Barbie has a new career — computer engineer. Oh good, announced to coincide with E-week and honor of Engineer Your Life, I thought. But no, the announcement is tied to the opening of the annual toy show.  Nonetheless!

Even though in 1992 Barbie said,”Math class is tough,” much to the legitimate horror of the American Association of University Women, after 18 years Barbie has finally mastered those equations and earned her degree in computer engineering; now she’s ready to take on the world.

She did take a few detours on the way, becoming both president of the United States and a Starfleet officer in 2000. In her younger days she tried ballerina and McDonalds cashier. But now she has found her true calling. We hope.

We are told that the Society of Women Engineers and the National Academy of Engineering were consulted in the kitting out of this latest Barbie doll. I believe that, but I suspect that Mattel tweaked the recommendations a bit. Like: a laptop with Linux has turned bright pink and glittery — and it’s hard to imagine a rookie computer engineer taking it to work. But, I have to say, on a quick look there actually are quite a few pink laptops IRL to choose from!  Barbie also sports pink (of course) eyeglasses, a smartphone with bluetooth headset and a seriously hunk-a-chunk wristwatch. Probably the geek’s delight: an enigmatic Tokyoflash, custom made in hot pink for her. Again, just guessing.

I imagine that the women engineers suggested a casual  pants outfit, more practical and realistic than a dress for computer engineer Barbie, never suspecting that pants would turn into skintight black leggings with silver sparkles. But hey, as long as she can do the work — right?

In order to increase the verisimilitude, perhaps a little accessory kit could be added: Dilbert cartoon book,  half empty bag of Cheetos, a tiny can of Mountain Dew, and some special makeup for drawing the dark circles under her eyes.

Okay! Enough with poking fun. I would now like to say something in support of Barbie. Ahem. She can be something of a ditz, has certainly had some issues with making up her mind about a career (she has had over 100 of them) but keep this in mind: over the long haul, Barbie has been pretty consistent about being gainfully employed. That’s a lot more than you can say for those Disney princesses.

BTW: the binary code on Barbie’s laptop screen reads: Barbie. Over and over. In ASCII. I could tell you were dying to know.