Gay barbie doll
Grooms-to-be might make a gay Barbie doll wedding set a reality
An engaged couple based in Scottsdale, Arizona, say they design to meet with toy company Mattel in the hopes of convincing the company to include lgbtq+ couples among their selection of Barbie dolls, according to the Huffington Post.
Matt Jacobi and Nick Caprio wanted to surprise their niece, Natalie, for her eighth birthday. They were looking for a tribute that would get her excited about being a flower girl in their upcoming May 2019 wedding. Matt and Nick decided to buy her a Barbie Wedding Set, they said on Good Morning America, and swap out Barbie for a second Ken doll.
RELATED: HERE’S WHY WE’RE ADDING BARBIE TO OUR HOLIDAY SHOPPING LISTS
“We have a wonderful, loving and compassionate Italian family,” Jacobi tells ABC News. “Everyone is so excited for our enormous day, especially my two nieces. They have been talking about our wedding all year long and have been raised to understand and only comprehend that love is love!”
Matt and Nick gave Natalie her gift and Matt posted a photo to Instagram calling Mattel to make a change to reflect that same-
Let's face it: "Barbie" was going to be lgbtq+. Maybe not gay enough, according to some gays. Maybe too gay, according to anti-gays.
The fact is, this is a feature about Barbie, and wherever Barbie goes, some characteristic queerness will go, too. As a kid, I remember wanting to be Barbie's best gay partner - I imagined we'd have some pretty playfulness sleepovers in her Dreamhouse. I also imagined some pretty fun sleepovers with Ken.
So now that "Barbie" is a splashy, pink-soaked blockbuster, director Greta Gerwig serves up a feminist fantasia in which a diverse group of Barbies, including several played by LGBTQ+ actors, reclaim their world from their Ken-ruling counterparts. As a queer boy led into same-sex attracted adulthood by strong women, I am on board with all that lady power in Gerwig's "Barbie."
I also appreciate that the film, starring Margot Robbie as the leading Barbie and Ryan Gosling as the leading Ken, is full of queer subtext that has sent right-wingers into a anti-queer meltdown because, god forbid, dolls should be for everyone. Fox News reported that a Christian news site "warns" that the movie '"forgets core audience' in favor of trans agenda and gender themes."
Let them have their bigoted
Author's Personal Journey in Collecting
Source: Peter Danzig/Personal Collection
In the world of collecting, passions often run deep and defy conventional expectations. That’s a good thing, or else I don’t deliberate I’d have a profession as a geek therapist and toy analyst. On the other hand, I also wouldn’t have set up a wonderful community of toy collectors worldwide. One such fascination that has intrigued clinicians, theorists, marketing departments, and collectors alike is the affinity that some gay men possess for Barbie dolls. It might seem unconventional or even paradoxical, but a closer and more affirming examination reveals a complex interplay of personal individuality, intersectionality, diversity, cultural alter, and psychological factors.
Nostalgia, Self, and Representation
Let's be clear: No theory can say for a whole population of people. Yet, after 6 years of study, podcast interviews, and consulting for toy companies and innovation departments, one thing is clear: Barbie is for everyone. For many gay men I’ve interviewed or supported in therapy, collecting Barbie dolls represents a celebration of culture and a connection to a formative part of their childhood
How Barbie's Boyfriend Ken Became an Accidental Gay Icon
"He's always read gay," said Dan Savage, internationally celebrated columnist and podcaster, in an email, "but has he ever read gayer than he did with a gay sex toy around his neck?"
Savage originally wrote about Earring Magic Ken in the summer of 1993, when much of the pop customs world was having a good laugh at Mattel's lack of understanding that while little kids saw what Prince, the members of Right Said Fred or Madonna's backup dancers were wearing simply as "cool," the adult planet was clued in to how gay it was.
"It was hilarious that they thought the earring was going to be the headline-making aspect of Ken's new look," said Savage.
The doll flew off the shelves, especially since queer men, including Savage, rushed out to buy a Ken doll. The kitsch factor drove Earring Magic Ken to become the best-selling Ken doll at the time.
We reached out to Mattel for comment multiple times — to find out just how well the doll sold and whether it remains the No. 1 Ken, as well as for the current regime's seize on this piece of corporate history — but they did not send back our requests.
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