Game Developer Barbie
Object name/title: Game Developer Barbie
Maker(s): Mattel
Date: 2016
On display: Yes
Object number: SHEVG.2025.15
Credit line: Purchased, 2023
Game Developer Barbie
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What can Barbie tell us about representation?
‘Game Developer Barbie’ was created by toy company Mattel in 2016, and released as part of the company’s ‘Career’ line of dolls. It places Game Development alongside more traditional aspirational careers used in Barbie lines, such as Doctor, Vet, or Teacher.
This was not, however, the first videogame-related Barbie. ‘Computer Engineer Barbie’ was released six years before, in 2010. This earlier Barbie design was heavily critiqued as it featured Barbie dressed in glittery pink clothes, using non-realistic technology, and had an accompanying book portraying Barbie as relying on male colleagues to solve her technical problems.
The release of the much improved Game Developer Barbie occurred in 2016, a year after the well publicised events of Gamergate – an online harassment campaign that targeted women and LGBTQ+ game creators and players. Understanding the cultural context around this item opens up the greater discussion of representation of women in and around games. Game Developer Barbie would seem to place Mattel firmly in support of women in games, but what does effective representation look like to you?
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