Barbie's Ken is now sporting a manbun

Only if it comes with beheading sword … What, What??

God, I hate the word “manbun.” We already have the word “topknot.” Also, “manbun” is gender-normative bullshittery. Describe the hairstyle, don’t editorialize on what is an appropriate gender presentation and what isn’t.

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Are you kidding? Hipster douchbag Ken comes with a fliphone and a typewriter to drink his bespoke all organic artisnal latte.

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It takes balls to carry off that look.

Oh.

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Natural-afro Barbie (called “Tropi-Cutie” for some reason) is looking pretty fly.

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Christ, what an asshole.

I sincerely hope this is a sign that man-bun as “fashion” is waning fast. I mean, come on, if a Ken doll has one…

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Why do you call it a “man” bun? Is it somehow different from a bun worn by any other gender?

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Well, it’s… on a man.
Had you not heard the term for this specific hairstyle?

Does hipster Ken come with a latte and an iPhone?

Q: does Barbie come with Ken?

A: Barbie comes with GI Joe. She fakes it with Ken.

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She always goes back to Concert Date Steven.

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Well, it's... on a man.

Then why isn’t there a “woman bun”?

I am quite familiar with the term, I just invite folks to ponder why they think it even exists. Same with “man purse”. Why qualify it like that at all?

The bun haircut, like a purse, has been traditionally associated with women. A woman doesn’t say she’s going to take her “woman purse” because we’re familiar with women carrying purses. A purse designed for a man is a relatively unique item, which is why people specify a “man purse” versus a messenger bag, backpack, etc.

I’m aware you’re just playing with linguistics for fun, but it’s not really necessary.

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Even a man bun is different from a woman bun, and is something that would look completely out of place on a woman.

Same thing with the various bag styles.

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No, not for fun, actually; I’m trying to be thoughtful. You’ll note that when women began wearing trousers, they didn’t start calling them “woman pants”, even though pants cut for women are often quite different than pants cut for men.

Men seem to be terribly afraid of being associated with anything traditionally seen as female, while the converse does not seem generally true, and I think at the root of that is a judgment valuing male over female. I mean, just look at a guy asked to hold his girlfriend’s purse for a moment; they often hold them in an awkward way to make it clear it’s not THEIR handbag.

It was pondering terms like “man bun” and “man purse” that helped me understand how deeply rooted misogyny is in our society. Or at least, how deep rooted it was in myself, and that was an important epiphany for me.

So I don’t use those terms any more, and try to get others to think about why they exist. You might come to different conclusions - you may find all of this obvious, or you may find it ridiculous, but I think it’s something worth some thought.

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Mom jeans

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I take it to be a derogatory assessment of the bun. That is, a manbun is unkempt and/or lazily made, because men don’t put much effort into their appearance. At least that’s what happens when I put my man-hair in a man-bun. But, for sure, there’s a degree of femmephobia going on there.
The term that bugs me way more tho is “guyliner” (which is maybe not even a thing anymore?) Like, it’s definitely the same as any other eyeliner, calm down with the cutesy gender policing.

It’s more like:
Barbie comes with GI Joe
No, Barbie comes with Ken.
No, Barbie is PACKAGED with Ken, but she comes with GI Joe.

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Is it me, or does the wide shot of the various Barbies and Kens look like the promo poster for the next CW show?

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