That is great! And it gives a hint that the problem is not in the selection of the toys, but in the explanation of what can be done with the toy.
I happen to like dolls. We are encouraging free play and the use of imagination by offering the doll as a doll, but maybe we need to be more focused in our suggestions. But not in the same focus as the current marketing of dolls, who have a specific career or purpose - mostly superficial. You don't have to get as far as torching the thing (Jack
), but since my brothers did routinely love to pull off their heads, I had the opportunities to learn how they were put together and what household items I could use to recreate the factory built system. How about designing clothes for them? That teaches spatial relations - how do you turn this flat piece of material into a three dimensional object that fits the doll. Sewing, especially following a pattern and the accompanying directions, is engineering technology at its finest! (And it comes in handy when building bumpers and assorted field components.)
One of the things I actually found most fascinating about the cartoon was that the ad in the sidebar was for Jenny Craig, reminding me that I could lose 20 lbs for $20. So now that the cartoon suggests why there are fewer "girl" engineers, the ad beats down once again on the self esteem - even Valerie Bertinelli can't be happy unless she is thin. And looks like Barbie.
