[rr]architecture: Architect Barbie

Let me start off my saying that as a child growing up I loved barbie. I had a storage bin full of them. I had a barbie house, car and even a Ken doll. Ask anyone in my family and they'll tell you she was my favorite toy.

But in today's body conscious world, Barbie and her makers [the Mattel Company] have come under a lot of scrutiny because of the way barbie looks, and the effect it has on the body image young girls.Proportionally, if Barbie were life size, she would have to walk on all fours. According to Kim Culmone, VP of Design at Mattel "Barbie's body was never designed to be realistic. She was designed for girls to easily dress and undress".

The most famous viral example of Barbie's body image issues was done by artist Nickolay Lamm, who designed a "Barbie" with the average measurements of a 19 year old females body.

Which one's better? It's hard to say. There's evidence on both sides of the body issue argument which I don't really feel like diving into completely. One thing I think Barbie did right however, was the creation of its I Can Be : Architect Barbie doll.

Why? I have a few reasons. But first a bit of background info.

Architect Barbie was introduced in 2011 in partnership with AIA San Francisco. Also introduced in 2011 were Computer Engineer Barbie, Martial Artist Barbie, Marine Biologist Barbie, Race Car Driver Barbie etc etc...

So, back to why. I believe that architect Barbie is a good and positive infulence on young girls. We're constantly told as children "you can grow up to be whatever you want to be" expect for girls this always had some strings attached. In the architecture world today women are referred to as the "Missing 32%".

I don't really care if Barbie's body proportions are all out of wack. What I care about is how she can make a little girl see the world. If you give a girl a Computer Engineer Barbie, chances are she'll play with her in character like a computer engineer. Same with Architect Barbie.

And don't even bother telling me that young girls won't even know what and Architect is so why bother? Cause guess what, kids ask questions. Around 300 a day in fact. Don't believe me? Google it.

And this shift of female toys/characters venturing off into "new" territory isn't only being done by Mattel. Lego recently launched the "Research Institute" mini figure set, with female scientist figurines.

I am a strong believer in that how we raise our children will greatly effect how they learn, grow and see the world. And I think Architect Barbie helps to expand the once forbidden world of math, science, design and technology to little girls. I want to be able to tell my kids someday that "you can be whatever you want to be" with no strings attached.

-A