Childhood Toys & Poly

MeeraReed

Well-known member
Funny thought:

So, I was cleaning out closets in my parents' house and came across a box of my old Barbie dolls. I suddenly remembered the games I used to play with them as a kid.

I was pretty imaginative and played out elaborate stories with all my toys, involving long-running plot arcs and complex emotional relationships. (I guess that's why I became a writer...)

The Barbies weren't my favorite toys (I preferred toys who lived in castles and rode horses), but relatives kept giving them to me so I ended up with quite a lot of Barbies and a handful of Kens. I decided they all lived in a condominium complex, in a sort of soap opera situation of romantic dalliances, boyfriend-stealing and Ken-swapping.

There was quite a lot of Ken-swapping. But eventually the Barbies managed to work out stable relationships with multiple partners. In particular, I remember a storyline involving three Barbies all secretly dating the same Ken, and then finding out and getting mad at each other, and then becoming friends again and continuing to take turns visiting Ken in his corvette.

So did I have an affinity for ethical non-monogamy as an eight-year-old? Or was I just finding a creative solution to a shortage of Kens???:eek:

Twin surfer Kens dated the same surfer Barbie for a while, too, so it wasn't just about the gender imbalance.

I do know a gay guy whose male action figures married each other long before he knew he was gay himself...

Or maybe the only games you can play with Barbies are romantic soap operas. My brother's GI Joes battled evil from their fortified moon base in the attic, but Barbies can't do much except change outfits (and change Kens).

For the record, I invented clever names (first and last) for each Barbie, and none of them were named Barbie. And they all had distinct personalities and interesting careers. (I think some of the Kens might have been stay-at-home boyfriends).
 
So did I have an affinity for ethical non-monogamy as an eight-year-old? Or was I just finding a creative solution to a shortage of Kens???:eek:

Both I'd say.

Personally, however, my toys and I where more like your brother. Lots of explosions, robots fighting each other, and people fighting for survival in hopeless situations.
 
"So did I have an affinity for ethical non-monogamy as an eight-year-old? Or was I just finding a creative solution to a shortage of Kens???:eek:"

According to a lot of scientific study, the latter isn't so strange. Even in real life, we do a similar thing. When there are more females and lesser males, the females "fight" for dominance, trying to get "their male". and of course the opposite way, but the former is where the first world societies seem to be right now.

Anyways, because of that, it seems that you'll often find the more dominant sex to often try "spread out, equally", the opposite sex.

Of course, as with anything, there are always anomalies.

and your former point is still as valid too. Just having a natural affinity for it. =] Both can work together well.
 
Fascinating story

A very well told and intriguing story, MeeraReed. I wouldn't begin to know what it means, but I'm glad you told it. Wonder what your parents would have thought about your scenarios.
 
Whenever my friends and I got together to play Barbies, somehow my Barbie was always the neighborhood slut. I think it started when I put her red dress on her backwards. See, it had a plunging back... I liked it better the other way around. Sigh, she was always the outcast.

What does that all say about me?
 
Whenever my friends and I got together to play Barbies, somehow my Barbie was always the neighborhood slut. I think it started when I put her red dress on her backwards. See, it had a plunging back... I liked it better the other way around. Sigh, she was always the outcast.

What does that all say about me?

You were a forward thinking fashion designer at a very young age..
 
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