Barbie Goes Geek

Much as I hate to admit it, I was a girly girl, and I had a ton of Barbies when I was a kid. I have two I most fondly remember: Ballet Barbie (I may have inherited this one from my mom; it was super cool and vintage) and Scottish Barbie, in traditional tartan.



Obviously I grew out of Barbie (I mean, c'mon, I have to draw the line somewhere and Hello Kitty is bad enough) but I still love to periodically check on what Barbie is up to over the years.

Today, there was an announcement that there are a few new Barbies coming out this year, including Computer Engineer Barbie and News Anchor Barbie. I love that there is a Computer Engineer Barbie on the way! Smartly, Mattel worked with the Society of Women Engineers to come up with her design:

Computer Engineer Barbie, will be launched in the fall of 2010 looking "geek chic" in a binary code-patterned T-shirt, pink-framed glasses, a pink laptop and a Bluetooth earpiece...Computer Engineer Barbie was designed with the help of the Society of Women Engineers, who hope she will inspire young women to enter the profession.

I'm hopeful that she inspires at least a few young girls to consider a career in technology. We need more women to come to the Geek Side.