Mattel Sells Out Of 'Game Developer Barbie' (cnet.com)

Long-time Slashdot reader sandbagger writes: The Mattel people have released a new Barbie doll figurine touted as Game Developer Barbie. Dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, she was apparently designed by a game developer.
It's already sold out on Mattel's web site, with CNET saying it provides a better role model than a 2014 book In which "computer engineer" Barbie designed a cute game about puppies, then admitted "I'll need Steven's and Brian's help to turn it into a real game," before her laptop crashed with a virus. Mattel says that with this new doll, "young techies can play out the creative fun of this exciting profession," and the doll even comes with a laptop showing an IDE on the screen. Sandbagger's original submission ended with a question. Do Slashdot readers think this will inspire a new generation of programmers to stay up late writing code?

Comments

Please more stereotypes!

[allo]

Because a regular barbie cannot represent a game designer, or can it?

Stop being so stupid. It's all about the fantasy. Even a stick man cut out of paper can be a game developer role model, if the child likes to play this game.
If this is the most attractive game is a whole other question. If you look at the game development sector you're not even sure, if you would encourage somebody to get a game developer. Respect to the ones, which are, but that does not mean i would want to push my child in that direction.

Re:STEM

[BitZtream]

Why?

Other than someone says 'we need more women in STEM', why do we ACTUALLY NEED more women in STEM?

Put your SJW bullshit aside and actually in a objective and factual way describe to me why we NEED more women in STEM.

WOMEN DON'T FUCKING LIKE STEM STOP TRYING TO IMPLY YOU KNOW WHAT THEY NEED TO DO AND FUCK OFF. Women are more than capable of taking over any industry that want to take over, its happened countless times and there are large swaths of women dominated professions.

We need more women garbage men too, but you aren't fucking whining about that are you? More women in STEM is not going to get you laid or fix your social issues that prevent you from getting a date.

Re:She's still white

[BitZtream]

Fuck off.

If it was african then it wouldn't represent latinos, asians and other shades of brown.

It can't be every color so just fuck off with your whining bullshit about how it doesn't fit every personal agenda you have.

To put it bluntly, by posting your comment you've shown that YOU ARE A RACIST FUCK because you picked one race that YOU think deserves it and ignored all the others. You try so hard to hide the fact that you're a racist asshole that it shines through like the sun. Hint: Racism comes from every race, especially the assholes who think you have to be white to be racist.

Will it work?

[Ol Olsoc]

Only if the regular Barbie actually causes women to become bulimic.

Are female programmers the only women who wear jeans and t-shirts? That is what makes a person a programmer?

First off, we need to realize that not all that many men are into programming. Long hours, so-so pay, especially considering the hours. And zero social prospects. A real niche group.

I can see the stories now.......

Barbie eats cold pizza at 2 in the morning while trying to clean up some code for Friday's big rollout.

Barbie gets told to do duty at the IT help desk because "You know computers and stuff, right?!"

Barbie gets to wear her blue jeans and shirt at work the couple weeks she would have been at the beach because her vacation was cancelled so she can clean up some shitty code that the guy who up and quit left, and they gotta meet Friday's deadline.

This is not a field for many people - male or female. Finally, are young females so shallow that a little plastic doll's clothing can determine their choice of careers?

If so, that is what needs worked on, not putting a plastic doll in a t-shirt and bluejeans.

Re:Will it work?

[AmiMoJo]

It's not really supposed to "make" girls become developers, any more than a Disney Princess is supposed to make them royalty. Children just like to play "grown-ups", even if sometimes we think being a grown-up sucks (like those dolls that wet themselves... ugh).

The significance is that children can see that being a game developer is something women. Maybe it seems obvious to adults (well , some of us, a few are still in denial) but child psychologists will tell you that role models are really important.

Re:Will it work?

[AmiMoJo]

"There is also persistent discrimination against women who enter the science and math fields. CTIâ(TM)s study found that almost a third of âoesenior leadersâ in STEM fields think a woman would never be able to reach top jobs at their organizations. A part of this surely comes from a general societal bias against women in those fields. Previous research has shown that even STEM professors doubt the ability of their female students. Biases against women in STEM start when theyâ(TM)re young girls and can become so ingrained as to actually make the girls worse at the subject.

Again, it doesn't mention men anywhere in that. You are reading more into it than it says. In fact, it is extremely careful to avoid blaming men and point out that the issues are institutional. Elsewhere it mentions that women are often the ones perpetuating these institutional biases.

