Word: mattell
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...market that has been all but ignored in favor of the seemingly bottomless appetite of boys and young men for so-called twitch games, like the bloody, light-speed shoot-'em-ups Quake and Doom. Why the sudden interest in what young women may want? In a word: Barbie. Mattel last fall released a disc called Barbie Fashion Designer that was a runaway best seller, proving once and for all that if the pitch is right, the girls will play. "There's always been an interest in marketing for girls," says Suzanne Groatman, children's software buyer for the retail...
...iffier question is how much traffic there will be for games that aren't as retrograde as, say, Barbie Magic Hair Styler--this fall's offering from Mattel. Some of the new titles come linked to popular books like the American Girl and Babysitters' Club series or Hollywood franchises such as Clueless and Sabrina, the Teenage Witch. But a few hardy souls plan to sail unlicensed into waters that, given the hit-or-miss track record of CD-ROMs, are most kindly described as uncharted...
...MATTEL Washington is reluctant to put F.D.R. in a wheelchair, but the toymaker plunks a Barbie look-alike in one--and hot pink to boot...
Scene II: Cruella's office. On the wall is a large plaque, saying "To Cruella P. Joy, for Outstanding Productivity, 1988," and on her desk is a stuffed toddler--Maria's little sister, who was caught several years ago trying to eat the plastic contents of a Mattel refrigerator. Cruella cackles wildly at the raggedy mob. "Fools! Santa isn't here. He doesn't even know you exist--that's the beauty of subcontracting...
...high school student, I witness examples of female subordination daily. Stereotypes are so ingrained in our culture that they are seldom questioned by my peers. If Mattel's president Jill Barad is truly concerned about American girls' future, she should approach female computer illiteracy in a manner that does not enforce the stereotypes we are supposedly trying to banish. Mattel's Barbie Fashion Designer program will only distract girls from the healthy activities that steer them away from oppression. CLAIRE CREVEY, age 17 Indianapolis, Indiana...