You are right about that, Aaron. But don't discount the cleverness of kids. My kids were very "creative" with their doll play. Ha. But, absolutely, parents are so scared of their kids growing up gay, that they mess up the little minds at a very young age. There are more and more gay children's books being written and getting out there. Pinkbooks.com is a good site, and even Amazon.com and .ca have a section for GLBT youth books, small section, yes, but growing all the time. Of course, not all the books might be any good, but I guess one would have to spend some time figuring that out. One book that recently made the news is "King and King".

I say we take the warning labels off everything and let nature take it's course.

it does not start with Ken & Barbie, homophobia was around long before these plastic toys were introduced.  They are just a trigger for your sister's fears, they are not a cause of homophobia.  I would say religious texts have a much greater role in the development of homophobic attitudes.  People who come from strong religious backgrounds often have trouble accepting gays, they do not question what they were taught as kids going to church.  In the USA and to a lesser extent Canada, religion still plays an important role in people's lives and the development of their attitudes.

Mercifully I do not come from a religious family (my dad was atheist), and they accepted me for who I am, they did not try and "convert" me to heterosexuality.

I had the opportunity to play with Barbie dolls when I was kid, I didn't because I was bored silly with anything to do with traditional female games.  Why play with Barbie when I could be smashing my toy cars together?

Cheers

JBE

Here's a song by a group called The Negro Problem, from their album Joys & Concerns, that perhaps will make you feel better knowing what Ken really thinks of all this:

“Ken”

My name is Ken
And I like men
But the people at Mattel
The home that I call hell
are somewhat bothered by my queer proclivities
It's safe to say that they are really pissed at me

They always stick me
with Barbie
But I want them to know
I prefer GI Joe
But any able bodied man-doll will surely do
Just someone to love, since I am not set up to screw

It's available on Amazon. :)

All joking aside though. My feeling is that like an open sore, Barbie and Ken are a symptom that helps facilitate the spread of the problem, but they are not the fundamental and virulent disease.

Interesting band name.

>_>

I agree that the lack of representation of homosexuals is a problem that greatly contributes to the general homophobia and heteronormativity of our society. I find it so much easier to talk to my son about homosexuality when there are examples from the media. "You remember how Willow and Tara were iboth girls, and they were in love with each other?" is a huge help in presenting homosexuality without problematizing it. It's very sad that there are so few examples of gay men in media that are appropriate for a kid to watch, but when he gets a few years older, I'm passing him my copy of Magic's Pawn.

Unfortunately, there's not much you can do about parents who step in and lay down heterosexual norms as "the right way."  

to start their own toy company.  The first product?  Two male gay versions of Ken. How about Justin and Jason, or Michael and David?

Cheers

JBE

My mom let me play with dolls as a kid.  And really Barbie is just the worlds most successful drag queen.

"You will make all kinds of mistakes; but as long as you are generous and true and also fierce you cannot hurt the world or even seriously distress her. She was meant to be wooed and won by youth. " Churchill