Pssst…..I know how old Barbie is. Not to burst anyone’s bubble, but this plastic chick has held 124 jobs since her debut in a zebra striped bathing suit in 1959 where she had a pretty good gig, just sun tanning and going on glamorous dates. Now she wants to really work for a
living, when she could could kick back and draw a pension! You’d think she’d have ‘found herself’ by now. Babs has been everything from an astronaut, to a rock star. and race car driver. The owner of the plush Malibu Barbie mansion wants to work with binary code, subsist on Cheetos, soda, and pizza, and forget about those glam vacations! Woman in the industry discuss what aspects of authenticity Mattel has hit, and what they’ve missed.
Having been around the largely male dominated industry, my first impression of Barbie’s ensemble was that it was very much out of place. She reminded me of Reese Witherspoon’s character in the movie "Legally Blonde" setting off to the hallowed halls of higher
education in her coordinated outfits, complete with mini-dog with matching ensembles. While the article includes many more insights from professionals, many of whom state that women tend to try to tone femininity down, a former Microsoft employee, and chief executive of Amastra.com, Ms Brown says "The only bit Mattel got wrong were the pink glasses." The article continues, "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." Personally, I’m surprised that as a woman of a "certain age" Barbie might not find much conversational meeting of the minds with her new work mates. I can’t imagine her playing World of Warcraft for recreation, or starting a Star Trek "action figure" collection They’re not dolls dammit – or so I’ve heard.