Barbie led to my career as an attorney

At age 10, I wrote a complaint letter to Mattel - and got action. Teen Talk Barbie, released in 1992, uttered the phrase, “Math class is tough.” Way to discourage girls from considering careers in STEM!

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July 24, 2023 - 3:29 PM

Ryan Gosling as Ken and Margot Robbie as Barbie in “Barbie.” (Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures/TNS)

Can dolls change your life? Barbie and Ken changed mine. I wouldn’t be a lawyer if it weren’t for them.

When I was 7 years old, Barbie was my first doll that might need a job instead of a diaper change. I imagined my Barbie as an archaeologist or a veterinarian or, a few years later when the space race began, an astronaut. Her future was unfettered.

In 1961, Mattel released the first Ken doll. For one year only, the debut Ken had flocked felt hair. And, woe is me, my Ken doll started going bald.

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