Barbie marketing strategies don't just sell dolls and clothes, they sell ideas. Barbie commercials tell girls to "be who you wanna be, be a Barbie girl." But if girls can be who they want to be, then why are all Barbie girls portayed as overtly feminine, for lack of a better word, girlie-girls?
This commercial for a 2009 Barbie camper exemplifies what a Barbie girl is really like:
Apparently Barbie girls can't spend time in nature without all the modern immenities at hand. For a Barbie girl, things like plasma TV's are necessities on those family vacations, when roughing it in the wilderness...
Barbie's always have been, and still are, marketed in predominantly female careers. Barbies have jobs that are often related to domestic female gender roles. Popular Barbie careers from the 50s-present day include secretary, teacher, nurse, cheerleader, chef, ballerina, and flight attendant.
Barbies can be doctors too though, which is a traditionally male profession...
...But when Barbie is a doctor, she is still in a predominantly female role of holding, rocking, and caring for babies. The other kind of doctor Barbie can be is the Pet Doctor Barbie. Naturally a Barbie Girl would only want to care for adorable things like newborn babies and fuzzy puppies and kittens. It would be completely out of character for Barbie to be some kind of surgeon, where that career (and outfit) involves icky things like wearing ugly scrubs and a surgeon's cap that covers her pretty blonde hair.
When searching "Barbie's careers" on Mattel's Barbie website, the only results that are found are a Barbie pet vet, gymnastics coach, preschool teacher, newborn baby doctor, a SeaWorld trainer, a salon stylist, and a TV chef. Even when Barbie is marketed with visible jobs, which is usually only once a year, she is kept in careers implying traditional gender roles. If Ken had a more thorough identity and Mattel actually marketed him with a job, I highly doubt he would be marketed as having a career in any of Barbie's professions. They all have a feminine connotation that is consistent with Barbie's ultra-girlie persona. If Barbie is going to represent "what girls can be" then she should be marketed with a deeper scope of careers. If there is going to be Barbies like a preschool teacher and a baby doctor Barbie, then there should also be Barbies like an attorney, CEO, and scientist.
Women are excelling in all professional fields, and if Barbie is going to be representative of adult women then she should accurately portray them, in more than just stereotypically female-oriented fields.
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