Barbie: I Can Be a Computer Engineer Parodies

Barbie: I Can Be a Computer Engineer Parodies

Updated Nov 25, 2014 at 01:31PM EST by Brad.

Added Nov 20, 2014 at 02:31PM EST by Don.

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About

Barbie: I Can Be a Computer Engineer Parodies are a series of exploitable images based on original illustrations from Mattel's children's book Barbie: I Can Be a Computer Engineer that portray the female protagonist as a technological expert who offers troubleshooting advices to her male peers. The parodies first emerged online in November 2014 shortly after the book came under criticism from the blogosphere for perpetuating the sexist stereotype of women as the less tech-savvy gender.

Origin

On November 17th, 2014, American author and blogger Pamie Ribon ran a blog post titled “Barbie Fucks It Up Again,”[1] in which she asserted that Barbie: I Can Be a Computer Engineer,[6] a children's book written by Susan Marenco and published in 2013 as a companion to Mattel's "Computer Engineer Barbie" doll introduced in 2010, actually promotes gender stereotypes about women and technology.


Babie 2 Books in 1! ican ver 50 Stickers! A Computer Engieet 040000.0 00 0001 t breakfast one morning. Barbie is already hard at work on her laptop. "What are you doing. Barbie?" asks Skipper. "I'm designing a game that shows kids how computers work," explains Barbie. "You can make a robot puppy do cute tricks by matching up colored blocks!" "Your robot puppy is so sweet," says Skipper. "Can I play your game?" ting the design ideas," Barbie sa I'll need Steven's and Brian's help to turn it into a real game!" Barbie tries to email her design to Steven, but suddenly her screen starts blinking. That's weird!" says Barbie. Barbie and Skipper try to reboot the computer, but nothing happens. "Looks like you've got a virus, big sister," says Skipper. Luckily, I wear my flash drive on a necklace so that I'll always remember to back up my work," replies Barbie. When Barbie puts her flash drive into Skipper's laptop, the screen starts blinking. Oh, no!" says Barbie. "The virus must be on the flash drive!" "I forgot to back up my homework assignment!" cries Skipper. And all my music files are lost, too!" I'm so sorry, Skipper," says Barbie. "I have to rur off to school now. But I promise to find a way to fix your laptop. "You better!" Skipper replies as she playfully hits Barbie with a pillow. ナ Barbie makes it to computer class just before the bell rings. As soon as class begins, Barbie raises her hand. "Yes, Barbie?" asks Ms. Smith, the teacher. "If your computer gets a virus and crashes, how can you 0 10000 10 。1100001 01110010 retrieve all the files you lost?" asks Barbie. 0i "Well, first you remove the hard drive from the crashed computer,." explains Ms. Smith. "And then you hook it up to another computer "But won't the other computer get the same virus that made your computer crash?" asks Barbie. "Not if the computer has good security software installed," says Ms. Smith. “Good security software protects your computer from catching a virus." 10 010000 0 After class, Barbie meets with Steven and Brian in the library. "Hi, guys," says Barbie. "I tried to send you my designs, but l ended up crashing my laptop-and Skipper's, too! I need to get back the lost files and repair both of our laptops." THEN</"It will go faster if Brian and I help," offers Steven. "Great!" says Barbie. "Steven, can you hook Skipper's hard drive up to the library's computer? "Sure!" says Steven. "The library computer has excellent security software to protect it." "I've got Skipper's assignment from the hard drive!" exclaims Steven. Fantastic!" says Barbie. "And her other files, as well?" "I've got everything," says Steven. "Now let's retrieve the files from your hard drive. Both laptops will be good as new in no time!" The next morning, Barbie gives her sister a big surprise. "My lost assignment!" cries Skipper. "You are just too cool, Skipper gives Barbie a huge hug. Skipper turns on her laptop-and it works! Barbie! You fixed my computer and saved my homework!" 01 00 0 01 1000 At school, Skipper presents her assignment to the class. "Hi, everybody." she says. "The person I admire most is Barbie-a great sister and a great computer engineer!" Everyone is impressed by Skipper's presentation. At computer class, Barbie presents the game she designed. Ms. Smith is so impressed that she gives Barbie extra credit! Barbie's terrific computer skills have saved the day for both sisters! "I guess I can be a computer engineer!" says Barbie happily.

In the story, Barbie sets out to develop a game for her computer class project, but after accidentally infecting her computer with a virus, she enlists the assistance of two boys to fix her computer and code the video game that she had envisioned. At the end, she still takes credit for developing the game and says "I guess I can be a computer engineer!"

