I love Ken

As a kid I was never big on playing with Barbie dolls, although I was given Barbie dolls for several Christmases, until I started asking for books and art supplies instead. I just never knew what to do with her - the entire point of Barbie was to dress her in outfits and that seemed to be it. I was not inspired. I preferred Japanese anime like Kimba the White Lion and Astroboy - but they didn't make Kimba or Astroboy dolls at that time.

And I don't think I ever owned a Ken doll. But I loved Ken in Toy Story 3 a few years ago, in part because of the scene where, at Barbie's request, he has a little fashion show for her, strutting around in outfits from his vast collection. I think there's nothing sexier than a man displaying his masculine beauty for a woman he cares about. There's still far too much underlying hostility in American culture to any man who makes an effort to look good, although it will no doubt fade as the strict dichotomy of patriarchy fades and we no longer have men as the sexual consumers, and women as the sexually consumed, or women = decorative and men = utilitarian. It's about time that heterosexual men stepped up to give something nice for women to look at, and that includes wearing cute outfits.