CARNAL NATION

Although Ken and Barbie are perhaps America's best-known couple, for decades there has been.... talk about Ken's preferences. Questions, you might say, which have been written off by his masters at Mattel as nothing more than scandalous rumors spread by small-minded people. But the truth is that despite his long-standing relationship with Barbie, there have been moments when Ken has seemed to be closeted as plausibly as Liberace. Take his latest incarnation, for example. Mattel has just announced that they will be releasing the Palm Beach Sugar Daddy Ken doll in April for a mere $81.99. The promotional copy on the sales page, where you can already put in your discounted pre-order, asks customers, "Lookin' for a sugar daddy? Head to Palm Beach with Ken!" 

With Palm Beach Sugar Daddy Ken, it just seems like Mattel isn't even trying any more. Perhaps by calling him "Sugar Daddy," Mattel is trying to shed some light on why Barbie has stayed with him all these years, but frankly, clad in a "dashing jacquard-patterned jacket with a light pink polo shirt and crisp white pants" and leading a small white dog on a pink leash, it seems likely that Ken's eye might be directed more at Skipper than the famous blonde from Malibu. Michael Mahler, at Erie Gay News, writes that "this doll should be sold with Enrique, the hot cabaña boy. Barbie might have fun shopping during the day, but I would lay odds that this Ken ends up at some swanky gay bar. Or a bathhouse."

Despite the attempts of Mattel to keep Ken and Barbie squeaky-clean and at least heterosexual, if not absolutely chaste, this isn't the first time that Ken has showed himself to have a little rainbow in his soul. If anything, Sugar Daddy Ken is still slightly less gay than Earring Magic Ken (known as "Cockring Ken" to his friends), released in 1993. The Earring Magic series was an attempt to make the dolls seem a little "cooler" to the kids of the time. The Ken doll came with clip-on earrings (a first in his wardrobe), two-tone hair, a vest, and most intriguing of all, a necklace with a large metal ring that looked suspiciously like it could be worn elsewhere. Gay men made a run on the doll, and it remains a collector's item. It seems likely that Mattel is hoping to appeal to a similar impulse with Sugar Daddy Ken, especially since he's being sold to the adult collectors market, complete with certificate of authenticity.