Is It OK For Guys To Like Barbie Dolls?

Dear Tazi:

Am I sick in the head? I am a 23-year-old man and I love Barbie dolls. I have a collection of Barbie stuff, including the Barbie doll house, and I enjoy dressing Barbie in different outfits based on whatever occasion is occurring. If I am going out to the gym, I will dress Barbie in a leotard and put her in her Barbie gym; at Christmas I decorate her house and put her in a Mrs. Claus outfit. Her attire is always seasonally appropriate – shorts in the summer, long pants in the winter – she even has her own football Tom Brady football jersey for game day! (Yes, I had it specially made).

I grew up the youngest of seven children and am the only boy, so I always ended up playing with my sisters and their stuff and I always liked the idea of Barbie – she’s a beautiful woman who likes all the things I like. I am not gay, and I would never, ever dream of doing anything kinky with my Barbie; I just dream of someday meeting my own real-life Barbie and building the life with her that I have built for Barbie. We would decorate the house for the holidays, go to the gym together, watch football on Sundays…I am a romantic at heart, and want to meet a woman who understands this. Some guys have dogs; I have a Barbie doll.

Signed,

“Ken”

Dear “Ken”:

I find your love of Barbie charming and mildly endearing. I do not think you are sick in the head, but I am hoping that you have not based your ideal woman on Barbie. You do realize that her real-life measurements are impossible to attain? Not to mention that Dream House of hers would cost a few million dollars if it were a real-life mansion! What’s not to love about Barbie? She’s the woman who has everything!

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So long as you are not getting some kind of sick thrill off of playing with Barbie, I see nothing wrong with it. Even though I am a Packers fan, I absolutely love the idea of Barbie wearing Tom Brady jersey and sitting on the arm of your couch watching football with you. Does she have her own Barbie-sized can of Bud Light, too, or would that be taking things a little too far?

I am a firm proponent of toys as gender-neutral; if a boy wants to play with Barbie that’s fine with me! Hopefully, it will teach him to be respectful of women and how to be a good partner! If a girl wants to play with Legos, why shouldn’t she? I know several Engineers who got their start this way! Again, so long as the play is innocent and non-abusive I see nothing wrong with boys playing with Barbie.

I am not sure who gave you the idea that you that you are “sick in the head” for liking Barbie, but they sound like a rather judgmental person. However, you may want to wait until you know someone well enough to let them in on your unorthodox hobby; people have a tendency to assume the worst when something does not fit into their idea of “normal”.

Snuggles,
Tazi

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