Meet Entrepreneur Barbie. She carries a smartphone and is 'ready for her next big pitch'

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Meet Entrepreneur Barbie. She carries a smartphone and is 'ready for her next big pitch'

By Stylist Team

Updated 8 years ago

In 1965, she was an astronaut, in the Eighties she gained a seat in the boardroom as a CEO and in the Nineties she ran for President. Today, Barbie has become an entrepreneur.

Inspired by 10 real-life businesswomen, the latest doll from Mattel wears a pink and black belted dress, carries a smart phone, tablet and briefcase and is "ready to make a bold business move".

The tech-savvy doll is the '2014 career of the year doll' and is part of a larger push to rebrand Barbie as an empowered woman.

"Alongside Barbie, female entrepreneurs are changing the world, surpassing their goals and showing girls they can be both capable and captivating," Mattel announced on Wednesday.

Entrepreneur Barbie's webpage features 10 businesswomen, including Reshma Saujani of Girls Who Code, a non-profit organization that seeks to empower young women by teaching them advanced computer skills sought after in today’s job market.

Much like Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg's "ban bossy" campaign, which encourages girls to lead, the plastic doll has her own Twitter campaign, using the hashtag #unapologetic to help start a conversation for girls.

"In essence, Barbie is always asked to apologize for what she looks like," said Michelle Chidoni, a spokeswoman for Mattel in in an interview with Time magazine in February. "And the message there is to be unapologetic."

Mattel kicked off their sales of the doll on Wednesday by offering young girls tips and advice from the ten participating businesswomen on Twitter, using the hashtag #barbiechat.

However, despite Barbie's focus on careers - she's had over 150 different jobs so far, from an engineer to a paleontologist and a ballet dancer - a recent study by Oregon State University, showed that girls between the ages of 4 and 7 who played with Barbies were more likely to perceive themselves as having limited career options—regardless of whether the Barbie had a career herself.

So, what do you think of Entrepreneur barbie? Would you have liked to have played with her or would you gift her to a young girl?

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