Kenneth Sean Carson is a

fashion doll Fashion dolls are dolls primarily designed to be dressed to reflect fashion trends. They are manufactured both as toys for children to play with and as collectibles for adults. The dolls are usually modeled after teen girls or adult women, though ...

and fictional character invented by

Elliot Handler Elliot Handler (April 9, 1916 – July 21, 2011) was an American inventor, businessman, and co-founder of Mattel. With his wife, Ruth Handler, he developed some of the biggest-selling toys in American history, including Barbie, Chatty Cathy ...

and introduced by American toy company

Mattel Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company founded in January 1945 and headquartered in El Segundo, California. The company has presence in 35 countries and territories and sells products in more ...

in 1961 as the counterpart of

Barbie Barbie is a fashion doll manufactured by American toy company Mattel, Inc. and launched on March 9, 1959. American businesswoman Ruth Handler is credited with the creation of the doll using a German doll called Bild Lilli as her inspiration. ...

, who was introduced two years earlier. Ken was named after Kenneth Handler, son of Barbie creator/inventor

Ruth Handler Ruth Marianna Handler ( Mosko; November 4, 1916 – April 27, 2002) was an American businesswoman and inventor. Best known for inventing the Barbie doll in 1959, she served as the first president of toy manufacturer Mattel, Inc., which she co- ...

, just as Barbie was named after her daughter. Ken Handler died in 1994 of a brain tumor. Similar to Barbie, Ken is from Willows,

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

and has a fashionable line of clothing and accessories (although he made his debut wearing only a swimsuit). In the Barbie

mythos Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrati ...

, Ken met Barbie on the set of a TV commercial and is her boyfriend, per promotional box inscriptions from his debut until 2018. Currently, he is perceived as one of Barbie's main friends. Since his debut, Ken has held over 40 occupations; the latest being a

marine biologist Marine biology is the scientific study of the biology of marine life, organisms in the sea. Given that in biology many scientific classification, phyla, family (biology), families and genera have some species that live in the sea and others th ...

, as depicted in the 2017

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

film '' Barbie: Dolphin Magic''.

Overview

Superstar Ken

From 1961 to the debut of Superstar Ken in 1977, Ken had straight arms that didn't bend. His head could only turn left and right. Ken's hair was made of

felt Felt is a textile material that is produced by matting, condensing and pressing fibers together. Felt can be made of natural fibers such as wool or animal fur, or from synthetic fibers such as petroleum-based acrylic or acrylonitrile or wood ...

in his first year (known to collectors as the "

flocked Flocking is the process of depositing many small fiber particles (called flock) onto a surface. It can also refer to the texture produced by the process, or to any material used primarily for its flocked surface. Flocking of an article can be per ...

" hair Ken), but this was replaced with a plastic, molded hairstyle when the creators realized that the felt hair fell off when wet. Superstar Ken featured a dimpled smile, a head that could swivel, bent arms, a more muscular physique, jewelry, and underwear permanently molded to his body. The woman who made the Ken doll made it to resemble her husband.

Ken's Friends

Ken's best friend, Allan Sherwood (Midge's boyfriend, later husband), was introduced in 1964. The first African American male doll, Brad, was introduced in 1968, as the boyfriend of Barbie's African American friend, Christie, who was introduced in 1967.

Earring Magic Ken

In 1993, Earring Magic Ken was released. The style of the doll was thought to resemble fashions and accessories worn by some segments of the

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

community at the time, and "Earring Magic Ken" subsequently attained a cult following, becoming a collector's item.

Breakup and rekindling with Barbie

In February 2004, Mattel announced a split for Ken and Barbie, with Russell Arons, vice president of marketing at Mattel, saying that Barbie and Ken "feel it's time to spend some quality time – apart...Like other celebrity couples, their Hollywood romance has come to an end", though Arons indicated that the duo would "remain friends". In February 2006 however, a revamped version of the Ken doll was launched, though it was stated that his relationship with Barbie was still purely platonic. In 2011, Mattel launched a massive campaign for Ken to win Barbie's affections back. The pair officially reunited on

Valentine's Day Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring one or two early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine and, throu ...

2011.

