New book reveals that Ken wasn't so into Barbie after all

The Barbie empire looms large in the pop culture consciousness of many gays. Some of us played with a sister's or childhood friend's Barbies (it was her turn to pick the game, of course) and even more felt the first twinges of our gaydar thanks to Barbie's boyfriend, Ken ... especially when we met his friend Allan or when he got into wearing purple and started accessorizing:

Ken's friend Allan and the Earring Magic Ken

The new book Toy Monster offers some new revelations about the icon of plastic hunkiness. In addition to exploring the perviness of Barbie's designer, the book also reveals that Ken really was gay ... or, at least, the kid that the Ken doll was named after was gay.

Ken Handler was the son of the head of (Barbie manufacturers) Mattel, who named Barbie and Ken after his two children. Ken, the book reports, grew up to be gay and lived a sadly closeted life, having married and fathered three children. He died in 1994 after living with AIDS and reportedly "grew up embarrassed and humiliated by having an anatomically incorrect boy doll named after him," which adds some tragedy to the discovery that our gaydar can work on inanimate objects.

Additional thought: the original Ken and Barbie were brother and sister? Ew.