Archive of UserLand's first discussion group, started October 5, 1998.

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Barbie is *not* a feminist cause

Author:	Marcia Harris
Posted:	7/29/1999; 6:36:55 PM
Topic:	Letter to the Editor of Wired
Msg #:	8903 (In response to 8866)
Prev/Next:	8902 / 8904

I see a notable lack of clear thinking in reponses to Dvorak's article. There is nothing derogatory to women in observing that the iBook resembles a Barbie accessory in style. This is an opinion comparing the appearance of commercial products.

When he goes on to to say he feels this appearance will not be attractive to the typical user, his opinion is again unobjectionable, although he runs into trouble by expressing it in noninclusive language. Change two sentences and the article would be just fine with me, like this:

"No sane professional will be seen in public with this notebook."

"When you see some nerd pulling an iBook out of her backpack a few months from now, say the little computer looks delectable and see what response you get."

I understand feminism to mean the belief that women are people, and conversely some people are likely to be women. It is a simple concept, but challenging to apply consistently.

I find some of Dvorak's attackers more offensive than he is when they assume that anti-Barbie means anti-woman. I hear them implying that women are sissies. They end up asserting the stereotypes that they should be puncturing. It is confusion like this that gives "political correctness" a bad name.

(But maybe Dvorak does owe an apology to guys with baggy pants.)

Thanks for listening,

Marcia Harris

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