Newest Barbie not quite like the rest

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (Exponent) - Barbie is still showing off the same fashion sense, but her gender may have changed.

A new Barbie called “The Blonds” Blond Diamond Barbie has been named by the media as the first drag queen Barbie.

The maker of Barbie, Mattel, isn’t marketing the doll with this newly given title, but it isn’t denying the name either.

The assumption that the doll is a drag queen seems to have risen from its resemblance to one of its creators, Phillipe Blond, who is often seen wearing fashions similar to those of the doll.

Jack Spencer, an associate professor of sociology, called this new doll “a fascinating little phenomenon,” but said it may not create as large of a controversy as predicted because it is not being sold in stores.

However, he added that if news of this doll spreads further, he believes conservative family groups will have something to say.

“I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop,” Spencer said. “I think that (these groups) will be afraid that it’s going to provide a different model for what it means to be a boy, that it’s OK to wear a dress and makeup and a wig.”

You can read the rest of this story at the Purdue Exponent website .