This year's "Career Of The Year" Barbie is.... a Mars-bound astronaut in a pink-accent spacesuit! Launched in cooperation with NASA in order to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the Mars Rover Curiosity landing, Mattel's statement about the new doll reads:
In collaboration with NASA, Mars Explorer Barbie launches the first "one doll" mission to Mars. Ready to add her signature pink splash to the "red planet," Barbie is outfitted in a stylish space suit with a pink reflective accents, helmet, space pack and signature pink space boots.
I have conflicting feelings about Barbie. Although I don't think that playing with Barbies is going to necessarily permanently damage the self-esteem of every little girl, I do think that Barbie is, in many ways, problematic (namely because of her influence on body image). And although I'm glad to see that Mattel continues to create themed Barbies that provide good examples of awesome careers for women, I can't help but wish that maybe the "Mars Explorer" was a just a little bit less pink. I mean:
Still, the pinkness doesn't offend me as as much as it seems to offend Megan Garber over at The Atlantic. An astronaut Barbie that goes to Mars is pretty much ok in my book, no matter how she's styled.
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