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Image source: Mattel
Toy company Mattel recently released its latest Barbie doll, the "I Can Be a Computer Engineer Barbie Doll" and an accompanying book, now sold on Amazon.
Refinery29 calls the new Barbie "The Most Disappointing Barbie Yet". But why?
Over the years there has been much controversy surrounding Barbie and her limited career aspirations. Often stuck in menial jobs, people felt that Barbie never truly lived up to her potential. Why was she never the lawyer or the doctor, but rather the nurse or the secretary?
For so many years this doll has enforced gender stereotypes. Assuming the role of assistant rather than placing her in the position of power.
I was elated when I first heard that Barbie was given a high-flying job in the tech industry, yet video game developer, Brianna Wu changed my mind very quickly.
She recently compiled a hilarious Storify post of her tweets in response to this new Barbie and its accompanying book. The book basically tells the story of Barbie the computer engineer setting off to create a new computer game.
Yet, as the story unfolds, it seems that Barbie is a tad incompetent and that she's only able to handle one aspect of the game creation: the design.
She actually needs a lot of help from her male co-workers, Steven and Brian, who are then able to turn her designs into an actual playable game. Men to the rescue!
Is this just another sign that society is not yet comfortable with seeing a woman (be it a human, a doll, a fairy or an ogress) running the show?
All images: Mattel
*Update: Toy maker Mattel pulls Barbie computer book off Amazon.
The Computer Engineer Barbie Doll is...
Refinery29 calls the new Barbie "The Most Disappointing Barbie Yet". But why?
Over the years there has been much controversy surrounding Barbie and her limited career aspirations. Often stuck in menial jobs, people felt that Barbie never truly lived up to her potential. Why was she never the lawyer or the doctor, but rather the nurse or the secretary?
For so many years this doll has enforced gender stereotypes. Assuming the role of assistant rather than placing her in the position of power.
I was elated when I first heard that Barbie was given a high-flying job in the tech industry, yet video game developer, Brianna Wu changed my mind very quickly.
She recently compiled a hilarious Storify post of her tweets in response to this new Barbie and its accompanying book. The book basically tells the story of Barbie the computer engineer setting off to create a new computer game.
Yet, as the story unfolds, it seems that Barbie is a tad incompetent and that she's only able to handle one aspect of the game creation: the design.
She actually needs a lot of help from her male co-workers, Steven and Brian, who are then able to turn her designs into an actual playable game. Men to the rescue!
Is this just another sign that society is not yet comfortable with seeing a woman (be it a human, a doll, a fairy or an ogress) running the show?
All images: Mattel
*Update: Toy maker Mattel pulls Barbie computer book off Amazon.
The Computer Engineer Barbie Doll is...
