Yes, Why CAN’T Architects Wear Pink?

Date: June 16, 2011

Yes, it’s Architect Barbie.

Article here.

It’s an intelligent read about women in architecture, and how Matel decided to step in and make, yes, Architect Barbie. I have no objections to heels and skirts, though to pair them with a hardhat makes me question if her heels are, in fact, steel toed heels (aka construction site allowable!).

It is great that now young children will be exposed to the occupation “architect”. When I was little, the list was short: doctor, fire fighter, policeman, nurse, housewife, plumber, mechanic, lawyer, artist.

During my undergraduate education, half, if not more, of the architecture students were female. I thought it was a testament towards the shift in a more proportionate distribution of gender in professional employment. Upon reaching graduate school, I’ve met many other students from other schools, where women were a fraction of the class. It is hard to tell then, what the near future will be like.

But does it really matter? I personally have never experienced any obvious discrimination in the offices I have worked at. It could just be that I have been blessed to work with fair-minded co-workers and bosses. Still, it is possible that I may not be hired over another guy. But in this world, I think connections are even more influential than the sex of a person. And once you are in the workplace, it does not take long for anyone to notice hard and talented workers over the lazy or unorganized.

Architecture knows very well her/his (haha) siblings Graphic Design, Art, Product Design, and of course, Fashion. Barbie touches upon Fashion… for the saying that “all architects wear black”… why can’t architects wear pink?

I’d like to think that the push for females to join the industry is representative of many other changes. Architects are not just people who wear black, draw pretty pictures, and do a bunch of calculations. We are artists. Artists never box themselves in… especially into stereotypes. So bring on the new! The world is changing… naturally we will as well.

Speaking of new… where is Architect Barbie’s laptop? She’s gotta run autocad on something!!