‘I’ve now accepted who I am’: Brazilian teen gives up on becoming a real life KEN DOLL and takes job on construction job
- Felipe Dias spent the last two years saving up money to undergo plastic surgery so that he could resemble a human Ken doll
- The 18-year-old from São Paulo, Brazil, had planned 42 surgeries before he did some soul searching and figured out there wasn’t a need to look like Ken
- ‘I saw problems in myself that didn’t exist, I don’t see the need for any surgery now,’ Dias said
A Brazilian teenager gave up on his dream of turning himself into a real life Ken doll after coming to the conclusion that there was no need to alter his physical appearance.
Felipe Dias spent two years planning to go under the knife for a total of 42 surgeries required to attain the look of Barbie’s fictional counterpart.
The 18-year-old says he ditched his plastic surgery plan after doing some deep soul searching.
‘I saw problems in myself that didn’t exist, I don’t see the need for any surgery now,’ Dias said, as quoted by Brazilian online news portal G1. ‘I looked myself in the mirror and managed to see myself.’
The teenager is now working in construction to make ends meet.
Felipe Dias, an 18-year-old from Brazil, always dreamed of looking like a human Ken doll. He fell in love with the fictional counterpart to Barbie during his childhood from watching shows of the popular doll with his sisters
Felipe Dias is now working with his uncle and stepfather in the construction business after ditching his dream of altering his facial appearance to look like a human Ken doll
Since the age of 16, Dias had been saving up all the money he came across to cover the cost of the surgeries, despite serious opposition from his mother who eventually relented.
He took a liking to Ken from his younger days when he would sit around with his sisters to watch Barbie shows at their home in the southeastern state of Minas Gerais.
He seriously considered altering his facial characteristics three years ago when he moved to the neighboring state of São Paulo, where he started working jobs in gardening, maintenance and cooking at a street food stand to buy makeup and clothes to resemble Ken.
Felipe Dias spent the last two years working different jobs to round up money to cover the cost of the 42 surgical procedures he would need to look like a human Ken doll
Felipe Dias said he got positive and negative feedback from people he ran into in his town of Peruíbe each time he left his home with makeup on his face as part of his attempt to resemble a Ken doll
Felipe Dias said he no longer wanted to look like a human Ken doll, claiming ‘I saw problems in myself that didn’t exist, I don’t see the need for any surgery now’
‘The first time I looked in the mirror and said, ‘This is my style. This is me. This is what I want for myself,’ Dias told G1 in October 2020.
The obsession to look like Ken was cheered on and frowned upon by many people in his town of Peruíbe.
‘Some even (tried) to destabilize me emotionally,’ he said. ‘I know what I am and I am not what they say. But a lot of people also want to talk and take a picture. I feel very grateful to receive this affection.’
Moving on from his lifelong dream means that he also won’t be able to monetize it through his social media presence.
For now, his main source of income comes from working alongside his uncle and stepfather in the construction business so he can cover his rent after one of his sisters moved to Portugal.
‘With all the difficulty to work and urgently needing a job, I ended up taking advantage of the opportunity they could give me. I already had a slight experience (in the role) so it worked out,’ Dias said.
‘Not only am I proud of my work, but I also like to be on the job.’