Computer Engineer Barbie

With Barbie becoming a big brand in India, it can be said that computer
engineer Barbie will have an impact

Barbies next avatar is going to be a computer engineer. This is the first
time in the dolls fifty year history. The avatar was voted by people worldwide
and not the company. Several people, a majority of them being women engineers,
campaigned for the new avatar. I voted for it along with many others. Barbie has
already had 124 professions and this is the first career which was chosen by the
people. Why should this matter to you? Two reasons: Firstly, according to The
101 Most Influential People Who Never Lived by Dan Karlan, Allan Lazar, Jeremy
Salter, Barbie outranks James Bond, Batman and Superman! According to Mattel,
three Barbie dolls are sold every second worldwide. Secondly, in 1992, Teen Talk
Barbie was programmed to say the phrase, Maths class is tough which influenced
many girls and led to criticism from the American Association of University
Women. Mattel removed the phrase and offered to exchange any doll that said it.
Today, computer engineer Barbie is likely to sport binary code on her dress,
making maths cool again.

But, will it have an impact on getting more girls into IT? I did an impromptu
worldwide poll of people. The result was divided. While on one side, people
claimed that the computer engineer Barbie will have a tremendous impact on
getting more women into the IT sector; other people disagreed saying that this
avatar wont have any effect or social impact. Let us consider the arguments put
forth on both the sides.

Yes!

Those who claim it will have an impact, say that it will do so by breaking
stereotypes and change social conditioning in general. What the movie Legally
Blonde did for breaking stereotypes of the image of a blonde women as dumb,
beauty obsessed and stupid; one hopes that computer engineer Barbie would do the
same for the young girls worldwide as far as computer engineering is concerned.
Many hoped that it would show that what a woman techie does is equally important
as what a male techie does. It would also help young girls become curious about
the profession.

A business marketing communications specialist based in Canada says,
Barbies professional interests are always in step with the zeitgeist, so I can
only applaud the marketeers at Mattel for this latest incarnation. I think shes
already been an astronaut and a rocket scientist, so this may be a step backward
for her. There was a time in the 1980s, when Barbie was programmed to say she
hated maths. Imagine what effect that had on aspiring little girls. Weve come a
long way.

Some hoped it would inspire girls like Sujata Divekar, project manager and
head, Management Council at Harbinger Group, India says, Yes, I think the
computer engineer Barbie is making a big impact, especially to the minds of
little girls. They will now look up to this Barbie as an inspiration rather than
just one more play doll. Social conditioning that perpetuates myths and popular
notions like most women are not technology savvy will change in the long run,
believe many. Sanchita Johri, brand consultant, Times Private Treaties, Bennett
and Coleman, India says, I think it may not matter to us now, however, it may
make a big difference to the impressionable mind of the young girls for whom a
Barbie is an idol (literally). There are studies that show that our basic
personality is formed by the age of 12. If this is true, then it is a huge
change that will come about that is the change of breaking stereo types. To
elucidate what I mean, Id take the example of He-Man, GI- Joe and all the other
macho idols boys play with. Here lies the problem of the type-cast: the perfect
looking girl and the macho boy. Have you ever seen a He-Man dressed as a chef?
Half the chefs in the world are usually men! Or for that matter do any of these
heroes sport the role of a fashion designer, hair stylist, or any other such
careers? The same applies to the Barbie doll, there are several careers that
have opened up to women and smart is beautiful! So, definitely it is something
that Id say is a small change with long term resonance.

Brian Honaker, system engineer in the USA agrees, I think it absolutely does
matter!! There are vast opportunities for women in IT. The problem is that most
women never develop the interest, let alone the hunger for technology that their
male counterparts do. Its really a shame. Women tend to think through things
more efficiently than men, and pay attention to details more than men. This
makes them prime candidates for IT. What I see here is an opportunity for a
little girl to look at Barbie and decide that thats what I want to do. Its
good for women and its good for IT. Since Barbie is pitched as a girls play
doll, maybe boys will accept that girls can be good at computers too is what
many people feel.

Deepa Kandaswamy The author is the founder-moderator of the IndianWISE e-group maildqindia@cybermedia.co.in

No!

Nadene Mathes, an educator based in the US says, It wont do much. What
little girls see are her hair, clothes and figure; all of which are stereotyped
and sexist. If Mattel was truly interested in promoting strong, healthy, and
intelligent girl images, theyd change the dolls appearance to conform to a
realistic body image. Nisha Menon, senior consultant, DSCL Energy Services, New
Delhi agrees, No, it wont have any impact because Barbie is quintessentially a
representation of escape from reality! Most people just felt that it wont have
any impact because children outgrow toys they play with as kids.

Others said that it wont have an impact because Barbie has already had 124
previous avatars and none of it mattered, so why should this? Some others also
felt that people in the IT sector who are from the new middle class in many
countries are the new target market for Mattel and this is just a clever
marketing strategy to make them buy these dolls to give their children which
they would have previously not done.

Conclusion

There are already games, accessories and dolls sold in stores apart from the
advertising on TV and cable channels that target children. After observing the
debate and listening to both sides argue, and with Barbie slowly becoming a big
brand now in India, it can be said that computer engineer Barbie will have an
impact. Whether it will be minimal or maximum, only time will tell.