Tuesday 16 February 2010

Geek Barbie = FAIL

She wears pink. No self-respecting girl-geek wears pink.

She has a T-shirt and a laptop with binary on it. That would be OK, if it was obviously in homage to The Matrix, but it isn't - it's just obvious that the designers of her outfit thought that you're still likely to see binary on someone's desktop. She should have a t-shirt with GOT ROOT printed on it, or maybe SELECT * FROM USERS WHERE CLUE > 0 - perhaps ThinkGeek could produce a range of T-shirts for her. And her laptop should have some code on it, maybe some Java or UML.

She works in tech-support. This is a perfectly respectable choice for someone who is just starting out in the world of IT, but someone who has been around since 1959 should be at the top of her game by now - a respected über-geek who gets invited to give keynote speeches at geeky conferences. I mean, I know she has had a number of other careers, but still.

The BBC article about this suggests that her wearing glasses is a bit stereotypical, but on the other hand, glasses do make people look brainy, and quite often, they actually are brainy (I wear glasses, for instance, and I am brainy).

According to the Women in Technology article, geeky Barbie's accessories were created in conjunction with the Society of Women Engineers and the National Academy of Engineering. Really?! Then why are they so naff?
Nora Lin, president of the Society of Women Engineers, said: "Girls who discover their futures through Barbie will learn that they - just like engineers - are free to explore infinite possibilities and that their dreams can go as far as their imaginations take them.

"As a computer engineer, Barbie will show girls that women can design products that have an important and positive impact on people's everyday lives, such as inventing a technology to conserve home energy or programming a newborn monitoring device."
Oh yeah? Then why isn't she a programmer, or a network manager, or a systems administrator, or a web developer?

Women inventors

The Women Inventors page at About.com has a huge selection of biographies and resources.

Women Inventors A to Z
Women Inventors A-Z the biographies - inventions and photos of inventors from Randi Altschul to Mary Walton.

Randi Altschul

Randice-Lisa Altschul invented the world's first disposable cell phone.

Dr. Betsy Ancker-Johnson

Dr. Betsy Ancker-Johnson was the third woman inventor elected to the National Academy oF engineering.

Mary Anderson

Mary Anderson invented the windshield wiper. Anderson was issued a patent for the wipers in 1905.

Virginia Apgar

Apgar invented a newborn scoring system or "Apgar Score" for assessing the health of newborn infants.

Barbara Askins

Developed a totally new way of processing film.

Patricia Bath

The first African American woman doctor to receive a patent for a medical invention.

Miriam E. Benjamin

Ms. Benjamin was the second black woman inventor to receive a patent. She received a patent for an invention she called a "Gong and Signal Chair for Hotels".

Patricia Billings

Patricia Billings invented a indestructible and fireproof building material called Geobond®.

Katherine Blodgett

Invented the non-reflecting glass.

Bessie Blount

Blount invented a device to help disabled people eat with less difficulty.

Sarah Boone

An improvement to the ironing board was invented by African American Sarah Boone on April 26, 1892.

Rachel Fuller Brown

Rachel Brown co-invented Nystatin, the world's first useful antifungal antibiotic.

Josephine Garis Cochran

In 1886, Josephine Cochran invented the first practical dishwasher.

Martha J. Coston

Martha Coston invented a pyrotechnic signaling system known as maritime signal flares.

Dianne Croteau

Invented Actar 911, the CPR mannequin.

Marie Curie

Marie Curie also known as Madame Curie discovered radium and furthered x-ray technology.

Marion Donovan

The convenient disposable diaper was invented by New Yorker Marion Donovan in 1950.

Gertrude Belle Elion

Elion invented the leukemia-fighting drug 6-mercaptopurine, drugs that facilitated kidney transplants and other drugs for the treatment of cancer and leukemia.

Edith Flanigen

Flanigen was the inventor of a petroleum refining method and is considered one of the most inventive chemists of all time.

Helen Free

Free was the inventor of the home diabetes test.

Sally Fox

Sally Fox invented naturally-colored cotton.

Frances Gabe

Gabe invented the "Self Cleaning House".

Lillian Gilbreth

Lillian Moller Gilbreth was an inventor, author, industrial engineer, industrial psychologist, and mother of twelve children.

Sarah E. Goode

Sarah Goode was the first African American women to receive a U.S. patent.

Bette Nesmith Graham

Graham invented liquid paper, also known as White-Out™.

Temple Grandin

Temple Grandin invented livestock-handling devices.

KK Gregory

KK Gregory is the ten-year old inventor of Wristies®.

Ruth Handler

The Barbie doll was invented in 1959 by Ruth Handler.

Elizabeth Lee Hazen

Elizabeth Hazen co-invented Nystatin, the world's first useful antifungal antibiotic.

Beulah Henry

All told, Henry made about 110 inventions and holds 49 patents.

Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin

Hodgkin used x-rays to find the structural layouts of atoms and to discover the overall molecular shape of over 100 molecules including: penicillin, vitamin B-12, vitamin D and insulin.

Krisztina Holly

Co-invented the telephony software called Visual Voice.

Erna Schneider Hoover

Hoover invented the computerized telephone switching system.

Grace Hopper

Grace Hopper was a computer inventor best known for the Mark computer series.

Mary Phelps Jacob

Mary Phelps Jacob invented the bra.

Amanda Theodosia Jones

Jones re-invented American food production by inventing vacuum packed canning.

Marjorie Stewart Joyner

Joyner invented a permanent wave machine that would allow a hairdo to stay set for days.

Anna Keichline

Architect, Anna Keichline created inventions for the home.

Mary Kies: Patenting Pioneer

Kies was the first women to receive a U.S. patent on May 15, 1809.

Gabriele Knecht

Patented the Forward Sleeve design for creating clothing.

Margaret Knight

Margaret Knight was an employee in a paper bag factory when she invented a new machine part to make square bottoms for paper bags. Knight can be considered the mother of the grocery bag, she founded the Eastern Paper Bag Company in 1870.

Stephanie Louise Kwolek

Kwolek invented a material five times stronger than steel called Kevlar.

Hedy Lamarr

Lamarr was a movie star and inventor.

Ada Lovelace

Wrote a scientific paper in 1843 that anticipated the development of computer software artificial intelligence and computer music.

Sybilla Masters - First American Woman Inventor

Masters was the first American female inventor in recorded history, but no doubt women have been inventing since the dawn of time without the deserved recognition.

Ann Moore

Invented the Snugli baby carrier.

Krysta Morlan

Krysta Morlan invented a device that relieves the irritation caused by wearing a cast - the cast cooler.

Ellen Ochoa

Ochoa invented optical analysis systems and was the world's first Hispanic female astronaut.

Alice Parker

Alice Parker invented a new and improved gas heating furnace.

Betty Rozier and Lisa Vallino

Rozier and Vallino, a mother and daughter invention team, invented the intravenous catheter shield.

Patsy Sherman

Patsy Sherman invented Scotchgard™.

Valerie Thomas

Received a patent in 1980 for inventing an illusion transmitter.

Ann Tsukamoto

The co-patenter of a process to isolate the human stem cell.

Harriet Tubman

Harriet Tubman was considered the "Moses of the Civil War" for her work on the underground railroads.

Madame Walker

Madame Walker was a St. Louis washerwoman-turned-entrepreneur, who in 1905 invented a method to soften and smooth African American hair.

Mary Walton

Walton invented several anti-pollution devices during the Industrial Revolution.

Carol Wior

Invented the Slimsuit, a slimming swimsuit.