Ray DeForest: Those Wonderful Toys

By Ray DeForest, TTP: Mr. Perfect!

I rushed down to Union Square on Wednesday once I knew that “he” was waiting! He would have a new orange top on and his build would be better than ever! I was excited thinking that I would finally have him to hold in my hands. I knew I would look him over many times and compare him to those who came before! I pushed my way past the many others that were waiting and there he was. His face was kind but stern; he had a smile I had not seen before! I felt like a child standing before him in all his majesty. My new Aquaman action figure had arrived in the store and I had to have him for my collection!

I love toys. Even at, ahem, 51 years old, I have to have them. My collection of Aquaman action figures is a bit obsessive and it continues to grow.

Last Monday, The Advocate reported that a complaint was filed against “Toys ‘R’ Us” by a group of sixth graders in Sweden.  The complaint, filed with the Reklamombudsmannen, a self-regulatory agency that polices marketing and advertising in Sweden, agreed with the complainants, who say that the retailer’s 2008 Christmas catalog featured “outdated gender roles” and that the catalog portrays children’s games and toy selection in a narrow-minded way.

When I was a child, I would play “war” with my sister.  She always grabbed my biggest soldiers, but I always managed to get the “Barbie” getaway car! My soldiers raced around in a fashionable convertible while her soldiers had to use one of my trucks. We would set up the “King of the Hill” mountain in the middle of the hallway and our role-playing would begin.  We would sit and play for hours. Sometimes I would get distracted and my soldiers would need a quick zip around in that fab aqua convertible, but my sister would remind me we were fighting for the “hill”! Those were great times. We had so much fun (although I still think she cheated now and then while I was busy with my convertible driving!)

I played with all the “right” toys as a child… soldiers, trucks, action figures, robots and even the occasional Barbie convertible! I never liked dolls. They seemed too fussy to me with all that hair and those strings you pulled to make them talk!  And you had to take good care of them. My mom would take my sisters dolls to the “doll hospital” to get them “healed”. My god did that place give me the creeps!

To be honest, I wonder if seeing a boy on TV playing with Barbie or dressing in a Disney Princess dress would have changed my mind about what I wanted to play with. The thing I do believe very strongly in, is that if a girl wants to play with a Transformers action figure and her brother wants to play with a Hello Kitty, they should be allowed.  Gender confusion is a very hot topic these days with gay youth.  Many places like the Hetrick-Martin Institute deal with this important issue daily and provide workshops and counseling to the kids to help them deal with this very subject.

Everyone who knows me, knows that I blur the lines on occasion and will walk my walk in a stiletto, or a work boot, depending on how I feel that day. I know I am male through and through, but I do like the occasional wiggle in my walk! I embrace being different on many levels and when I see someone just being who they want to be, I love it!  I go out of my way to congratulate those who choose a different path. They provide the world with color and excitement.

My new Aquaman is perfect, and as I place him on the shelf next to my Mr. Incredible, I wonder…when I turn the lights out, will they hop into the Barbie car and go for a ride and let the wind blow through their perfectly quaffed locks? I hope so….

Hugs and Love!