The Latest Goldieblox Video Teaches Girls To Smash Stereotypes With Their New Doll

With engineering being one of the fastest growing sectors in the United States, and let’s face it, around the world, what Debbie Sterling has done by creating the engineering-focused Goldieblox toys has essentially catapulted her into “genius” category.

We’ve heard many times how girls outperform boys in math and science at elementary school age, but soon after they lose interest, there is no cultural push to inspire them toward any of the STEM careers, and so by college age the majority of STEM graduates are men.

But with over 1 million unfilled jobs in the United States alone, it seems that there aren’t enough men to fill the gaps, and it has never been a better time for women to be encouraged to take up a career in one of these fields. Here’s the bottom line truth: the world will never stop needing engineers, scientists, mathemeticians and tech-sperts, so investing in these industries is more of a sure thing than anything else you could invest money in in this economy.

With Google offering free coding lessons for girls, there are plenty of initiatives out there to help girls get a firm foundation from a young age.

One of the companies that is enabling girls to get into the rhythm of problem solving skills, numbers and sums early is Goldieblox, and they are determined to override the dominant cultural message that girls just need to be pretty to get by.

After a string of viral videos infiltrating mainstream pop culture and households with kids, they have upped the ante and are releasing a doll to accompany their toy sets which will make a perfect present for any girl looking to steer clear of that darn pink toy aisle this Christmas.

The video opens with a production line of girls coming out of a doorway into a factory, dressed as princesses. We see the message “fashion dolls teach girls to value beauty over brains. One is sold every 3 seconds.” Imagine if engineering toy sets were sold every 3 seconds, just imagine the huge impact that would have on an entire generation of girls and their parents!

Because yes, parents are a vital part of the conversation about changing the status quo. It has to start with them.

After a few minutes of watching the same robotic-type girl walk through the “princess making” factory, in comes a girl with scruffy hair, converse sneakers, denim overalls and a hammer at the ready. Set to the tune of Metric’s ‘Help I’m Alive’ (totally appropriate) the anomaly breaks out of the line and starts smashing the instruments in the factory.

The end result is a toy that comes out of the machine looking like the young girl with the hammer and sneakers, rather than the barbie doll.

The sign that has been illuminated the entire video reads “Big Sister” and at the end it is flickering as if it has been short-circuited, and all we see is the “B S” part, which sums up the message of Goldieblox in adult form: what society teaches our girls is BS. Why should we force them to fit into the narrow-minded categories that generations of girls have grown up with?

With technology and innovation on our side, it has never been a better time to be a cultural deviant and set a new standard of excellence. Screw what the corporations tell us, and what advertising teaches us.

And if you need some extra info about Goldieblox, thinking they are just another trend or a flash-in-the-pan gimmick, here are some numbers which might interest you.

The company started out as a Kickstarter campaign from creator Debbie Sterling, who is a Stanford University graduate and engineer, and couldn’t help but wonder why there weren’t more female engineers in her field. Her initial goal was to raise $150,000 over a 30 day period. She ended up raising that figure in FOUR DAYS, and by the end of the campaign (where she ended up raising a total of $285,00) she had a million dollars in pre-sale orders! The first batch was released in March 2013, and now you can buy the Goldieblox set at your local toy store. Winning!

There are still many barriers to women in the STEM fields, including stereotypes, harassment, and lack of encouragement and inspiration. It will take more women like Debbie stepping up as role models and showing young girls that engineering is not just one of those boring jobs that your dad does in an office filled with men in suits where they discuss buildings and such.

What Goldieblox is doing is getting the interest started early, and their videos are exciting to watch. We almost wish we were younger, but you guys won’t judge us if we buy this toy for, say, a team bonding session would you? But seriously (no, that WAS slightly serious!) this is one piece of Christmas consumerism we’re happy to get on board with any day, because it’s not just a toy you buy for a little girl, it is a long-term investment in a young woman’s future.