Hello World, It's Calexta
Today is Barbie Day and that's just the vehicle I need to talk about one of the most absurd things to ever happen in the world of dolls. I bet a number of you already know this one but if you haven't I'm excited to tell you the tale of Earring Magic Ken.
You can probably guess by the name and the fact I get the extra paragraphs to talk about it that it's a gay thing but it's not because of a left vs right earlobe thing, but it's worse than that. Earring Magic Ken is a classic example of the problems you face when you try to mimic a culture you fundamentally don't understand.
Now back in the early 90's, Mattel had fashion scouts go out to 90's clubs to see how fashion was going on in there, and they made the Earring Magic line based off club fashion. Mattel's mistake was that they lifted a little too directly from the flaming men that were in the club looking for love, and gave Ken a neck accessory that had a utility that went over the heads of both kids and Mattel executives, and wasn't anything Ken actually had the equipment for either, if you know what I'm saying . And even without the inappropriate accessory, Ken looked like he walked right out of the closet, replacing his now apparent lavender relationship with Barbie with lavender fishnets and pleather.
The homosexual men that the doll was inspired by loved Ken in full gayboy mode and enough went out to get their own that it broke sale records for Ken dolls that still hold today. The thing is, once Mattel realized that Ken’s necklace was inappropriate they did recall the doll, but how many people do you think actually returned them?
But to be honest, it's not like Barbie is known for being the straightest doll in the aisle either. Between her CGI films being popular in cartoon watching sapphic circles and Mattel only really saying she wasn't un-attracted to guys when asked if she was bi and it becomes pretty easy to believe that the toy world's favorite everywoman swings both ways. And the part that really matters, is that you can always give your personal Barbie a girlfriend, and even if you lose the dolls, nobody can take that away from you.
I love the Earring Magic Ken outfit so much, partial to lavender but also just the whole style of it. The most unbelievably cool Ken on the market! I found out apparently that some people think Ryan Gosling’s Ken in the upcoming Barbie film looks a lot like Earring Magic Ken in a certain outfit.
I still sometimes wish I could have an Earring Magic Ken doll. Just to scare away the homophobes, y'know? Also because he's an absolute delight with his outfit.