Sugar Daddy Ken

In October 2009, Mattel announced a new ''Palm Beach'' line which included a "Sugar's Daddy Ken" doll aimed for adult collectors. The said line officially debuted in the spring of 2010. The line proved to be controversial, because of Ken's suggestive-sounding name. The doll had a more mature appearance and came with a

West Highland Terrier The West Highland White Terrier, commonly known as the Westie, is a breed of dog from Scotland with a distinctive white harsh coat with a somewhat soft white undercoat. It is a medium-sized terrier, although with longer legs than other Scott ...

puppy. Mattel defended the doll's name, saying that the puppy's name is "Sugar", thus making Ken "Sugar's Daddy". In 2011, Mattel introduced Japan Ken, the first Ken doll to be included in the "Dolls of the World" collection, which was formerly a Barbie-only line. The Japan Ken doll features a new face sculpt.

New Looks

In 2021, Mattel announced 15 new looks for Ken. This included looks with different skin tones, body shapes and hair styles. Barbie underwent a similar makeover in 2020. Outside of this change, Ken hasn't changed much since he was introduced 56+ years ago.

Careers

Astronaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally r ...

(clothing pack 1965) * Banker (playset 1995) *

Barista A barista (; ; from the Italian/Spanish for "bartender") is a person, usually a coffeehouse employee, who prepares and serves espresso-based coffee drinks. Etymology and inflection The word ''barista'' comes from Italian where it means a male ...

(2019) * Baseball player (clothing pack 1991) * Basketball player (clothing pack 2021) * Boxer (clothing pack 1963) * Businessman (clothing pack 1992) * Cameraman (playset 1987) * Coach (clothing pack 1992) * Country Western singer (1999) * Cowboy (Venezuela-exclusive ''Llanero'' 1989) * Dancer (2011) * Dentist (2020) * Doctor (1987, 1988, clothing pack 1992, 1998, 2010, 2012) * Dog trainer (2020) * Drum major (clothing pack 1964) * Farmer (2019) * Fashion model (2003) * Film art director (2003) * Firefighter (2010, 2019) * Football player (clothing pack 1992) * Golfer (clothing pack 2019) * Hamburger chef (clothing pack 2020) * Movie star (1977, 1988) * Ice skater (1990) * Lifeguard (1995, 2019) * Nurse (clothing pack 2021) * Olympic athlete (Venezuela-exclusive 1988) * Olympic figure skater (1997) * Olympic hockey player (clothing pack 1975) * Olympic skier (1975) * Olympic swimmer (1975) * Photographer (2000) * Pilot (clothing pack 1964, clothing pack 1973, 1990, 2014) * Pizza chef (clothing pack 2019) * Rapper (1992) * Referee (clothing pack 2019) * Reporter (clothing pack 1965, 2015) * Rock star (1987, 1989, clothing pack 1991) * Sailor (clothing pack 1963) * Saxophonist (clothing pack 2020) * Science teacher (clothing pack 2020) * Skier (clothing pack 1963) * Snowboarder (2012) * Soccer player (2019) * Soda fountain worker (clothing pack 1964, 2000) * Spy (2015) * Starfleet engineering officer (1996) * Tennis player (1979) *

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

pilot (clothing pack 1963, 1993) *

United States Air Force Thunderbirds The USAF Air Demonstration Squadron ("Thunderbirds") is the air demonstration squadron of the United States Air Force The Thunderbirds are assigned to the 57th Wing, and are based at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. Created in 1953, the USAF Th ...

pilot (1994) * United States Army officer (clothing pack 1963, 1992) *

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

sergeant (1992) * Wildlife veterinarian (2020)

Criticism

Ken's body proportions have been described as unrealistic by scholarly studies (his chest is estimated to be about 27.5% too large for a representative human male). Unrealistic body proportions in Barbie dolls, including Ken's, have been connected to some

eating disorders An eating disorder is a mental disorder defined by abnormal eating behaviors that negatively affect a person's physical or mental health. Only one eating disorder can be diagnosed at a given time. Types of eating disorders include binge eating ...

in children. Another controversy has also centered around the visibility (or lack of it) of Ken's

male genitalia Male (symbol: ♂) is the sex of an organism that produces the gamete (sex cell) known as sperm, which fuses with the larger female gamete, or ovum, in the process of fertilization. A male organism cannot reproduce sexually without access to a ...

Media/Multimedia Appearances

Ken has starred in various roles not disclosed by Mattel in the Barbie media franchise including the Barbie films, '' Barbie: Life in the Dreamhouse'', ''

Barbie Dreamhouse Adventures ''Barbie Dreamhouse Adventures'', ''Barbie: Dreamhouse Adventures'' or just ''Dreamhouse Adventures'', is a CGI-animated adventure comedy children's streaming television series released between May 3, 2018 and April 12, 2020 on Netflix in the Uni ...

'' and '' Barbie: It Takes Two''. Billy Flanigan appeared as Ken in "Disney’s Magical World of Barbie".

