

Fix a page in Barbie's book - flowerpot
http://computer-engineer-barbie.herokuapp.com/

======
andrewljohnson
On top of sending the wrong message to would-be STEM girls, it also sends a
message to girls who aren't into science/math. It tells them that those STEM
girls could just act more feminine, helping to "justify" dislike and bullying.

I wonder how this stuff keeps happening at Mattel - whether it's because they
insert flirtation with boys into every Barbie story, or there was an actual
directive to make her look ditzy for marketing reasons.

~~~
nnnnni
I wonder how the original "Barbie" lady would feel about how negatively-
stereotypical and cliche these books are...

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Mark_B
I showed some of these to my daughter in middle school and we both found the
submissions hilarious! We then had a talk about about trolls and the internet
and how we could implement a meme-creator for Minecraft pics.

Edit: our fave so far: [http://computer-engineer-
barbie.herokuapp.com/view/115](http://computer-engineer-
barbie.herokuapp.com/view/115)

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geppetto
I read this on planet debian a couple of days ago:

[http://blog.halon.org.uk/2014/11/barbie-the-debian-
developer...](http://blog.halon.org.uk/2014/11/barbie-the-debian-
developer/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=barbie-the-debian-
developer)

Barbie debian developer + systemD. Wins hands down!

------
cjslep
Previous submission's comments:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8635866](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8635866)

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adricnet
Well, as big a fan of the BLO[1] as I am, I think your energy might be better
spent elsewhere.

Lamilly[2] was successfully crowdfunded, manufactured, and is shipping soon.
She's already a world traveler and will surely have more career options than
Barbara soon.

[http://www.rtmark.com/blo.html](http://www.rtmark.com/blo.html)

[https://lammily.com/](https://lammily.com/)

------
keehun
Why do I have a feeling that internet trolls will descend on this?

Great work, although with just a little more work, I think the font could
match the one in the book a little better.

------
probably_wrong
This page is terrible, and those submissions are one of the reasons the
internet is such a hostile place. It looks straight out of 4chan.

~~~
spindritf
Really? Seems to be mostly try-hard humour.

[http://computer-engineer-barbie.herokuapp.com/view/266](http://computer-
engineer-barbie.herokuapp.com/view/266)

[http://computer-engineer-barbie.herokuapp.com/view/402](http://computer-
engineer-barbie.herokuapp.com/view/402)

~~~
probably_wrong
Keep in mind that the rating is constantly changing. I guess HNers have taken
the lead now, as I don't see the guy with the scissors on its eye anymore, but
wait until 4chan hears about it.

Here's a couple about "fags", drugs and overall trolling

[http://computer-engineer-barbie.herokuapp.com/view/42](http://computer-
engineer-barbie.herokuapp.com/view/42)

[http://computer-engineer-barbie.herokuapp.com/view/73](http://computer-
engineer-barbie.herokuapp.com/view/73)

[http://computer-engineer-barbie.herokuapp.com/view/74](http://computer-
engineer-barbie.herokuapp.com/view/74)

------
arianvanp
I'm not sure what to think of this ...

------
nnnnni
Can we make this about the factual and technological errors in the book rather
than rally around it as Social Justice Warriors?

Maybe Barbie's team's organization was agreed upon by all members and she
WANTED to do the design work while the two guys did the actual coding. Maybe
she plans to do the coding for the next project. A better name would have been
Coder Team Barbie. Let's start there.

When you make a big deal out of stuff like this, you're turning it into the
thing against which you are claiming to fight.

Stop "playing the victim" and make a better version without the elitist SJW
attitude. The first step toward equality is to stop being the bully or the
victim, whichever one applies.

~~~
andrewljohnson
There's nothing perceived about it. The entire premise of the doll and every
page of the book is misogyny. This isn't "Designer Barbie," it's Computer
Engineer Barbie - to have her hand off the programming work to the men is
demeaning to women.

I'm not sure why you feel the urge to play devil's advocate. My wife (a
developer) pointed it out to me yesterday. She wasn't enraged, but she thought
it was comically misogynistic, and I don't see how anyone would disagree.

My daughter certainly doesn't need this kind of influence, and I'd prefer the
doll/book be pulled from the shelves and fixed.

~~~
nnnnni
I re-read it, and you're right about the misogyny. I edited my reply to
hopefully better match my original intent.

