Dads & Barbie!

Oh man, I still have tears in my eyes from laughing so hard! Read this article on one dad's experience with accepting Barbie into his daughter's life! It is very interesting & funny. Here is the section I was laughing about:

" Soon another Barbie joined our household, a generous gift from the same family. Then one day my wife brought home Barbie's proverbial mate, Ken. Ken's head promptly broke off. We buttressed ourselves for the inevitable emotional meltdown, but instead our daughter laughed. Ken's head fell off! So we laughed. And behind those transfixed blue eyes and toothy perma-grin, Barbie seemed to be laughing too. Ken is, after all, the ultimate wuss.

From that point on, for whatever reason, Barbie and Ken's head (we lost track of the body) became little more than bath toys. Ken's head bobbed aimlessly in the bubbles or got stuck beneath other toys. We'd swirl the water and play "Where's Ken's Head?" -- a kind of shell game gone horribly wrong. Not long after, Barbie No. 1's head came off, too. After many failed attempts to reattach it, we gave up. And it seemed our daughter did too -- on her Barbie infatuation."

This is sooo funny because that is the big joke in my family with my little niece. Ken's head never stays on. She will be calling for Pappa down the hallway laughing. She laughs telling him Ken's head fell off again. He goes "Again...what are you doing to him." She says, "Nothing, it just falls off 'all by itself'" HA! I'm usually laughing so hard then. I expect Pappa to get the nails, staple gun or even welder out soon! Ha! My niece has had like 14 dolls in bed with her at night! Man! There is Prince Eric & Stefan, the 2 from the Princess & the Pauper, Nutcracker Barbie and then of course all the fashion ones! They manage to know they are suppose to kiss in bed too..hmmm! It is not unlikely to see naked Barbies in the house as well! Ha! Her uncle managed to make sure Barbie was taken care of with the acquisition of the Barbie corvette, bug, swimming pool & house. Heck, this is why Barbie never married Ken...she is taken care of...just let him visit and then go back home like Katherine Hepburn would say! Ha! And I think Grandparents say of grandchildren Ha!

Now "Ken is the Ultimate Wuss" hmm! I'm not sure I thought that when I was little. I will say I had a student once who emailed me all excited about her Love Collage. She wanted to use a Ken doll for it. I thought it was very creative. Come class she did not have a Ken doll...it was G.I. Joe! He had his shirt open & she had wires connected to him with all kinds of adjectives of what she finds desirable in a mate (point of the asgn). We discussed many things in class including the difference between G.I. Joe & Ken. They all yelled Ken was a "Pretty Boy" when I asked. HA! You know...come to think of it...they have MANY Barbie versions & noone has really capitalized on the variety of Ken dolls you can have. I'm sure you can come up with many! Where is Business Tycoon Ken, Mechanic Ken, Officer Ken, Fireman Ken, Fisherman Ken, Dr. Ken, Astronaut Ken, Weight Lifter Ken, and yes, maybe "stay at home Ken!" ;-) It would be really interesting to see which one becomes popular! Which do girls prefer? Hmmm. Sounds like a project for my students for next term!

"Where's Ken's Head?" game is just too funny! Kind of interesting to think about actually! Ha! Quite frankly I have noooo clue where it is! Now this could be funny for Halloween! Ha! Can you imagine a Barbie Horror House....kinda a Freddie or Jason meets Barbie & her friends! Ha! Man I'm giving all these ideas away for free & someone is going to make some money off them. Wait...would this be copyright protected like lyrics then? Hmm.

You know how come noone complains how Ken's image is not bad for men like Barbie is for women? I mean not all men look like the Ken doll? Wait is he an "action figure" or a doll...I get so confused! I mean if G.I. Joe is...maybe that is it...Ken has no action? Do women create an image in their mind about men based on Ken? Hmmm? I mean really the research show they want what they today call the "Leonardo DiCaprio Effect" meaning the baby face or really pretty boy image. Except me...I like more rugged. Not really jock, body builder more outdoors rugged.

Hey check out this this Barbie Hummer Ha! I will add, I think fathers need daughters (& moms sons) to really balance them. I think they learn a great deal about women from their daughters & differently than dating women and from their wife. It makes them a totally different father & man.



My nieces are coming Wed for a week visit...I'm going to talk to them about this & get back to you all! So what do you think?