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DO-IT and Barbie in the News
by Sheryl Burgstahler, DO-IT Director
Two DO-IT participants made the news in articles published recently in
The Seattle Times and San Jose Mercury News, expressing their opinions
about Barbie's newest friend. In the Seattle Times front-page article
June 7, "Barbie's friend finds doors closed," Shelby Gilje, Seattle
Times staff columnist, states, "Becky, the strawberry-blond babe in
the hot-pink wheelchair, has a problem. Big time." Becky is the new
Barbie friend recently released by Mattel as "Share a Smile Becky."
Advocates for people with disabilities heralded Becky's arrival,
although some have objected to the perky name (Why not Becky the
veterinarian, software engineer, or scientist?).
However, as Gilje points out, Barbie and friends have not read the
1990 Americans with Disabilities Act, which requires accessible
entrances for wheelchairs. Becky's wheelchair, it turns out, doesn't
fit through the doors of the Barbie dollhouse. That's fueled lively
conversations on the Internet, including discussion lists maintained
by DO-IT. Gilje reports that staffers at the Easter Seal Society of
Washington in Seattle received an e-mail from Kjersti, a
junior at Curtis High School in Tacoma, and Priscilla, a Bellevue
Community College student. Johnson and Wong are participants in the
DO-IT program and learned the bad news about Becky via e-mail
exchanges with others. "How ironic and trueŠhousing for people with
disabilities that is not accessible! Mattel said they will redesign
the houses in the future to accomodateŠnow if it were that easy for
the rest of us!" their message said. "This (inaccessibility) is what
we live with every day," added Johnson. "When you're having a bad day,
it's good to have something to laugh about."
DO-IT resources
