Teh One Who Knocks
01-27-2017, 01:14 PM
By the Heat Street Staff
http://i.imgur.com/dMK7zwch.jpg
A new Barbie doll which encourages girls to become engineers has sparked a sexism row.
Toy company Thames and Kosmos has designed a doll which is meant to get females interested in science by showing them how to build washing machines and racks where they can keep the figure’s shoes and jewelry. A kit which comes with the doll instructs girls to fix together plastic sticks to create household appliances.
But there have been objections to the “Engineering Barbie”, which is targeted at girls aged 4 to 8 and retails at Ł30 ($37), on the basis it restricts females to stereotypical domestic chores and fashion interests.
Dame Athene Donald, Professor of Experimental Physics at Cambridge University and president of the British Science Association, was robust in her criticism of the engineering doll. She said it was “damaging” to children as it cemented an outdated domestic image of females which no longer applied.
Dame Athene told the Daily Telegraph: “This is a schizophrenic solution to getting girls more interested in engineering. In a way they are addressing the problem, but they are also sending out a message to boys that they don’t need to get involved with washing.”
She added: “It’s damaging as it reinforces stereotypes that women do the chores, despite shared parental leave and work patterns now meaning housework is usually split between men and women. Children should not be restricted as to what they can build – we should just let them play.”
http://i.imgur.com/dMK7zwch.jpg
A new Barbie doll which encourages girls to become engineers has sparked a sexism row.
Toy company Thames and Kosmos has designed a doll which is meant to get females interested in science by showing them how to build washing machines and racks where they can keep the figure’s shoes and jewelry. A kit which comes with the doll instructs girls to fix together plastic sticks to create household appliances.
But there have been objections to the “Engineering Barbie”, which is targeted at girls aged 4 to 8 and retails at Ł30 ($37), on the basis it restricts females to stereotypical domestic chores and fashion interests.
Dame Athene Donald, Professor of Experimental Physics at Cambridge University and president of the British Science Association, was robust in her criticism of the engineering doll. She said it was “damaging” to children as it cemented an outdated domestic image of females which no longer applied.
Dame Athene told the Daily Telegraph: “This is a schizophrenic solution to getting girls more interested in engineering. In a way they are addressing the problem, but they are also sending out a message to boys that they don’t need to get involved with washing.”
She added: “It’s damaging as it reinforces stereotypes that women do the chores, despite shared parental leave and work patterns now meaning housework is usually split between men and women. Children should not be restricted as to what they can build – we should just let them play.”