May 10, 1999
I believe any sexual problems my generation of women might have can be
attributed to Mattel. When Barbie was introduced it wasn't long before
she had to have a reason to dress up in all those pretty clothes.
GI Joe wasn't invented yet, and although I'm quite sure Barbie, equipped
with all that eye liner could have handle a man in uniform, Mattel created
Barbie a permanent date, boyfriend and groom. They named him Ken.
Now this wasn't a problem. Ken was nice looking with his painted
on crew cut. BUT what Mattel did to his crotch warped thousands
of naive little girls. I can remember blushing severely when I changed
Ken in to his swim suit. When I was quite alone, I examined him closely.
That lump left a whole lot to the imagination. Then we
put our Barbies away and faced adolescence. I wonder how many girls
were shocked when the real thing was unveiled in real life. "OMG!
He looks nothing like Ken!"