BARBIE IS AN ICON
AMBER LOVE 20-NOV-2014 So this week has brought a new fell swell of BARBIE HATE and it’s all because some buzz site discovered a book on Amazon with one-star reviews. The book, “I Can Be a Computer Engineer” was published in 2010. Mattel has since apologized for the book that many felt sent the wrong message about Barbie’s skills as a programmer. The review I read was the most ridiculous since the male reviewer stated he hadn’t even read the book! You win no points with me there. When I say I think someone like E.L. James is a terrible writer, it’s because I’ve read enough passages of 50 SoG posted online to say she doesn’t seem able to form a paragraph or interesting characters; I have not judged the relationship or BDSM content of it because I haven’t read it. I have also not posted a review on a major network about it. So this guy who hates Barbie so much was lucky that his editorial staff agreed with the buzz about a book that is old and not even available in print but can be purchased through Kindle only.
It’s no secret that I’m a Barbie fan and defender against all the people who claim she’s a terrible role model for young girls. Is she the “best”? No, but what human being is, no less doll? Barbie has been every kind of worker from professional athlete to President of the United States. She may have needed an evolution like all pop culture icons. Remember when Wonder Woman joined the Justice League and she was the secretary? But she evolved and Barbie has too.
Barbie has been a McDonald’s manager, a doctor, every type of military personnel possible, a humanitarian, an astronaut, a talk shot host, a singer, a figure skater, and an entrepreneur to name just a FEW of the roles Mattel has put her in professionally.
She’s not only a homeowner. She owns a fucking mansion. She owns an RV and a Corvette. I think aspiring to Barbie is very far from the WORST things a little girl could do.
As I pointed out on Twitter, Barbie has also been all of the major female DC superheroes: Black Canary, Wonder Woman, Supergirl, and Batgirl. She’s also been villains: Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy. I know a lot of these people who ranted on Twitter and on the networks about the Barbie Computer Engineer book and they are die hard nerds. They are nerds that would want any of these DC Barbies. They are nerds that would dress up their little girls as Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn, a serial killer. Yes, folks, I’ve read enough comics to remember Harley Quinn as the person running the Joker’s criminal empire and in one scene she flayed a guy on stage— the stage where she was a stripper. But, sure, Barbie is bad for your daughter.
Founder and Editor-in-Chief of AmberUnmasked.com and Vodka O'Clock Podcast. Author of The Farrah Wethers Mysteries, comic book short stories, prose, and non-fiction. Cosplayer and figure model.