Combatting cluelessness

Evidently, some still think that girls are still conflicted about whether they have the strength and courage to think beyond some 1950 stereotype (the one that said they were meant to be silly, stupid or sexy). Seriously.

This morning Mattel unveiled Barbie’s 125th and 126th career which was decided based on votes that poured in from her fans all over the world. News Anchor Barbie won the Girls’ vote and became Barbie’s 125th career in Barbie’s I Can Be doll series, but Barbie also unleashed a surprise on us – Barbie’s 126th career. According to Lauren Dougherty, director of Barbie marketing for Mattel, voting for the Computer Engineer Barbie became viral amongst female engineers and other women in the tech industry, so much so, that many, many votes also poured in for a Computer Engineer career for Barbie. Because this popular vote went to Computer Engineer Barbie, Mattel couldn’t resist but to reward Barbie with a 126th career choice as well.

She was minutely researched with women in that field (hey! Where did they come from?) and joins a plethora of other busty career-track babes, with evening wear that proves they can slither and slide without rules.

What is missing from the equation is a dose of reality:

“Girls outperform boys in elementary school, middle school, high school, and college, and graduate school,” says Dr. Michael Thompson, a school psychologist who writes about the academic problems of boys in his book, "Raising Cain." He says that after decades of special attention, girls are soaring, while boys are stagnating.

“Girls are being told, 'Go for it, you can do it. Go for it, you can do it.' They are getting an immense amount of support,” he says. “Boys hear that the way to shine is athletically. And boys get a lot of mixed messages about what it means to be masculine and what it means to be a student. Does being a good student make you a real man? I don't think so… It is not cool.”

The picture doesn't get much brighter for young men when they get to college. Campuses are now nearly 60 percent female, with women earning 170,000 more bachelor degrees each year than men. Women are streaming into business schools and medical schools, and will be the majority at the nation's law schools. At some colleges, they're getting so many more qualified women applicants than men applicants that the schools are doing something that might shock you.

You'd never know this from all the ink and sweat spent on encouraging girls, but perhaps we should give it a rest. Boys are becoming the endangered species in many places that really matter, and they'd be hard pressed to find encouragement from nice a girl who would simply say, "You're awesome."(She's been primed since pre-school to take on the world as a zero-sum game.)

Comments

[Barb Szyszkiewicz, sfo]

It's true--the whole "girl power" thing has come at the expense of boys. Why does it always have to be one or the other?

[Barb]

Back when Barbie came out, my friends were getting dolls. I asked my Mom and she refused, thank God! It cured me forever of the "everybody else is getting it" routine. My parents did me a big favor in teaching me to think independently and I am so grateful. We do need to encourage boys. It should never be one sex overcoming the other. We are meant to be complimentary to each other.

[RAnn]

I'm linking to you on a post tomorrow about single-sex schools vs coed.