Does geeky Barbie fit in with reality?
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| Tue, 02-16-2010 - 1:18pm |
Does Barbie's new geeky look fit with reality?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/8517097.stm
Barbie in her tech support finery
Barbie, the toy doll that is a perennial favourite among girls, has been assigned a new career - computer engineer. But how accurate is the glam-looking tech support Barbie compared to real life?
She's got an impressive CV that includes everything from astronaut to racing car driver. But Barbie, the doll best known for her tiny waist and inexplicably high arches, has added another job to the list: computer engineer.
Her new occupation is the result of an online vote hosted by Barbie's makers, Mattel - and the doll itself was unveiled last week at the New York Toy Fair.
The new doll is decked out in black spangled leggings and a lime-green fitted tunic patterned with binary code, worn under a slinky waistcoat, with saddle-stitching detail. The ensemble is topped off with the requisite hot-pink accessories: glasses, watch and shoes. To emphasise her innate "techiness" she carries a pink laptop and sports a Bluetooth headset.
Slouchy jeans
And then there's the trademark lustrous Barbie hair - seemingly untouched by working days spent facing a computer terminal in a stuffy and dry working environment.
So would tech support Barbie fit in among the IT crowd in your office?
It's certainly a catwalk away from the slouchy jeans, T-shirt and trainers look sported by many of the men who dominate the information technology sector.
Web developer and former dotcom employee Rachel Andrew says, in style terms, computing is still a man's, man's, man's world.
"It's very much a young man's industry," says Ms Andrew, now director of Edgeofmyseat.com. "Women find the need to become quite laddish. You try and become very geeky and not particularly feminine."
In her former jobs, she consciously opted for non-descript clothing of jeans and jumper, so as not to draw unwanted attention or pointed comments.
Wedge strutting
In a seemingly unglamorous profession, Barbie's bouffant might also raise an eyebrow or two.
While she appears to be taming her locks with a ponytail caught up in a hot-pink bobble, she still sports a long, glossy fringe swept to one side.
As anyone who works maintaining computers could tell you, Barbie would do well to invest in a hair band. It would keep her signature blonde mane from flowing into her eyes.
"It would be really impractical," Louise Collis, a quality assurance lead engineer, says of the Barbie coiffure. "You spend half the time pulling it back from your face."
Even the shoes are unlikely to be seen on the feet of people who spend half their day crawling under desks or feeding cables through walls. While many of her real-life counterparts would be happy with a pair of comfy trainers, Barbie appears to be strutting about in a pair of pink wedges.
While Barbie's look may be somewhat off the mark, its significance is being lauded by some women in the IT sector.
The doll's message?
"You can still be trendy and work in a geeky environment," says Ms Collis, who describes herself as a Barbie-esque 5'10" blonde.
Women make up less than a quarter of all IT professionals in the UK, and "computer engineer" isn't even a real job title in the industry. "It's a generic title for when we fill out insurance forms," Ms Collis says.
Specs cliche
The broader occupation incorporates everyone from help desk worker to software developer - jobs that don't generally seem to appeal to young girls.
"We want girls to consider as a career, and not be turned off by the image… of a spotty boy sitting in the corner, unable to hold a conversation," says Karen Petrie, a computing lecturer at the University of Dundee. " is someone they aspire to."
Despite Mattel's claims that Barbie "can help inspire a new generation of girls to hone in on their computer skills and become a part of this growing profession", not everyone is convinced.
"As a career, IT probably sounds a bit dull and boring," says Katherine Coombs, a chief information officer. "I don't think the doll's going to change the world. It's when other women are working in IT, not a doll."
But computer professionals do think tech support Barbie could help change the perception of women in the industry, and make girls realise you don't have to eschew makeup and styled hair to work in the computing sector.
Ms Petrie says the the idea of Barbie being a cheerleader for the IT profession has been embraced by women who had never before owned a Barbie in their lives - herself included. And Ms Collis thinks the doll's appeal won't be limited to the pre-teen market - it could become a workplace mascot for female tech support staff.
