It looks like Ken’s come out of the closet, but he’s still thinking inside the box.
It’s not uncommon for my teaching colleagues at Keene State to leave boxes of graded papers and projects outside their offices for students to pick up after the semester’s over. It’s a little bit less common, though, for instructors to leave cross-dressing Ken dolls alongside piles of graded papers, but to each her or his own.
Several of the instructors whose offices neighbor mine teach in the Women’s Studies program, so a cross-dressing Ken doll decked out in faded jeans, a girly camisole, and a fabulous beaded handbag might very well represent some student’s final project on gender roles, children’s toys, and popular culture. Or, maybe one of my teaching colleagues simply likes to play with cross-dressing Ken dolls. At Keene State, we tolerate a diversity of toy preferences, so there’s nothing wrong with that.
I do feel a bit sorry for Ken, though. Now that it’s summer, he should be vacationing in Provincetown with the guys at Romeo’s Holiday rather than being stuck in a box in Keene.
Hoarded Ordinaries 
Jul 8, 2008 at 10:17 pm
For a one-eyed wanderer you do see all sides, don’t you?
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Jul 9, 2008 at 6:24 am
That’s very funny. Yes, poor Ken looks like he’s pining for P-town.
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Jul 9, 2008 at 4:10 pm
I’m now thinking I need to bring a cross-dressing Ken to class sometime just to see what kind of discussion it might inspire.
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Jul 10, 2008 at 9:10 am
I’m imagining that Ken is barefoot. It’s really the only way to bring that look together!
Came from Magazine Man’s blog….glad I did.
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Jul 10, 2008 at 10:57 am
You know, this morning (before reading Lynn’s comment) I took a closer look at Ken to see what kind of footwear he’s wearing, and he sadly is wearing men’s sneakers, not something absolutely fabulous. But then again, with those big, flat feet of his, he’d never fit into any of Barbie’s pumps.
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Jul 10, 2008 at 12:24 pm
Ah, we all knew about Ken and his proclivities!
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Jul 10, 2008 at 2:06 pm
Damn! Sneakers? Damn! I once saw, travelling on a bus in central London very very early in the morning, a hugely hunky rumpled man in a gorgeous rumpled cream linen suit and on his feet… flipflops with a hyoooooj pink plastic flower. I had absolutely placed those shoes on Ken’s feet. Sneakers? Damn!!
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Jul 10, 2008 at 4:51 pm
This reminds me that when I was out walking after the rainstorm last evening I crossed paths with a guy who appeared to be walking home from his office job barefoot and carrying his shoes. But now I’m thinking they may have been Birkenstocks anyway. We are but mile or so from Cambridge after all.
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Jul 21, 2008 at 6:38 am
Having recenty “met” your blog, I have particularly been enjoying your quirky pictures. I have also been taking pics of unusual things that I spot along the roadside, although not with the same quality of camera, and hence, results. Looking forward to more. Good luck in your search for more.
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