This has got to be a joke.... Right?

??

Well, it's for the kids. If that's what it takes to make kids interested, fine.

IMHO it's great, actually

I think it's good. Why do you think it's a joke?

Because it's stereotypical you don't have to look like that to be a game dev. You don't have to look like a gamer to be a game developer. The headphones and glasses erk me is all.

@shigeru better to have some silly commercials (made for little girls) and get more women into the IT business than not getting more women into the IT business. The subliminal message is good!

I agree, I just think it couldve been way better. It feels half assed to me.

I'm perfectly fine with it. If it helps to show girls that they can get into tech and not lose their feminity while at the same time showcasing that developer swag, then that's a positive in my book.

@MLK79 so much yes!

Our government actually decided to add programming to school subjects. I love it. I do have a slight "butt out - computers is our thing and you spent 30 years telling me how bad they are."

Still love seeing new people get into programming. Also love programming Barbie if she gets new kids hooked on programming.

@Elkstorm I'm not sure our government has that opinion about computers in general. I agree that it's a step in the right direction by adding it to the school syllabus, as the need for software developers will increase for many years to come.

I find this pretty distasteful, to say the least. For one, Barbies reinforce the need for girls to look a certain way. Secondly, the whole "we need more girls in tech" thing is heavily skewed toward yet again telling girls what they have to do. Unless I'm missing something, gender equality should be about gender equality, not about society imposing yet another expectation over women solely. I mean, is there a psychologist Ken? AFAIK, there aren't many men in psychology. There aren't many women in other areas either: mining, construction, logistics, to name a few. But a trucker Barbie wouldn't sell, would it? So yeah, it is saying: "Barbie girls need to wear glasses to be taken seriously." It's just a fad, because development is trending now.

@BellAppLab Actually over here it's quite common that toy catalogues remove the boundaries of "girl toys" and "boy toys". Not all of them by any means, but enough for me to feel that this is not a single toy but a part of a larger shift where kids of all interests have role models. This way you can expand the gender role of playing with dolls to include computer geekery instead of having to abandon it altogether. I think expanding the roles along the lines of "this is also available if you want it" is a good strategy.

I do however think that the ones with a gender role problem is the guys. Where the female stereotype is centred around nursing the male stereotype is power and capacity for violence. I think guys need more role models who are gardeners, nurses etc.

@Elkstorm I completely agree with you. A gender neutral approach is the way to go. And that Barbie is not.