January 6, 2005

It Would Have Been Okay If It Was Ken


[Click to enlarge]
"This was just an innocent oversight," says Lauren Bruksch, a spokeswoman for Mattel.

As a rule of thumb, Bruksch said, the questionnaires at barbie.com always try to have a neutral answer or nonresponse option. For gender, this third option should have been "I don't want to say," rather than "I don't know." The Web site has since been fixed. -- Barbie Accused of Being Part of the Transgender Movement

Seems to me that "I don't want to say," is dangerously close to "Don't Ask. Don't Tell."

Posted by Vanderleun at January 6, 2005 12:11 PM
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"It is impossible to speak in such a way that you cannot be misunderstood." -- Karl Popper N.B.: Comments are moderated and may not appear immediately. Comments that exceed the obscenity or stupidity limits will be either edited or expunged.

Is it just me, or is there something inherently creepy about an organization collecting demographic information--and possibly IP addresses--from children?

The correct response isn't "I don't know," it's "What's it to ya, pervo?"

Posted by: Mike Anderson at January 6, 2006 1:03 PM

It is my experience that not only do 4 year olds know, the boys are eager to show you.

Posted by: Alan Kellogg at January 6, 2006 8:58 PM

I've always, even when I was a kid, been suspicious of toymakers.

Posted by: Eric Blair at January 7, 2006 6:55 AM