Yahoo Lifestyle Barbie Gets A Career Makeover
Career Barbie.
If you’re a child of the 80s or 90s, you’ll remember Barbie as the antithesis of feminism.
More often than not, she was dressed in a short skirt, with a hairdryer or makeup palette in hand. She was fun to play with for a while, but the novelty quickly wore off: what did Barbie do for a living, exactly?
The brains at Mattel have finally cottoned on to the outdated concept of the iconic toy and perhaps the messaging it sends to young girls by creating the first Barbie “Career” doll.
“We always try to make career Barbie a reflection of the times,” Mattel spokeswoman Michelle Chidoni told CNNMoney. “Women entrepreneurs are more prevalent now and they’re growing in number. [It's] a great way to encourage girls to also learn about this role.”
Entrepreneurial Barbie comes complete with a set of tech tools to ensure she’s up-to-date in the career world, with Chidoni explaining, “This girl comes with a tablet, smartphone and even a laptop case so she’s ready to take on anything that comes her way.”
Perhaps Career Barbie’s only downfall is her outfit, which is attracting criticism from industry heavyweights.
“Women entrepreneurs, while still unrepresented, are no longer a novelty,” said CNN Money. “Recent surveys show that 20% of businesses with revenues above $1 million are owned by a woman.
“And entrepreneurs -- both women and men -- look like everyone else. There is no uniform. Today's entrepreneur is more likely to wear a hoodie than heels and more likely to tote a tablet than an attaché case.”
But perhaps Barbie is dressed in signature pink to reflect the fact that a working woman doesn’t have to compromise on style just because she has substance: a motto we can definitely agree with.
It seems like Mattel took note of the controversy surrounding Lego’s lack of options for girls: the company came under fire recently after a seven-year old girl highlighted its obvious bias toward boys.
“Today I went to a store and saw legos in two sections. The girls pink and the boys blue,” lamented Charlotte Benjamin in an open letter to Lego. “All the girls did was sit at home, go to the beach, and shop, and they had no jobs but the boys went on adventures, worked, saved people, and had jobs, even swam with sharks.”
Much to Charlotte’s chagrin, there were also less girl Lego options on the shelf than boy options, indicating an obvious gender bias.
"I want you to make more Lego girl people and let them go on adventures and have fun ok!?!" Charlotte demanded of the company.
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