Hitting the wires today is the story of “Sugar Daddy Ken,” the new boyfriend of Barbie manufactured by Mattel. Officially known as Sugar’s Daddy Ken and due in toy stores in 2010, the doll will remind children and adults of the new relationship developing between people and state.
Photo: Sugar’s Daddy Ken
The transformative history of Barbie dolls in the United States mirrors our cultural development in interesting ways. During the early days of the feminist movement when women were first trained in schools not to need men, Barbie went it alone.
Girls were encouraged to dress her up alone, place her in a woman-owned Barbie dollhouse alone, and even drive alone. Barbie was indeed at the forefront of the 1960s women’s suffrage movement.
It was only later that Ken was introduced as our nation’s first metrosexual fantasy male. Having achieved her independence by casting off the yoke of Men, Barbie was free to welcome them back. But not any man would do.
The new perfect male was one who deferred on all things to Barbie herself. He was pretty, kind, and exceedingly un-male, rode shotgun in Barbie’s car, and may have even shacked up in Barbie’s house as our nation’s little girls learned the lessons of our sexual revolution. Welcome blue-eyed Ken.
But what have we become in the Age of Obama? The women’s liberation movement has in many ways been cast backward in time about 50 years by socialist policies. But rather than defer to a specific Man, women are now encouraged to defer to State. The primary emphasis of Barack Obama’s presidency thus far is that women, and indeed all people, should no longer be independently minded. As art imitates life, Sugar Daddy Ken is the manifestation of Sugar Daddy Obama.
From corporate bailouts to Obamacare to cap and trade, little girls today are learning that government is their ultimate provider rather than self-reliance. With Barack Obama as our nation’s sugar daddy, it is no wonder that Mattel created a Sugar Daddy Ken to meet the new market demand.
Sugar Daddy Ken is enigmatic of the cultural challenge we face today under Obama’s socialist programs. Mirroring culture as always, Barbie will no longer be an independent minded woman capable of choosing a car, taking care of her own healthcare needs, and paying her mortgage on that dollhouse.
True, the new scheme is not to defer to the Man in her bed once again, but she is now deferring to a sugar daddy far worse that anyone she knows. Government is the answer. Sugar Daddy Obama is the provider.
Welcome Sugar Daddy Ken to our nation’s interesting cultural development. We can hope that his stay is short. This is an open talk thread where you are encouraged to discuss this topic or anything else on your mind.
Ken Doll Song Video
November 12th, 2009 at 11:53 am
While I see where you’re going with this analysis, the comparison with Ken is misleading. Just an fyi the feminist movement has always been highly critical of Barbie, namely because of her body proportions. The introduction of Sugar Daddy Ken is a much larger reflection of our Pop culture that has long turned into degrading women again. Barbie introduced “Lingerie Barbie” to compete with the Bratz dolls. Both dolls were introduced while Bush was in office. Now I’m not blaming Bush. My point is that this is a huge leap to make with regards to women’s rights. Women in European countries experience more equality with men than in the U.S. and have for some time. It is in Communist countries that women suffer from great inequality. Is it impossible for the U.S. to improve or exceed European expectations in equality with a smaller government? Certainly not. But these facts reflect a more complex issue with women’s rights than what is being presented.
November 12th, 2009 at 12:08 pm
Great post McCain ! The video is hilarious and the way you tied the new Ken Doll to Obama was quite creative !
You are an entertaining man, McCain.
November 12th, 2009 at 12:08 pm
I was so certain the new Ken would have been black and would have strongly resembled Will Smith.
November 12th, 2009 at 12:20 pm
To every lady who believes that socialism cares about women I will suggest to try Soviet Era style lingerer. It is not Barbie like, trust me.
The German Chancellor Angela Merkel gave a shout out to the Western Jeans in her speech in front of the US Congress. It is true. Young girls in Eastern Europe grew up dreaming of a cool pair of jeans instead of the ugly pants that communist system created. If socialism cared about women it would create the Tampax, but no - capitalism made those
November 12th, 2009 at 1:44 pm
“Women in European countries experience more equality with men than in the U.S.”
yeah … equality in their lack of bathing maybe
November 12th, 2009 at 1:45 pm
Haha, normally it bugs me that you guys connect every single thing to Obama, but this one is actually pretty funny.
