From: lowry@watson.ibm.com (Andy Lowry)
Subject: Re: BARBIE DOES IT AGAIN!!!!
Date: Sun, 4 Oct 1992 20:29:02 GMT
Disclaimer: This posting represents the poster's views, not necessarily those of IBM
	<1992Oct2.184726.20375@cbfsb.cb.att.com>
	<1992Oct3.153214.25705@newstand.syr.edu>
Organization: IBM T.J. Watson Research Center

In article <1992Oct3.153214.25705@newstand.syr.edu> kgatling@rodan.acs.syr.edu (Keith E Gatling) writes:
 ...
 > Now after thinking about this a bit, I had to ask myself what the
 > problem was here.  I mean, after all, kids *do* say "math class is
 > hard."  What's the problem with admitting that?
 ...
 > Have we reached a point where it is politically incorrect for any
 > woman to admit that she's not perfect?  I surely hope not, but it
 > looks like this entire Barbie flap has a lot to do with that.

The problem I have with what the doll says is not that it's
unrealistic or unreasonable, but that it reinforces some existing
stereotypes that are damaging to women (and to society in general).
One of the many unfortunate things about stereotypes is that they can
turn what should be perfectly legitimate and harmless words into
weapons against the stereotyped group.  So these areas require extra
sensitivity.  It's not a matter of being "politically incorrect"; it's
a matter of saying things that can cause damage, not because of their
intrinsic meaning but because of the context that has developed in our
society.

If you have a daughter who genuinely is not mathematically inclined,
and you say to a colleague, "Judy has never done well in math," that
colleague is likely to (perhaps unconsciously) chalk that up at least
in part to a general view that women aren't good at math.  (This may
be a view that your colleague actively denounces, but in our society
it's nearly impossible not to be at least somewhat "infected" by the
stereotype.)  If you say the same thing about your son, your colleague
is more likely to perceive it as a specific problem that your son has
with math.  

Unfortunately, a perfectly legitimate remark reinforces an unfavorable
stereotype in your colleague's mind.  This colleague may even be very
progressive on the issue.  But it's nearly impossible to completely
shield oneself from society's stereotypes, and they end up manifesting
themselves in the behavior of even the most open-minded people.  So
there are two things to do: First, we need to be vigilant and
introspective and try very hard to counteract the effects of societal
stereotypes in our own behavior and thinking.  And second, we have to
try to eliminate them from society so our children or grandchildren
(or ...) won't be infected by them.

I think what's needed in this sort of situation is not a "balanced"
approach, but an imbalance that will attack the stereotypes.  Things
should be judged *not* from the viewpoint of some hypothetical ideal
society lacking the existing stereotypes, but from the viewpoint of
our existing society.  Of course, there's a danger of overshooting and
creating something like a reverse stereotype, which you then have to
start attacking.  The idea is that if there's an oscillation it will
at least be damped, and it will hopefully converge to a balanced
situation more quickly than simply pressuring from a balanced point of
view.

It's like when the room is too hot.  You don't start pumping air into
the room that's exactly the temperature you want.  Instead, you start
pumping in colder air, since that will bring the room more quickly to
your desired temperature.

So when Barbie says "Math is hard," you need to think, not just about
whether it represents a reasonable situation, but whether it's going
to strengthen this existing damaging stereotype (or even simply slow
its abatement).  

Saying "Judy finds math hard" to your colleague is less damaging
because the message doesn't reach as many people, and because your
colleague presumably has a great deal of additional knowledge of Judy
and is therefore less likely to generalize.  But even then, I think
there's potential for damage.  This doesn't mean you shouldn't say
things like that.  Ignoring genuine situations like this can obviously
likewise do damage, and it would be, in my mind, a far *too*
imbalanced means of countering the stereotype.  But Barbie can do far
more damage, both due to the wide exposure and due to the greater
likelihood to view Barbie as "typical" and therefore to generalize.
So I do believe this message was an unfortunate choice by Mattel.

Also note that this isn't just a women's thing.  Imagine a G.I.  Joe
doll saying "I don't like poetry."  Mightn't that make it just a
little bit easier for a boy to dismiss poetry?
--
Andy Lowry, lowry@watson.ibm.com, (914) 784-7925
IBM Research, P.O. Box 704, Yorktown Heights, NY  10598
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