Plastic Playthings
Snake Eyes, Blowtorch, Roadblock,
Super Star Ken, Beauty Secrets Barbie
Plastic dolls for kids to accessorize
In cotton casual or evening splendor,
cheerleader or pajama party
With sunglasses, high heels, purse,
helmet, machine gun, flamethrower
You could dress them up
for a day at the beach
or march them off to war
Societal gender expectations
each sold separately
Because dreamhouses and battlegrounds
are not chosen, but assigned
To save little girls from the horrors
of a plastic battleground
and feminism
To save little boys from the horrors
of the kitchen
and nonviolent conflict resolution
Because you have to fight,
but never cook,
“to save the day”
The difference between
Barbies and G.I. Joes was
simply which accessories
you put in their hands
A boy could play with dolls,
we were told,
but only if we didn’t find them beautiful,
only if we pulled the trigger
and used them to kill
You couldn’t put Ken
in khaki shorts and
a Hawaiian shirt
and have him go on vacation
or spend time with his kids
But if you accessorize Ken with
a green shirt and backwards hat,
an itchy trigger finger and an AR-15,
give him a catchy name like
Camouflage Ken
or Killer Kyle
as he rides his Barbie Beach Cruiser
across state lines to kill a couple people,
you’d finally have a toy deemed fit for a boy,
you know, “A Real American Hero”
Everything might be fantastic
when you’re made of plastic,
but when the bullets and bodies are real,
the figures still lie lifeless on the ground
A little boy still playing
with his deadly toys
As white rage and toxic masculinity
turns dreamhouses into nightmares
Written April 23, 2022