Barbie’s boyfriend Ken, the most ubiquitous of male dolls, is notoriously flat and sexless below the belt — so when parents discovered that their children’s male LOL Surprise dolls do, in fact, have genitals, some expressed shock and outrage.
Though the female versions of the dolls, which are manufactured by MGA Entertainment, are smooth down below, the newer boy dolls have distinct penises and testicles.
Since the male dolls debuted last year, several parents have complained on social media that the genitalia is not ‘age appropriate’ and demanded that the brand change the design.
MGA Entertainment added boy dolls to its popular LOL Surprise last yea
Parents have begun discovering that the boy dolls have penises and testicles
Offended: Several have voiced concern on social media, calling the anatomy inappropriate
LOL Surprise dolls are already a bit of a surprise, hence the name: Each one comes inside a sphere and is a mystery until it’s opened.
Unequal: They also point out that the girl dolls aren’t anatomically correct
The dolls had previously been all girls, but last winter, MGA Entertainment added boys to the mix.
And to make abundantly clear that these toys were boys, not girls, the company added a tiny penis and testicles to each one— even though the girl dolls don’t have vaginas.
Parents have expressed anger and disappointment on Facebook and Twitter as they’ve come to discover the genitals, posting close-up pictures of their kids’ toys.
Writing on the LOL Surprise Facebook page, one woman complained: ‘My 5 year old daughter loves your stuff but we were forced into an uncomfortable situation upon opening her newest LOL doll.
‘I had no idea you placed genitals on your male dolls. Not cool. Not age appropriate.
Toys: LOL Surprise dolls are already a bit of a surprise, hence the name: Each one comes inside a sphere and is a mystery until it’s opened
Detailed: But parents have been posting close-up pictures that show the boy dolls have penises and testicles
‘I had no idea you placed genitals on your male dolls. Not cool. Not age appropriate,’ complained one
‘Santa has spent hundreds of dollars on LOL dolls for Christmas and I will be very upset if there are more with genitalia. Please be more considerate.
‘The world forces them to grow up fast enough. Please help us help them stay kids. Parents should be able to have these conversations on their terms when they feel their child is mature enough.’
Another woman griped that she was ‘very upset’ about the genitals for several reasons.
‘For starters, the female dolls just have a hole,’ she wrote. ‘I see no need to make the males anatomically correct, especially when the females are not. It seems sexist, in a way.
‘Furthermore, it stereotypes both boys and girls, because all your girl dolls look like girls and all your boy dolls look like boys,’ she went on.
‘I think this product should be recalled and the genders made neutral, since there is no reason to have anatomically correct in that way. Are your “boy” animal dolls anatomically correct?’
Sounding off: Parents have complained to the brand on Facebook
Another wrote: ‘Very inappropriate for a toy that states ages 3+. We won’t be buying anything LOL again.’
‘Can someone please tell me why the heck my daughters lol suprise doll came with a surprise?’ asked another mother. ‘Am I crazy to think its highly inappropriate to put a penis and testicles on my daughters toy. I am so extremely p***ed.’
Over on Twitter, more complaints have poured in.
‘You really put the “Surprise” in LOL Surprise when you put a whole penis and balls on the male LOL doll my poor, innocent little niece got. Thanks for that awkward and unnecessary conversation,’ chastised another aunt.
DailyMail.com has reached out to MGA Entertainment for comment.
Debate over what is appropriate genitalia for a male doll has existed for years, and plagued the early development of Mattel’s Ken doll, according to Jezebel.
Taken aback: Others have taken to Twitter to complain and demand the company make changes
According to the 2009 book Barbie and Ruth, Barbie inventor Ruth Handler wanted Ken to have a bulge, but didn’t think an actual penis would be appropriate.
During development, the team came up with three mockups for the Ken doll: One was completely flat, one had a slightly rounded crotch, and the the third had a full bulge.
‘The men — especially one of the vice presidents — were terribly embarrassed,” Barbie clothing designer Charlotte Johnson told M.G. Lord’s for the 1994 book Forever Barbie: The Unauthorized Biography of a Real Doll.
The team settled on the medium-bulge doll, but that bulge shrunk into almost nothing during manufacturing, when it was determined that giving Ken that endowment would cost a cent more.
‘They decided it was better for Mattel if he was neutered, and that was the end of it,’ the Marvin Barab, the director of marketing research for Mattel from 1959 to 1965, said in the book Barbie and Ruth.