GI Joe

GI Joe is the brand name of a line of dolls meant for boys, which, with the exception of one 4-year period (1978-1982), has been produced and marketed in various manifestations continuously since its creation in 1964 by the toy company Hasbro. This entry will provide a summary overview of GI Joe's history and its connection to successive popular concepts of masculine idealism.

During its more than four decades of existence, GI Joe has undergone many revisions mirroring and reinforcing contemporary changes in conceptions of masculine idealism. GI Joe was first marketed as a lifelike military “action figure.” The use of the term doll, suggestive of toys for girls, was willfully and consciously avoided by Hasbro (although the doll was 12 inches tall, approximately the same size as Mattel's Barbie doll for girls). GI Joe was at first a great commercial success. Sales declined, however, as the Vietnam War grew unpopular. In response, Hasbro toned down GI Joe's militaristic message. In 1969, “GI Joe: America's Fighting Man” became “GI Joe Adventure Teams.” This new bearded GI Joe was presented as an adventurer, rather than a combat soldier. During the 1970s, various other attempts were made to keep GI Joe up to date with popular culture treatments of confident manhood. Sales declined nonetheless, and GI Joe was discontinued in 1978. In 1982, however, the toy line “GI Joe: A Real American Hero” was launched. These GI Joe figures were relatively small (3.75 inches tall) and were designed to rival the then popular Stars Wars action figure toys. This new version of GI Joe was science fiction themed, and somewhat outlandish in comparison with the original. A comic book and a television cartoon show promoted this version, which nonetheless gave way to a reintroduction of the 12-inch version in the mid-1990s. Some of these later GI Joes have been designed to resemble historical (and archetypically masculine) figures such as Dwight D. Eisenhower and Buzz Aldrin.

Although GI Joe's body has been presented primarily as an instrument necessary for the accomplishment of the mission at hand, successive versions of GI Joe have been progressively more muscular. The short-lived “GI Joe Extreme” version in particular is infamous for its unrealistically massive physique. In contrast, GI Joes of all versions have only slight bumps at the crotch to indicate the existence of genitalia.

Overall, women have been poorly integrated into GI Joe's fictitious world. In 1967, a female GI Nurse was introduced and then quickly discontinued for lack of sales. In the mid-nineties, a GI Jane set of action figures was produced, also for a short time.