Should Barbie Lean In?

Culture

According to the Economist, women aren't the only ones who could take advice from Sheryl Sandberg's new book. At 54 years old, Barbie has held a total of 130 careers, but she's been subjected to lots of price discrimination. Time for her to Lean In?

After Matthew Notowidigdo started noticing huge price discrepancies between Barbie dolls, he coined something called the "Barbie Paradox." He concluded that the sellers were charging more for Barbies that had more promising careers. Parents who bought their daughters a doctor barbie would end up making more than the ones who bought her the babysitter barbie and therefore should pay more. The Economist notes, "They conclude that price discrimination is probably at work: sellers exploit parental hopes that a girl playing palaeontologist may grow up to be the real thing, so charge more."

However, recent research has disproved the existence of the Barbie Paradox. Here's the fun graph the Economist uses to prove their theory:

Do you think Barbie should Lean In? Let me know on Twitter: @feministabulous