As many of you heard, Mattel had allowed internet voting to get help in choosing Barbie’s next career. The choice was announced: the girls wanted Barbie to be a news anchor. But that’s not the end of the story…
Wait, I can wear *that* to work? Thanks, Mattel, for making my difficult career path into technology look like I just chose the wrong outfit.
UPDATE: I’m a realist about the fact that a Geek Barbie does encourage young girls raised on Disney Princesses to consider a tech career — I can live with it being tragically absurd yet effective. But I won’t downplay my outrage that a Barbie-certified stamp on the industry includes no mention of women who’ve fought sexism in technology to a place where Geek Barbie is a possibility. Nor that they gloss over how a ‘cute’ Geek Barbie image will play into sublimated sexism and general immaturity. The sad fact is I need to stay outraged until the sheer volume of Princess-era girls embrace technology and change for the better simply because they think it is.
