Sunday, April 8, 2012

Barbie is Running for President

Lordy. Mattel is now selling "I Can be President Barbie". Certainly a female presidential doll is a good thing. It's important that we teach our young women that they too can reach powerful places. But Barbie? This young lady running for presidency is a far cry from her usual role.






















Barbie is a terrible roll model for little girls and women alike. She has a unrealistic body type presents an ideal of "beauty" that not many can measure up to.






















At an attempt at fairness; Barbie has come up with "Nikki". Why isn't she given the same name as Barbie? Because Barbie is strictly White. Apparently there can be no such thing as a Black Barbie.






















Here we have an Asian doll which Mattel hasn't named.






















A Latina Barbie which also seems to go unnamed. 

According to Glittarazzi, the announcement of Barbie's run for presidency took place at the White House Project's 10th anniversary of the EPIC (Enhancing Perception In Culture) Awards.

The White House Project is a non-profit which encourages women to seek political careers.

Glittarazzi  says;  According to Mattel, 90% of girls ages 3 to 10 own at least one Barbie, and the average girl owns 12 dolls, which makes Barbie the top-selling doll in the USA. These numbers contrast significantly with the fact that the USA ranks 90th in the world when it comes to women's representation in legislature. (We only have 16.8% female representation in Congress; 12% female governors and major city mayors; and no female heads of state on record.)

And that's sad because women usually kick election a$$ at comparable rates to men, but they don't run as often. President Barbie hopes to change that."


Does a Barbie have that kind of influence? I imagine it's easier to influence an impressionable young mind by forcing down an aesthetic, than a goal of substance.

It is important that children are exposed to variety. So, a presidential Barbie gives just that. But what must be considered is that the doll is still Barbie.

No comments:

Post a Comment