Of course, Obama is far from the first President to demand we all bow down to the alter of The State. If we expand the idea of “freedom” to include civil as well as financial rights, it’s clear that we’ve been abused by virtually every administration of the 20th and 21st centuries. GW Bush was perhaps the most vociferous defender of centralized coercive government power we’ve ever witnessed.
November 12th, 2009 at 2:54 pm
Eh.
I’d say FDR was the biggest promoter of centralized coercive government.
I doubt the patriot act which Obama only extended after bashing it hardly compares to the coercion put out by the massive government takeovers we saw in the 30s.
And yeah, at this rate this administration has probably broken all previous administations records when it comes to coercing everything from the media to the politicians to the corporations to the people.
It wont be long before every damn aspect of our countries function has been subjected to the coercion of Obama and co.
And thats putting it nicely. I’ve got other words for whats being done.
I’ve been coerced by hotties where succombing was a good thing
November 12th, 2009 at 3:04 pm
micky, it was either fdr or lbj who was the biggest promoter of centralized govt. Tough call.
November 12th, 2009 at 4:10 pm
Lisab,
some european women don’t even have to shave their armpits
how is THAT for equality with men
November 12th, 2009 at 4:11 pm
8- i say fdr, hands down.
November 12th, 2009 at 4:15 pm
If socialism cared about women it would create the Tampax, but no - capitalism made those-elle
great point elle !
in cuba, they are concerned about running out of toilet paper and electricity
is that what americans want for this country ?
i think not !
November 12th, 2009 at 4:17 pm
obama, i would say has even greater ambitions than fdr in terms of big government and socialism.
his goals and ideas make fdr and lbj look like conservatives by comparison.
he is to the left of jimmy carter. his foreign policy is jimmy carter. his domestic agenda is fdr/lbj on steroids
November 12th, 2009 at 4:42 pm
Now Tim, I’d say that’s a good call!
Hi liasb and everyone
November 12th, 2009 at 7:15 pm
Hmmm…..lisab doesn’t use capital letters, occasionally Tim V doesn’t use caps…ah….Naw.
November 12th, 2009 at 7:49 pm
Interesting analysis, hondo. Let’s see, every other month, lisab has 500+ posts; this month, lisab goes on hiatus, and timv has 500+ posts.
November 13th, 2009 at 1:59 am
i kinda got the idea that Tim V really wants the $300 so i decided to bow out this month.
orphans don’t really need the money. they just game the system …
in orphanages … without parents … or food … or clothes … in the ukraine … during one of the coldest winters on record …
i am sure they will be all right
November 13th, 2009 at 2:00 am
seriously, some people seem to be a little angry with me for taking the money so i decided to take a break.
November 13th, 2009 at 4:40 am
lisa, you never “took” the money at all, you gave it away to a very worthwhile charity.
November 13th, 2009 at 4:45 am
Hmmm…..lisab doesn’t use capital letters, occasionally Tim V doesn’t use caps…ah….Naw.-Hondo
Hondo,
If you read my posts, you would indeed notice that I use both lowercase and uppercase letters.
It depends on my MOOD, and my INTENT.
But, I do thank you for the opportunity to respond and make another comment.
And, I also wish to thank my friend Arriba !
Also I wish to thank the academy, my wofe, ohhh wait…wrong dream….and SHAME ON YOU MR PRESIDENT ( me doing Michael Moore )
November 13th, 2009 at 6:19 am
@Mick, Tim V, arriba: Yeah FDR and LBJ are both great candidates without a doubt. We really shouldn’t underestimate the Patriot Act though; it’s an unprecedented systemic violation of personal rights. A hundred years ago, the idea of the government investigating someone’s reading preferences — without that person’s knowledge, of course — would have been considered unthinkable. As would a “list” meant to monitor the traveling habits of certain individuals. These things are now everyday realities that we have no power to resist. In many ways it smacks of codified McCarthyism.
But you’re right Mick: Obama has done absolutely nothing to work at restoring the civil rights we lost in the Patriot Act. If anything, he’s going to make it worse, in his tricky backroom sorta-legal fashion.