Fix a page in Barbie's book

Fix a page in Barbie's book(computer-engineer-barbie.herokuapp.com)

78 points by flowerpot 11 years ago | 19 comments

On top of sending the wrong message to would-be STEM girls, it also sends a message to girls who aren't into science/math. It tells them that those STEM girls could just act more feminine, helping to "justify" dislike and bullying.

I wonder how this stuff keeps happening at Mattel - whether it's because they insert flirtation with boys into every Barbie story, or there was an actual directive to make her look ditzy for marketing reasons.

nnnnni 11 years ago | |

I wonder how the original "Barbie" lady would feel about how negatively-stereotypical and cliche these books are...

Mark_B 11 years ago |

I showed some of these to my daughter in middle school and we both found the submissions hilarious! We then had a talk about about trolls and the internet and how we could implement a meme-creator for Minecraft pics.

Edit: our fave so far: http://computer-engineer-barbie.herokuapp.com/view/115

geppetto 11 years ago |

I read this on planet debian a couple of days ago:

http://blog.halon.org.uk/2014/11/barbie-the-debian-developer...

Barbie debian developer + systemD. Wins hands down!

cjslep 11 years ago |

Previous submission's comments: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8635866

adricnet 11 years ago |

Well, as big a fan of the BLO[1] as I am, I think your energy might be better spent elsewhere.

Lamilly[2] was successfully crowdfunded, manufactured, and is shipping soon. She's already a world traveler and will surely have more career options than Barbara soon.

http://www.rtmark.com/blo.html

https://lammily.com/

keehun 11 years ago |

Why do I have a feeling that internet trolls will descend on this?

Great work, although with just a little more work, I think the font could match the one in the book a little better.

probably_wrong 11 years ago |

This page is terrible, and those submissions are one of the reasons the internet is such a hostile place. It looks straight out of 4chan.

spindritf 11 years ago | |

Really? Seems to be mostly try-hard humour.

http://computer-engineer-barbie.herokuapp.com/view/266

http://computer-engineer-barbie.herokuapp.com/view/402

probably_wrong 11 years ago | | |

Keep in mind that the rating is constantly changing. I guess HNers have taken the lead now, as I don't see the guy with the scissors on its eye anymore, but wait until 4chan hears about it.

Here's a couple about "fags", drugs and overall trolling

http://computer-engineer-barbie.herokuapp.com/view/42

http://computer-engineer-barbie.herokuapp.com/view/73

http://computer-engineer-barbie.herokuapp.com/view/74

arianvanp 11 years ago |

I'm not sure what to think of this ...

nnnnni 11 years ago |

Can we make this about the factual and technological errors in the book rather than rally around it as Social Justice Warriors?

Maybe Barbie's team's organization was agreed upon by all members and she WANTED to do the design work while the two guys did the actual coding. Maybe she plans to do the coding for the next project. A better name would have been Coder Team Barbie. Let's start there.

When you make a big deal out of stuff like this, you're turning it into the thing against which you are claiming to fight.

Stop "playing the victim" and make a better version without the elitist SJW attitude. The first step toward equality is to stop being the bully or the victim, whichever one applies.

andrewljohnson 11 years ago | |

There's nothing perceived about it. The entire premise of the doll and every page of the book is misogyny. This isn't "Designer Barbie," it's Computer Engineer Barbie - to have her hand off the programming work to the men is demeaning to women.

I'm not sure why you feel the urge to play devil's advocate. My wife (a developer) pointed it out to me yesterday. She wasn't enraged, but she thought it was comically misogynistic, and I don't see how anyone would disagree.

My daughter certainly doesn't need this kind of influence, and I'd prefer the doll/book be pulled from the shelves and fixed.

Pxtl 11 years ago | | |

I have to admit, after this hilarious trainwreck I'm totally buying my girls the doll. Just not the book.

nnnnni 11 years ago | | |

I re-read it, and you're right about the misogyny. I edited my reply to hopefully better match my original intent.

freshflowers 11 years ago | |

Throwing the term "SJW" around and suggesting to "stop being the bully or the victim" does not compute.

Maybe you should take your own advice.

nnnnni 11 years ago | | |

SJWs are just like militant vegans who would destroy a fur article of clothing even though it was made from a bear that died naturally in the wild solely because it's fur.

SJW != progressive. SJWs are the ones who ruin it for normal people who want to make things better. They're like boneheads in relation to skinheads. Skinheads were blue collar, pro-average-person advocates. Boneheads then co-opted the style but replaced the peaceful intent with neo-nazi diatribe and conflict.

By suggesting that people should stop being the bully or victim, I'm saying that they should be conscious of their own misogyny (or similar thoughts/actions) or learn how to make positive changes rather than being angry and mob-like all the time.

Extremism is a dangerous thing.