In a Barbie world: Why it’s time to give Ken his due - Hindustan Times
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In a Barbie world: Why it’s time to give Ken his due

Oct 08, 2022 01:14 PM IST

He’s remained a steady, loyal, supportive boyfriend for more than 60 years. What’s his story? How has it evolved? And what’s the dark twist in the Barbie film due out in 2023?

Sweet, lovely Ken. The plastic Mattel toy, Barbie’s boyfriend, has existed on the fringes of our imagination since 1961. Barbie had already been on the market for two years, but in Ken, she found more than company.

Ryan Gosling plays Ken in the Greta Gerwig film due out next year. ‘Ken’s got no money, he’s got no job, he’s got no car, he’s got no house. He’s going through some stuff,” the actor says. PREMIUM
Ryan Gosling plays Ken in the Greta Gerwig film due out next year. ‘Ken’s got no money, he’s got no job, he’s got no car, he’s got no house. He’s going through some stuff,” the actor says.

“My whole philosophy of Barbie was that through the doll, the little girl could be anything she wanted to be,” Barbie creator Ruth Handler writes, in her 1994 biography, Dream Doll. “Barbie always represented the fact that a woman has choices.” Consider Barbie’s many careers; she’s been a doctor, rapper, US President, firefighter, judge, astronaut and more. Ken’s been at her side throughout, never threatened or resentful. He’s normalised the idea of a woman storming ahead.

There’s more to Ken than a blank smile. His life’s ups and downs may not make it to the 2023 Barbie film, in which Ryan Gosling plays Ken to Margot Robbie’s titular character. But the time is right to reach out and shake his plastic hand.

He’s officially a senior citizen. The Ken doll has been in production for 61 years. Since co-creators Ruth and Elliot Handler named Barbie after their daughter, Barbara, when the male companion doll was launched following customer demand, they went with a shortened version of their son’s name, Kenneth. The first Barbie-Ken pair wore only swimsuits; Mattel sold the story that the two met while shooting a TV ad.

He’s no sponge. While Barbie has typically been more successful in the workplace, Ken has a hefty resume too. He and Barbie were astronauts in the 1960s, he was an Olympic skier in the ’70s, a cameraman in the ’80s, and in the last five years, he’s been a marine biologist, a barista and a saxophonist.

Like Barbie, Ken has had a range of careers, personas, characteristics and ethnicities. (Mattel)
Like Barbie, Ken has had a range of careers, personas, characteristics and ethnicities. (Mattel)

In 1993 he accidentally became an LGBTQ+ icon. Earring Magic Ken, with blonde highlights, a lavender-mesh muscle T-shirt, pleather vest and removable stud in his left ear, was meant to appeal to a new generation of girls. He ended up looking like the gay stereotype of the time. Collectors and gay men snapped up the doll. It remains the best-selling Ken doll in history.

He’s always been loyal. Barbie and Ken have been dating since 1961. In 2004, Mattel announced that they were breaking up. “Like other celebrity couples, their Hollywood romance has come to an end,” said Russell Arons, Mattel’s vice-president of marketing at the time. They split with dignity, and single Ken even had a makeover in 2006, with a muscular, less-boyish look. By 2011, Mattel had engineered a make-up; the two got back together on Valentine’s Day. And while Barbie has appeared as a bride in several markets (including in India), Ken remains most successful as the steady boyfriend.

He’s a real-life inspiration. In 2011, Mattel celebrated Ken’s 50th year on the market with an eight-part web series, Genuine Ken: The Search for the Great American Boyfriend. Buff, clean-cut, young men competed to present themselves as ideal companions for the modern woman. The challenges included cooking, surfing, decorating and entertaining. The final challenge: putting together a romantic gesture for an imaginary Barbie, with a budget of $500. One contestant, a 25-year-old football player named Kurtis Taylor, gave each judge a penny and donated the rest to charity. He won.

Mattel has lately released differently abled avatars too. There’s a Barbie with a hearing aid and another with a prosthetic limb. In 2021, Mattel released Wheelchair Ken. (Shutterstock)
Mattel has lately released differently abled avatars too. There’s a Barbie with a hearing aid and another with a prosthetic limb. In 2021, Mattel released Wheelchair Ken. (Shutterstock)

Ken stands for diversity. A 2017 range of dolls featured Kens with cornrows, Kens with Asian features, and more realistic (but still fit) body types. Last year’s looks included a wider range of skin tones and ethnicities. Last month’s launch (which featured a Barbie with a hearing aid, and another with a prosthetic limb) included models of Ken with vitiligo.

Even Ryan Gosling believes there’s more to him. The Barbie movie, directed by Greta Gerwig and out next year, promises a contemporary take on the Barbie-Ken relationship. Gosling has said that when he was offered the role, he stepped out into his backyard to think about it. He found a toy Ken, belonging to one of his daughters, “face down in the mud next to a squished lemon”. He took a picture and sent it to Gerwig, confirming his acceptance. “I shall be your Ken,” he texted her. “For this story must be told”. Images from sets so far show Gosling bleached-blonde, shirtless, in an open denim jacket, against a neon-pink set. “Ken’s got no money, he’s got no job, he’s got no car, he’s got no house. He’s going through some stuff,” Gosling told Variety in July. That’s not the Ken we know.

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  • ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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    Rachel Lopez is a a writer and editor with the Hindustan Times. She has worked with the Times Group, Time Out and Vogue and has a special interest in city history, culture, etymology and internet and society.

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