Amy, wonderful news. I wonder if he has the following article in his
archives? AND I wonder if we could find the duo mentioned below to speak
at an ARLIS/NA conference? Cheers, Ray Anne
Customers Flocking to Stores for New Barbie and Ken Dolls!
By Ray Anne Lockard, Retired Librarian and Cyber-Lampooner
The librarian stereotype is older than dirt! It is also systemic and it
sucks. The manufacturer of Barbie and Ken has done it again. Yes folk,
parents are teaching their children that librarians are trendy members of
the workforce and doing it now!
Barbie and Ken are being touted as librarians and have a whole new line of
accessories. Parents need not buy new clothes for their darling dolls -
the duo's wardrobe has been hip from the beginning. The Barbie Mobile and
Motorcycle Barbie fit right in too! An undisclosed source reports that
Barbie and Ken Librarians can be seen wearing their bikinis at the outdoor
reference desk under the palms in Miami Beach. Entertainment Tonight will
air from their desk live tomorrow night with satellite connections to the
pink offices of hot Librarian Barbie and Ken in the drifting snows of
Minnesota; the skating Barbie and Ken team in Venice, CA; and "the
Village" where an undisclosed source said that Librarian Barbie and Ken
trade outfits and Ken wears all the jewelry!
The clever manufacturer has told this reporter's office that Librarian
Barbie and Ken packages are outfitted with a pink wireless telephone that
keeps them in touch with their patrons 24/7! Other accessories are sold
separately: pink workstations with glittering keys; pink briefcases; pink
conference tables; pink reference desks; pink book trucks; and pink
laptops for projecting their digitized slide collections anywhere and at
any time. The latter accessory is necessary for all Barbie and Ken Art
Librarian dolls and only a limited supply is in circulation.
Yes, that old stereotype has gone the way of Elvis, cat-eye glasses, and
Dixie cups! Barbie and Ken eyewear is no longer available from the
manufacturer because the dynamic duo has had laser surgery. Pencils have
been replaced with chopsticks because Librarian Barbie and Ken order
take-out on their wireless phones. Sensible shoes are not available
because that would not be cool. Besides, a subsidiary of Easy Spirit has
been making their fashionable shoes for decades. Comfort AND fashion -
-what could be more IN?
And hey! It's cool to talk in libraries these days - so kids are invited
to take their Librarian Barbie and Ken dolls to their very own library to
show the reality librarians how to change their image!
The lucky kids whose parents purchase Librarian Barbie and Ken will have a
blast while they role-play. Barbie and Ken can take turns being director
and librarian, they can be networking conference librarians, computing
techie librarians, or collegial committee librarians. They could even
practice diversity in the workplace. Kids have told this reporter that
there are more roles to play with Librarian Barbie and Ken, but the editor
of this news report tells this author that she must leave that to the
reader's imagination! I can say this much. Word has it that Librarian
Barbie and Ken are novel lovers. I think I'll "check them out!"
Ray Anne Lockard
Head, Frick Fine Arts Library
University Library System
University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, PA 15260
Voice: 412-648-2410
Fax: 412-648-7568
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
A book should be a ball of light in one's hands.
Ezra Pound
On Wed, 16 Jan 2002, Amy Ciccone wrote:
> Actually, Ray Anne, the Barbie and Ken idea is not that far-fetched. Ken
> was originally modeled on a USC librarian (now retired) who was our
> archivist. His wife was a designer at Mattel.
>
> Amy
>
> Amy Navratil Ciccone
> University of Southern California Library
>
>
> >YES! Joan -VERY WELL put. Things will not change UNLESS we do what we
> >can as individuals for ourselves and network within our own orgnaizations
> >and OUTSIDE our profession, if even with our own friends.
> >
> >Humor is the best medicine, or so people say. I will forward to the list
> >what I hope is a funny fantasy I had this afternoon about Librarian Barbie
> >and Librarian Ken. The young need role models, afterall (are you smiling
> >with me)? Yes, everyone, I KNOW that Barbie is a sterotype in and of
> >herself. This is just for laughs and we could probably afford Barbie and
> >Ken's clothes more than our own.
> >
> >Ray Anne Lockard
> >
> > Ray Anne Lockard
> > Head, Frick Fine Arts Library
> > University Library System
> > University of Pittsburgh
> > Pittsburgh, PA 15260
> > Voice: 412-648-2410
> > Fax: 412-648-7568
> > E-mail: [log in to unmask]
> >
> > A book should be a ball of light in one's hands.
> > Ezra Pound
> >
> >On Wed, 16 Jan 2002, Joan Benedetti wrote:
> >
> >> I am secure enough in my profession and knowledgeable enough about the
> >> diversity of real librarians and real library jobs that I am very angry (and
> >> sad) about the mis-information still out there emanating from ad
> >>agencies who
> >> produce print ads and worst of all tv ads still featuring the ladies
> >>with the
> >> buns, the heavy-handed date stamps, the fingers to lips, and the crusade
> >> against overdues. As Alexis Curry says, my sense of humor would improve
> >>if my
> >> salary had ever been as high as that of lawyers, doctors, and
> >> accountants--but I think I would be hurt all the same because these are
> >>lies,
> >> occupational stereotypes that are every bit as damaging to us as individuals
> >> within our profession as well as to our profession as a whole as ethnic or
> >> gender or sexual orientation stereotypes are to individuals victimized by
> >> them. The fact that these stereotypes persist more than 30 years since I
> >> entered the profession (my thesis was on the image of the librarian) doesn't
> >> make me more sanguine; it just makes me madder! Yes we need to each take
> >> responsibility to do what we can to make ourselves as individuals as well as
> >> our profession known to those we work with--and yes, we need to do it
> >>with as
> >> much good humor as we can muster--but hiding our anger from each other as if
> >> it was something to be ashamed of benefits no one. I hope that all of the
> >> good suggestions being posted on the list can be translated into ARLIS
> >>action
> >> items and motivation to individual librarians to be more assertive in their
> >> everyday lives.
> >>
> >> Joan Benedetti
> >> [log in to unmask]
> >>
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> >>
> >
> >__________________________________________________________________
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>
>
>
>
__________________________________________________________________
Mail submissions to [log in to unmask]
Administrative matters (file requests, subscription requests, etc)
to [log in to unmask]
ARLIS-L Archives and subscription maintenance:
http://lsv.uky.edu/archives/arlis-l.html
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