What Happened to Barbie?
If you know me well, you probably aren't surprised that I was really into Barbies as a kid. I have often told people that Barbie and Ken are responsible for my love of fashion and pursuit of that as my career. Not too long ago, my best friends and I were group texting about the possibilities of trying to dress like our favorite Barbies (most of my favorites are included in the photo to the left- please note that pink one has GLOW IN THE DARK STARS all up on her dress). We are grown-ass women, texting each other about how to dress like Barbies from the 1980s. She was influential.
And, while my favorites clearly were more based on if the outfit was convertible in some way and whether or not the glowed in the dark, I remember there being a lot of career-themed Barbies, the only ones I remember having were an (iridescent) astronaut and a safari guide, but I remember many other professions being represented, often pretty badass ones.
So, I was pretty bummed when The Bloggess linked to blogger Pamie's post on the current state of Barbie, with a detailed write-up of a book called "Barbie: I Can Be A Computer Engineer"
Sure, it sounds like it would be inspiring for young girls, but if you're at all interested, read Pamie's post to find out why exactly it ends up being sexist, and how Barbie flat out says she needs boys help to make the computer program, proceeds to fuck up many computers, gets the boys to save the day, and then takes credit for fixing the problems she caused AND a computer program she already said she couldn't make without boys. Obviously these books don't need to be awesome literature, but the fact that this got published really has me scratching my head and wondering how much crack someone was smoking. Actually, a book called "Barbie: I Can Be A Crackhead" would be AS good of an idea.
I know that this kind of crap is easy money to be made, but I also know that some thought needs to go into what is being made for children's little impressionable minds. Barbie CAN be a computer engineer. She doesn't need those boys. She can do anything they can do, and she can do it in ridiculously high heels. Sorry, that got a little ranty. Cheer yourself up by watching that old Aqua video for Barbie Girl. THANK YOU, EUROPE.
