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A lot of Barbie's different careers seem to reflect an attempt to keep current with the times on the part of Mattel. In the 1980s, when movies like 9 to 5 are coming out and foregrounding this idea of women acquiring more influence in white-collar environments, we get Barbie in a pink kind of power suit. You know, as a sign of “You can't put this hyper-feminine pressure onto me as a woman.” Which, again, I do understand even if Mattel would say, “Well, you could be anything,” that's the whole point. The Totally Hair Ken Doll from 1991 was the epitome of everything that the '90s was. Bright neon colors with windbreakers and baggy pants and it even includes the signature '90s guy hair, of course. It is the Totally Hair Ken Doll, after all. If you look at the video, they're dressed in this very 1950s, all-American, clean cut garb. They're getting married; they end up at the aisle.
As we know, Ken takes his job, "beach," very seriously. So, there's no reason he shouldn't be a representative of the most well-known beach area in the country — Malibu, California. As ruler of the sea, he's adorned with rose-gold colored armor, a shell-encrusted breastplate and regal head adornments. 8. Ken Doll (Mexico) Tamkin: It's Day to Night Barbie, so she has a pink suit and she can wear it to the office and then she can wear it out on the town.
But, it was quite soon after. I think Ken's from ’61 and Barbie's from 1959. So really, right on the heels of Barbie we do get Ken.
Yeah, I mean, it's only appropriate that our conversation about Ken should start with Barbie because, as we say, he only makes sense relative to her. And even the name—you know, Barbie is invented in the 1950s.In the film, Ken is obsessed with horses, but that fascination began in 1982 with his Horse Lovin' persona. What do you think Mattel might have been responding to circa 1993 to give Ken such a dramatically different new look? And as one person I spoke to for the piece said to me, often what the children imagine is far beyond what you could read on the side of the box, which I think is true. But there's a gender dynamic there. This very stereotypically feminine-looking doll, breaking the mold of what people think women and girls can do. And I think they gave an interview, the various people involved in this movie, where they basically said, like, “He only exists when she looks at him.” You know what I mean? Like, Ken is only relevant insofar as he has Barbie's attention, or insofar as he's connected to her. So I think that they're really playing up that dynamic.
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