Over and over, Dr. Cheryan and her colleagues have found that female students are more interested in enrolling in a computer class if they are shown a classroom (whether virtual or real) decorated not with âoeStar Warsâ posters, science-fiction books, computer parts and tech magazines, but with a more neutral décor â" art and nature posters, coffee makers, plants and general-interest magazines.

So men need to stop putting things that offend women on the walls. A Star Wars poster can keep them out of tech.?!?!

This is a really, really common mistake that so many nerds make I'm starting to think it's something about the logical way we like to think. Look at the text again, it's a list. It's not saying that those things individually are going to stop a girl entering that classroom, it's saying that taken as a whole the atmosphere of such rooms is not welcoming, or at least not very encouraging. I mean, those things are clearly there to encourage boys, they aren't just artful decoration.

The goal isn't to force men out, it's to create an environment that is suitable for BOTH men and women. You could flip your argument around and ask if boys are really so insecure that they wouldn't come without Star Wars posters on the wall. I doubt it, but maybe if the room was decked out in pink with My Little Pony dolls everywhere they might be less inclined to join in. All it's saying is make the room more gender neutral, not oppress anyone.

You are reading a lot into these articles that they very clearly don't say.

Re:STEM

[Anonymous Coward]

This is just more of the "diversity" bullshit.

Hiring women gets you nothing. Hiring minorities gets you nothing, Hiring skilled and well qualified PEOPLE will make your company better. Demanding the hiring of more women, more minorities, etc. is nothing more than judging people by their race and gender, which is what we're supposedly trying to get away from.

Re:STEM

[BadMrMojo]

Other than someone says 'we need more women in STEM', why do we ACTUALLY NEED more women in STEM?

Off the top of my head, I'd say it's because it's better for the industry and the field of study.

• Because a demographically diverse group is going to bring a greater range of ideas and perspectives to the table.
• Because encouraging the presence and visibility of women within the field helps ensure that those who choose to be there are accepted as a relatively normal occurrence and therefore given credence for their ideas and work, rather than judged based upon the novelty of heir gender.
• Because if an entire intellectual pursuit builds itself up around self-selection of an unrelated trait like gender, it's symptomatic of other self-selected biases which are similarly counter-productive and not in any way relevant to the pursuit itself.

It's fundamentally better for the industry and profession as a whole. For a field that tends to pride itself upon its egalitarian ethos and the importance of logic, the idea that an irrelevant criteria (in this discussion, gender) is so wildly over-represented is wildly hypocritical.

We need more women garbage men too, but you aren't fucking whining about that are you? More women in STEM is not going to get you laid or fix your social issues that prevent you from getting a date.

You accurately noted that there is a wildly disproportionate representation of men amongst garbage collectors and yet that doesn't bother me in the least. That's not because it's unglamorous or because I think it's beneath my notice, but rather because I don't think that physical act of garbage collection will be improved through fresh insight, voices, or perspectives.

I will admit that I would like for there to be at least a few women in garbage collection, just as an indicator that, "No, seriously, 50% of the population can actually choose to do whatever work they damn well please, just like the other 50%," but that does not improve garbage collection itself, just society as a whole. Since it isn't improving the actual practice of garbage collection, let's set that aside as "SJW bullshit", shall we? I can accept that.

I absolutely do think that the logistics of how to handle garbage collection on a city- or region-wide level is a field that can benefit from fresh insight and voices. I know nothing about the sanitation services management industry, but I strongly suspect that it's run by old white men. Rather than gender being the issue, in this case, I'd be more concerned about class, race, and representative makeup of the public being served.

That's why your counterpoint is in no way related to the topic of hand.

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re: STEM

[ShieldW0lf]

If I already have all the money, and all the men are already heeding my wishes and obeying my commands, where is there left to go?

The answer is, get the women into the workforce, where I can exploit them as well.

Do you get it now?

Re:STEM

[lgw]

Cliff's Notes version is: more H1-B visas = downward pressure on tech wages, as Sanjay in Hyderabad does your job for pennies on the dollar

I see this a lot, and it's deeply stupid even by /. standards (and racist besides). Even the very dim should be able to understand that if Sanjay is in Hyderabad then he's not in the fucking US on a visa, is he? Offering Sanjay an H1-B means he now has to pay to live in the US, and he now makes a higher wage and removes some downward wage pressure. Sanjay of course is no dummy, so he's going to get a Green Card as fast as he possibly can, at which point he just another American tech worker, same as anyone else.