I would really love to sit down and speak to the members of their development team who thought that this would be a really good idea.  I'd love to know their thought processes and how they come to the conclusions they do! 


And why oh why does everything have to be PINK ?!?!?!! They could at least make the washing machine another colour!!


Yes I do think it's unhelpful and doesn't encourage girls to think outside of the enforced gender stereotype that our society puts upon them. 


Girls are allowed to like cars and rockets and motorbikes and buildings too!

wow I hadn't heard of that Barbie-computer engineer story! I would really hate to be in one of their meetings when they come up with such ideas.

I agree, creating such half-thought of products can only harm the situation more - then they can say: oh but we tried this, it just did not work. Girls just do not like this stuff.


It makes me wonder of their intentions in the first place.

Folks,


There is an opportunity to do better than this.  I don't have the all of the answers, but "pinkyifying" engineering is certainly not the right approach.  Parents and educators are still key players in opening the eyes of their children to the engineering and technology careers.  Look to the Middle East where, in many countries, parents encourage their daughters to join a profession that both parents and children can be "proud" of, typically engineering and medicine.


Edwin

Re-framing engineering through a pink filter of domestic appliances reminds me of the “Science: It’s a Girl Thing!” video from a few years ago that tried to re-frame science as being suitable for girls by showing that scientists made make-up!  (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zj--FFzngUk)

 

But… whilst the pink Engineering Barbie things aren’t ideal, they are a step in the right direction.  The retailers do need to consider the current state of play when they are designing these sorts of things, and the current state of play is that little girls’ toys are all pink and non-moving.  There are non-pink meccano kits and lego kits and other STEM toys available that children can build, but this relies on the parents buying these things for little girls and on the little girls wanting to play with them.  Perhaps it is a good thing that toy companies are making incremental changes to their products?  First the pink washing machines, then a pink car, then a red bus, then a silver rocket ship?  


The toys are aimed at 4-8 year olds, and sadly, 4-8 year olds already have a very set idea of which toys are for girls and which are for boys (and the adults buying the toys certainly have set ideas about which to buy!).  I agree it is not perfect, but if a 4-8 year old girl had a choice of building a silver rocket ship or a pink revolving dressing table, perhaps most would chose the pink one, just because it fits in with the toys they already have at their disposal (doll clothes, doll house etc.).  Parents, friends and relatives might be more likely to buy pink Barbie things, rather than meccano tractors for the little girls in their lives, so at least this toy is starting to introduce some engineering skills at a young age. Once the little girls have played with this and have acquired the skills involved in putting the pieces together, they and the adults might be more open to looking at other STEM toys in a more favourable light. It isn’t ideal, but I think it helps to think of it as a good gateway STEM toy or as a means of introducing STEM by stealth, rather than as the final destination on the STEM road. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and I think small adaptions to existing toys might be more successful in encouraging girls to build their own toys than expecting a huge paradigm shift overnight (after all, STEM toys ARE currently available, they just aren't being bought for and played with by little girls to the same extent that they are being bought for and played with by boys). 


PS. I agree that the Computer Engineering book was ridiculous!

I'm reminded of when I bought a tool kit (hammer, pliers, screwdrivers etc, real tools not toy ones) for my neices about 14 years ago (they were aged about 12 and 7 at the time).  They were only interested in the one in the pink case where the handles of the tools were pink.  Fortunately it had pretty much the same tools as the blue and grey tool boxes, no hammer but I was able to find a hammer with a pink handle.  Neither of them went into engineering, I'm sad to say, but they can both assemble flat pack furniture quickly and it will stay up.

I find it interesting that they now feel the need to make things pink just to market to girls.  I suspect at least part of the issue is that Barbie has always lived up to the female stereotypes and this is seen as part of the branding for Barbie particularly.


Interestingly other toys, have much better diversity and support this in subtle ways.  I spent a lot of Christmas playing with playmobil with the children in the family and we talked about having girl pirates and boy pirates (there was also diversity of race and disability - although this may just be because pirates are stereotyped with wooden legs).  There didn't seem to be a need to classify then as "Lady Pirate" or "Boy Pirate" - just playmobil pirates.


Other dolls, with more diverse career prospects are also available - personally I wish Lottie had been around whilst I was growing up. I suspect I may have grown up to be a fossil hunter - http://uk.lottie.com/

Hi All ,

I very much support your opinion about the "Engineering Barbie " .It is not only the pink colour but the idea of building washing machine ( only girls are using ?)  and the racks for their shoes 

and jewellery ?

Do they not see women engineers building anything different ? Only something for the girls consumption ?

You are absolutely right . Such an attitude  reinforces unhelpful stereotypes .

Regards

Grazyna