Mattel created an outrage from feminists after reportedly underestimating young women with its Barbie book entitled "I Can Be A Computer Engineer" published out of Random House that demoralizes not just women, but also the engineering profession-women engineers at that matter.
Back in 2010, Mattel already released a Computer Engineer Barbie but this particular book caught the attention of many women on the Internet.
Barbie was portrayed in the book as a stylish engineer that somehow breaks everything and doesn't know how to code. Apparently, she just draws the designs and leaves the actual programming to two men named Steve and Brian.
In another part of the book, a supposedly intelligent engineer Barbie inserts a flash drive into Skipper's laptop and accidentally infects it with a virus.
Mattel was previously under fire in 1992 for releasing a Barbie that "hates math." The doll would say things like "Math class if tough" and "I love shopping" afterwards, implying that young girls would prefer to shop instead of do school work.
Mattel then recalled 1.5 percent of all dolls programmed to say the phrase.
Barbie's physique also raised eyebrows and garnered a number of negative feedback for causing little girls to have unrealistic body image issues. There was even a Barbie that came with a weight loss book and a bathroom scale that is permanently set to 100 pounds back in the 1960s.
Meanwhile, Mattel apologized for the incident and the message that the book might have sent to readers across the globe, prompting the company to remove the product on Amazon, noting that they do not intend to demoralize, but to inspire.
"The portrayal of Barbie in this specific story doesn't reflect the Brand's vision for what Barbie stands for. We believe girls should be empowered to understand that anything is possible and believe they live in a world without limits. We apologize that this book didn't reflect that belief. All Barbie titles moving forward will be written to inspire girl's imaginations and portray an empowered Barbie character."