But while the doll's main objective is busting computer nerd stereotypes, there is one that seems to have slipped through the cracks: those spectacles. An off-the-shelf geek association if ever there was one.
Eileen Brown, who blogs about women and technology, says she has received some "wry" comments about Barbie's new eyewear, along the lines of "o f course she's wearing glasses."
"The only bit Mattel got wrong were the pink glasses," says Ms Brown, a former Microsoft employee and chief executive of Amastra.com.
And for all the accolades surrounding the new doll, there's one constant in the Barbie wardrobe that still rankles - all these years and jobs later, Barbie still wears quite a lot of pink.

Briefcase, pink laptop and comfortable wedges - tech support Barbie's accessories.




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I really think Barbie gets a bad rap, and adults project a lot of their own personal issues onto her. My dd is home sick today. So far, she has painted all her Barbies hair "so they can look like teenagers, instead of mommies." Then, she had her surfer Barbie, running a Hawaiin resort, where Gigi (the Barbie. Gigi is actually a real life,
Given Barbie's womanly
I watched a documentary last night called "Thin". It was originally on HBO. It was about girls with anorexia. Most were in their teens or
I read an interesting article about how we have the first generation of girls whose mothers eat/don't eat because of hunger but are often actively dieting or wanting to diet. Because girls are brought up with that, it strikes them younger and younger (because if the mom is constantly talking about losing weight and how bad it is to be fat, it's bound to affect the girls). And, they're inundated by society, too, which is one of my soap boxes. I don't think we should have a war on obesity. We need a war against unhealthy lifestyles. Obesity can be a symptom but it's not the cause. I think people need to be active and eat well and their body weight will fall where it should be, not where we want it to, necessarily, but where it should be genetically. Not all women are made to be size 2's or look as thin as girls want but we can all exercise and eat better (given no health problems). I think we need to take weight and size out of the equation. My daughter has far too many friends whose mothers have put them on diets. They're not fat--they're healthy and active but they're not thin. And, there are many people who are a normal weight and not healthy, don't work out, don't eat well. A war on obesity is like a war on lung cancer. It doesn't get to the root of the problem nor does it address people without those symptoms. Oops, sorry, I've gone on and on about it but being in the health field, I see too many women who want to be too thin for their body types. And, the sad thing is, as much as I avoid talking about weight but do talk about the importance of exercise and eating fruits and vegetables at home, the other day, I overheard my skinny 11 year old daughter say, "I hate wearing ski pants because they make me look fat." Argh. I don't think, however, that Barbie has anything to do with it. She stopped playing with Barbies years ago.
**One girl was 15 she'd been dieting since she was 8 yrs. old! I thought how sad. :(**
But my daughter was harassed by a slightly older girl about her "fat belly" before she even stared Kindergarten! My dd is a beanpole! We're talking, 50 inches tall, in a size 6x pants, that I have to add trim to the bottom of, to make long enough for her legs, and she still has to wear a belt! This girl is about 3 years older than dd. They were in a circle playing Duck-Duck-Goose. My dd's tummy was pooching out, like anyones will when they are bent forward, and this other girl teased her about it. Dd came home that night and asked if she was fat! First of all, you have to wonder about an 8 yo that needs to point out to a 5 yo, their "fat belly," in a crowd. Then I had to wonder about my dd taking it in enough to come home and ask about it.
We don't watch TV. She is not inundated with what a lot of kids are. I don't have fashion magazines in the house,
Your daughter's swim and dance sound great! I was picky about my daughter's dance studio, too, that there were girls of all sizes in the production and in leading roles. And, the good thing is that my daughter isn't that talented that it'll lead to anything more than a fun after school activity. There are so many great sports out there that are available and most of us who are post-Title 9 can't appreciate it enough.
As this topic goes, how about a sports Barbie, with no make up and hair pulled into a pony tail--complete w/ different sports uniforms.
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