Spread

On November 18th, the article was syndicated on Gizmodo.[14] On November 19th, programmer Kathleen Tuite[2] launched the "Feminist Hacker Barbie"[10] web application, which allows users to make their own parody versions of the Barbie book (shown below). That day, several news sites published articles about the backlash and parodies of the book, including The Daily What,[4] BuzzFeed,[9] Tech Crunch,[13] The Verge[11] and The Daily Dot.[12] Within 24 hours, the hashtag #feministhackerbarbie[8] had been tweeted over 2,900 times according to the Twitter analytics site Topsy.[7]


Feminist Hacker Barbie Boke "I'm only creating the design ideas," Barbie says, laughing. "T'll need Steven's and Brian's help to turn it into a real game! Help make Computer Engineer Barbie better Barbie's new book tells girls they need boys to code for them. Help Barbie be the competent, independent, bad-ass engineer that she wants to be. Check out Casey Feisler's, @Spacekatgal's and InfoSec Taylor Swift's adaptations for inspiration! Fix a page in Barbie's book >

Mattel's Apology

On November 19th, 2014, the official Barbie Facebook[3] page posted an apology for the children's book:

"The Barbie I Can Be A Computer Engineer book was published in 2010. Since that time we have reworked our Barbie books. The portrayal of Barbie in this specific story doesn’t reflect the Brand’s vision for what Barbie stands for. We believe girls should be empowered to understand that anything is possible and believe they live in a world without limits. We apologize that this book didn’t reflect that belief. All Barbie titles moving forward will be written to inspire girl's imaginations and portray an empowered Barbie character."

On the next day, Mattel removed the book from Amazon.[5]

Notable Examples


After class, Barbie meets with Steven and Brian in the library. "Hi, guys," says Barbie. "Your code looks like f------ spaghetti. I can't follow it. Y'all need to learn some damn OOP and redo this p------------." After class, Barbie meets with Steven and Brian in the library. "Hi, guys," says Barbie. "While you were drinking protein shakes at the frat house, I took down 5 KKK websites and got the Grand Wizard's SSN & credit cards. Let's order him 9000 dildos!" "It will go faster if Brian and I help." offers Steven. "Why?" asks Barbie. "And please stop trying to unplug my monitor." Barbie makes it to computer class just before the bell rings. As soon as class begins, Barbie raises her hand. "Yes, Barbie?" ask:s Ms. Smith, the teacher. "If your computer gets a virus and crashes, how can you retrieve all the files you lost?" asks Barbie. "By not smiling at me like a little bitch" replied Ms. Smith 0 10000 10 1100001 011100 0 1100010 110 100 0110010 "It will go faster if Brian and I help," offers Steven. "No! One wrong move," warns Barbie "and this virus could make the nuclear power plant go into meltdown! I can't risk another one of your f--- ups, Steven." 1 Create your own! "My PC runs Windows which is backdoored and makes my brain bleed" complains Steven. "Don't worry!" says Barbie. "Steven, just boot this Linux live cd and run Debian instead" "Sure!" says Steven. "Also, let's try this VPN router which I ordered from Kickstarter without knowing how it works."

Search Interest

Not available.

External References

[1] Pamie – Barbie Fucks It Up Again

[2] Super Fire Truck – Kathleen Tuite

[3] Facebook – Barbie

[4] The Daily What – Rewrite of the Day

[5] Amazon – Computer Engineer Barbie

[6] Google Cache – "Amazon page for I Can Be a Computer Engineer

[7] Topsy – #feministhackerbarbie

[8] Twitter – #feministhackerbarbie

[9] BuzzFeed – Sexist Barbie is Sexist

[10] Herokuapp – Feminist Hacker Barbie

[11] The Verge – The internet fixes Barbie

[12] The Daily Dot – Geek girls reject sexist Barbie books message

[13] Tech Crunch – Sexist Barbie Book

[14] Gizmodo – Barbie Fucks it Up Again

Recent Videos 1 total

Recent Images 43 total


Top Comments

Crimson Locks
Crimson Locks

Barbie being full of sexist bs isn't really a new thing, so I don't know why people are acting like it is. This is really hilarious though. "We're gonna make Barbie a computer engineer? Let's have her break her and her sister's computer and then rely on two guys to fix it for her while she takes the credit for everything." Grade A, gentlemen, grade A.

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