Barbie won’t be happy about what Ken is doing with Action Man
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Barbie probably won’t be too happy when she finds out what Ken is getting up to with Action Man.
A photographer has created a series of images which show Mattel’s male doll, traditionally depicted as Barbie’s hunky boyfriend, partying behind her back.
Canadian photographer Bruce Dean created the racy photographs – which see Ken attend an all-male pool party, a naked rave, and embarking on trysts with other hunky action figures.
He spoke to Huffington Post about the meaning behind the project, revealing he became interested in queer art and culture after a friend Sam died from AIDS-related illnesses.
The artist explained: “I often use homoerotica to put “gay” in the face of as many people as possible, to normalize and gain acceptance, to be part of the movement that makes two men holding hands just part of the street scene and nothing more.
“I’d hoped to pay homage to what Sam once explained to me was one of many reasons for the bold, brash and fearless drag personas he and his fellow queens would don.
“I hoped that my homoerotica would be as bold, brash and fearless as Sam, the flaming baton twirler in the middle of the ’80s red-neck, Alberta.”
Describing his work as ‘Social commentary-driven Surreal Pop Art Photography’, he added: “I use the popular culture icons like Barbie, Ken and GI Joe, in proper perspective but place them in a context the viewer is unaccustomed to, to create social dialogue, often using humor and/or shock value to draw attention to the image, and therefore the issue.
It definitely wouldn’t the first time someone had questioned Ken’s sexuality.