all still be quoting Paul Lynde and screaming "Butcha Are Blanche!"—as fun as those things are...
- To Mattel, for Earring Magic Ken—the only doll with genital-enhancing jewelry and nowhere to wear it. Who do we thank for sneaking this through imaging control.
- To Comedy Central, for showing "Out There." To HBO, for its little-screen version of "And the Band Played ON." To PBS, for "In the Life," and, in advance, for "Tales of the City."
- To everyone who made "Frank's Place" a Tuesday habit. Thanks for making it, if nothing else, the most widely faxed gay column in Chelsea. A big kiss to anyone who ever stuck it on their refrigerator—my favorite place to hang—and, especially, to the man who wrote to say that the column gave him the courage to come out. "Before that," he wrote, "I'd only told 1,000 of my closest friends."