René Dif René Dif (born 17 October 1967) is a Danish musician, singer-songwriter, DJ and actor, best known as the male lead vocalist of the Danish-Norwegian eurodance group Aqua. Biography 1967–1994: Early years and private life Dif was born in Cop ...

appeared as Ken.In the music video

Barbie Girl "Barbie Girl" is a song by Danish-Norwegian dance-pop group Aqua. It was released in April 1997 as the third single from the group's debut studio album, ''Aquarium'' (1997). The song was written by Søren Rasted, Claus Norreen, René Dif, and Le ...

Ken appeared in the ''Toy Story'' films from

Pixar Pixar Animation Studios (commonly known as Pixar () and stylized as P I X A R) is an American computer animation studio known for its critically and commercially successful computer animated feature films. It is based in Emeryville, Californi ...

from ''

Toy Story 2 ''Toy Story 2'' is a 1999 American computer-animated film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. The second installment in the Toy Story (franchise), ''Toy Story'' franchise and the sequel to ''Toy Story'' (1995), it wa ...

'' onward. His vocals in the third film which he appeared in as one of the henchmen of the film's villain,

Lots-O'-Huggin' Bear This is a list of characters from Disney/Pixar's ''Toy Story'' franchise which consists of the animated films ''Toy Story'' (1995), ''Toy Story 2'' (1999), ''Toy Story 3'' (2010) and ''Toy Story 4'' (2019), and ''Lightyear'' (2022). This list also ...

, was provided by

Michael Keaton Michael John Douglas (born September 5, 1951), known professionally as Michael Keaton, is an American actor. He is known for his various comedic and dramatic film roles, including Jack Butler in ''Mr. Mom'' (1983), Betelgeuse in ''Beetlejuice'' ( ...

Lil B Brandon Christopher McCartney (born August 17, 1989), professionally known as Lil B and as his alter ego The BasedGod, is an American rapper. Lil B has recorded both solo and with Bay Area group The Pack. His solo work spans several genres, ...

's 2017 mixtape '' Black Ken'' was named after Ken. In 2019,

Pete Davidson Peter Michael Davidson (born November 16, 1993) is an American comedian and actor. He was a cast member of the NBC late-night sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' (SNL) for eight seasons, running from 2014 to 2022. Davidson's ...

and

Julia Fox Julia Fox (born February 2, 1990) is an Italian-American actress and model. As an actress, she is known for her debut performance in the 2019 film ''Uncut Gems'', for which she was nominated for the Breakthrough Actor Award at the 2019 Gotham ...

were a part of a photo shoot in

Paper Magazine ''Paper'' (also known as ''Paper Mag'') is a New York City-based independent magazine focusing on fashion, popular culture, nightlife, music, art, and film. Initially produced monthly, the magazine eventually became a quarterly publication, and a ...

where Davidson posed as Ken and Fox posed as Barbie. The photo shoot was created for the 'Break the Internet' series of the Magazine which was made popular by

Kim Kardashian Kimberly Noel Kardashian (formerly West; born October 21, 1980) is an American socialite, media personality, and businesswoman. She first gained media attention as a friend and stylist of Paris Hilton, but received wider notice after the sex ...

's popular, "Champagne Incident" portrait.

Names

Ken's

personal name A personal name, or full name, in onomastic terminology also known as prosoponym (from Ancient Greek πρόσωπον / ''prósōpon'' - person, and ὄνομα / ''onoma'' - name), is the set of names by which an individual person is known ...

is Kenneth Sean Carson. His

given name A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from the other members of a group (typically a fa ...

comes from the son of Elliot and Ruth Handler. In the 1960s

Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...

books, his

surname In some cultures, a surname, family name, or last name is the portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family, tribe or community. Practices vary by culture. The family name may be placed at either the start of a person's full name ...

is Carson. According to Mattel, his

middle name In various cultures, a middle name is a portion of a personal name that is written between the person's first given name and their surname. A middle name is often abbreviated and is then called middle initial or just initial. A person may be ...

is Sean.

Bibliography

*"Barbie and Ken: History." Olsen, Eric. ''Blog Critics Magazine'', 15 February 2004. 15 February 2004. *"How do Barbie and Ken Measure Up?" Linda Berg-Cross, Psychotherapy Letter, April 1996, Volume 8, Issue 4, Page 3. *History from Mattel Inc. 2001

References

External links

Keeping Ken
{{Barbie 1960s toys Barbie Doll brands Male characters in advertising Mascots introduced in 1961 Products introduced in 1961 Toy mascots