Did you play with Barbie dolls?

Growing up, my sister had a couple of Barbie dolls and a Ken doll. I never played with them because I did not want to blow my cover as a "normal" boy. Even home alone, I did not dress up her Barbie's; I preferred to dress up myself ― why waste the opportunity dressing a doll!

I will admit that one time I dressed Ken in one of Barbie's outfits. The transition was not very satisfactory. Sans makeup, Ken looked like a guy in a dress. Even borrowing one of Barbie's wigs did not help.

I did not own any G.I. Joe dolls because Joe came out after I outgrew toys. And even if I was young enough, I am not so sure I would want a G.I. Joe doll ― it was still a "doll" and only girls played with dolls and I did not want to blow my cover and yadda, yadda, yadda.

Times have changed. Boys have been playing with G.I. Joe dolls for a couple of generations.

I think that G.I. Joe was a gateway toy. It made it OK for boys to play with dolls, so I am sure that some boys have been playing with Barbie dolls for a couple of generations, too.

As they say, "What's good for the goose is good for the gander." So along comes a new Moschoni Barbie commercial that includes a boy playing with a Barbie doll.

"Moschino Barbie is so fierce," remarks the little lad as he daintily holds the chain of a Moschino Barbie purse between his thumb and index finger.

All I can say is, "Wow! You go, gurl!"

Wearing Tory Burch.

Steve admires his femulation in a 2015 episode of television's American Dad.

Femulating Ken

When I was a young girly-boy home alone, instead of dressing myself in my mother’s and sister's clothing, for a change of pace I dressed my sister's Ken doll in Barbie's clothes.

Barbie’s clothes sort of fit Ken, but Ken lacked Barbie’s figure and corsetting Ken was ineffective. Also Ken’s feet were stuck in the flat-shoe position, so he could not wear Barbie’s heels. The lack of makeup and a wig all added up to a bad femulation. As a result, I only force-feminized Ken once or twice.

Since then, I have encountered a few Ken femulations on the Internet; some better than others. After I posted one of his better femulation's here on Saturday, Lynn sent me a heads-up about another Ken femulation that is probably the best one I have ever seen.

Barbara Healey went all-out to dress Ken as a Mardi Gras queen. Her creation even wore breast forms and won a first place ribbon and the People's Choice award at the 2005 International Fashion Doll Convention.

And there's more: Barbara's husband agreed to dress as the femulated Ken at the Convention's Mardi Gras Banquet and he won the costume prize at that event!

Good show!

playing with dolls

Yesterday's post "Barbie beats NASCAR" resulted in the following comment from Anonymous, "Boys have been playing with dolls - e.g., G. I Joe."

True, but in my opinion, there is a difference between a boy playing with a G. I. Joe doll and a boy playing with a Barbie doll, i.e., the boy playing with a Barbie probably has all the makings of becoming a girl.

I never played with a G. I. Joe doll because it came out after I stopped playing with toys, however, I did play with my sister's Barbie dolls when no one was watching.

My favorite Barbie outfit was the stewardess uniform. What boy playing with Barbie dolls back then didn't want to be a stewardess when he grew up?

I didn't become a stewardess, but I did become a girl, well sort-of.

thanks

We celebrate Thanksgiving Day on Thursday.

"Traditionally, it is a time to give thanks for the harvest and express gratitude in general," according to Wikipedia.

No harvest here, so I guess I express “gratitude in general.”

Mother and Father are deceased, but I know that they are around in a spirit-in-the-sky kind of way, so I want to thank them for raising a beautiful daughter and not interfering with my feminine ways when I was growing up.

Maybe they could have been a little more encouraging by buying me some dresses to wear around the house (so I wouldn’t have to borrow my sister’s) and buying me some dolls of my very own (so I wouldn’t have to borrow my sister’s). It probably would have made my sister happy, too; I wouldn’t be borrowing her stuff and she would have had a sister to play with.

On the other hand, it could have been a lot worse and they could have forced me to be masculine!

So, thank you Mom and Pop for letting me be me.

still Barbie after all these years

Back when I was a kid, girls played with dolls and boys played with toy soldiers. Only boys like us played with dolls.

To tell you the truth, I do not recall playing with dolls except on one occasion. Home alone and taking a break from crossdressing with Mom's stuff, I got into my sister's doll collection and dressed Ken in a Barbie outfit.

It was an unsatisfying experience because Ken did not wear it well. Ken was made of hard plastic and Barbie's foundation garments could not mold Ken's hard body into a feminine figure (like I was able to use my mother's bra and girdle to mold my own chub-body into a feminine figure featuring a real pair of B-cup breasts... Well, not quite B-cup, but pretty close.)

After that episode, I never bothered crossdressing Ken or playing with Barbie, but Barbie's fashions fascinated me. I wanted to dress like Barbie. And it sure would be nice to look like her, but all the dieting in the world nor the tightest foundation garments in the world would permit me to achieve that status, but a boy can dream, can't he?

Did I ever tell you I'm an Avon saleslady?

I am not very active these days, but I still have a franchise and turn in a new order every two weeks.

Well, in 1998, Avon sold a Barbie Avon representative doll. Her hair and outfit reminded me of the way Nicole Kidman looked in the film To Die For, which is a "look" I felt was definitely worth looking like. I bought one for my daughter and it is around the house somewhere still mint in the box.

So, yesterday, I read on one of the news Web sites that Barbie will celebrate her 50th birthday on March 9, one day after my 58th birthday. (Damn, I wish I looked that good when I was 50!)

So, Happy Birthday, Barbara 'Barbie' Millicent Roberts; you've been an inspiration to femulators everywhere!