Let me begin this by saying that I have absolutely no problem with Barbie. I played with tons of Barbies as a child and my self esteem didn’t suffer because I lacked ridiculously long blond hair and ginormous boobs. The main thing I remember about Barbie was that she frequently got it on with Ken during the summer of 83′ in my best friend’s Barbie house. She was quite the minx.

I recently read that Architect Barbie will be released for public consumption in early August. I got a little chuckle out of that because I personally can never tell the difference in Barbie dolls. They all look the same to me AND they all end up the same way in my house – naked with hacked off hair. What surprised me were the facts about this doll and the whole Barbie phenomenon. I didn’t know Barbie was taken so seriously. Here is a little history on Barbie and what went into the creation of the new Architect Barbie. It will surprise you.

When Barbie was first introduced in 1959, she was considered a rebel. She was unmarried, had no children, had her own career and beach house and lived a glamorous life very different from that imagined for women in mainstream postwar culture.

Eleven-and- half inches tall in her trendy ankle boots and carrying a hard hat and pink drawing tube, the doll channels “Barbie’s rebellious side,” according to a University at Buffalo architecture professor who helped bring her to the public stage. And Barbie is already generating talk among practicing architects about the role of women in the field.

Architect Barbie is the 127th doll in Mattel’s “Barbie I Can Be…” series. Mattel was looking to highlight careers where women are underrepresented and “architect” seemed to be the right fit for the 2011 “I Can Be” doll line which encourages young girls to follow their dreams – career-wise.

The two architects who lobbied for Architect Barbie took a hands-on, detail-oriented approach to advising Mattel on Barbie’s overall look. The pair sent over a list of about 25 accessories that an architect would tote around with her, and even sent pictures from an editorial spread that Vogue did last summer which featured clothing with architectural shapes and monochromatic colors.

The result: Architecture Barbie wears an A-line strapless dress that features a cityscape print; she carries a document tube, a white hard hat and a pair of black-rimmed glasses. The designers decided it was important for Barbie to be professional and feminine at the same time. And showing that Barbie has some creativity was important to the women.

After learning all of the details that went into this one doll I now have a new respect for toy designers. But I don’t think the black rimmed glasses will lessen the cat calls from horny Kens at the construction site. Just sayin’.

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Written by Lea Barlow • 2 Comments