All future Barbie titles "will be written to inspire girls' imaginations and portray an empowered Barbie character", Barbie manufacturer Mattel has said, after apologising for the Barbie I Can Be A Computer Engineer book and pulling the problematic title from online sale.
The book had caused outrage this week for showing Barbie entirely dependent on the help of men to actually be a computer engineer.
First published in 2010, the title was brought to the internet's attention earlier this week by a blog from the author Pamela Ribon.
Ribon quoted a scene from the story in which Barbie tells Skipper: "I'm designing a game that shows kids how computers work ... You can make a robot puppy do cute tricks by matching up coloured blocks!" But Barbie goes on to admit: "I'm only creating the design ideas ... I'll need Steven and Brian's help to turn it into a real game!"
Later Barbie, who wears her flash drive on a pink heart-shaped necklace, gets a computer virus, and infects Skipper's computer. Ribon quotes: "Hi, guys," says Barbie. "I tried to send you my designs, but I ended up crashing my laptop - and Skipper's too! I need to get back the lost files and repair both of our laptops."
"It will go faster if Brian and I help," offers Steven."Great!" says Barbie."
Ribon concludes: "IT WILL GO FASTER IF BRIAN AND I HELP, offer the men voices. 'Step aside, Barbie.' YOU'VE BROKEN ENOUGH, NOW."
Her post brought down an avalanche of criticism on the book, which had already attracted a host of negative reviews on Amazon.
Now Mattel has pulled the title from online sale, and issued a statement via the character's Facebook page.
"The Barbie I Can Be A Computer Engineer book was published in 2010. Since that time we have reworked our Barbie books. The portrayal of Barbie in this specific story doesn't reflect the brand's vision for what Barbie stands for," said Mattel. "We believe girls should be empowered to understand that anything is possible and believe they live in a world without limits. We apologise that this book didn't reflect that belief. All Barbie titles moving forward will be written to inspire girls' imaginations and portray an empowered Barbie character."
