Barbie and Her ‘Career’
Barbie as computer software engineer has been creating quite a controversy. I’ve read about it in the Wall Street Journal and heard about it on NPR.
Apparently Barbie has an annual career theme! Who knew? Even more astounding, an organized effort among female computer geeks hijacked the voting for Barbie’s annual career choice. They wanted to project an image of their career as glamorous, and Barbie became their vehicle.
In contrast, little girls overwhelmingly voted for Barbie as broadcast journalist. Been there, done both. Little girls were right. If you’re going to dress a doll for a career, journalist certainly delivers better wardrobe options.
As a former designer of software systems and a current user of the same, I can tell you that clothes don’t make the geek. Clothes don’t make the journalist, either; but since the latter appears in public regularly, clothes are far more important. Geeks often work in isolation; day to day wardrobe choices are irrelevant.
But do clothes constitute the glamour of either profession??? Journalism of any ilk is exciting; a combination of research and writing — on any and every aspect of the universe — cannot fail to be a fascinating career choice. Exploring the intricacies of software, too, is a challenging piece of mental stimulation. How can you not be excited about solving new puzzles every day? In binary, no less. Both careers could fall into the category of ‘do what you love’, with no help from a miniature icon fashionista needed.
Barbie as anything more than a fashionista strikes me as uncompelling. She’s a dress-up doll, for goodness sake, created to be clothed, accessorized and then retooled in another outfit. If she needs a career in order to completely accessorize, more power to her marketers. Giving her meaning above her true meaning in order to give young girls a role model strikes me as icing on a sports car. Not relative.