I wanted to be president of the United States when I was 9. I ran for president of my fourth-grade class, took up an interest in government and felt politically empowered until I realized the extent of my influence was raising money for blowup furniture in the classroom.

Upon entering my teenage years, my goal shifted from wanting to be a politician to pursuing a career in writing about political issues. Even though I changed my mind, my dreams always remained professional: politics or journalism. When it came to inspiration and influences from childhood play toys, I was left with Malibu Barbie and Barbie’s Dream House.

But this is no longer the case. Mattel recently announced the highly anticipated and forthcoming edition of Barbie – ‘I Can Be President’ Barbie. Critics and skeptics are hesitant to embrace the toy company’s attempt at progress, noting it’s posing as the next best thing after pink Legos ‘for girls.’ Others are hyped over Barbie’s new career path, claiming it can play a large role in shaping the minds of young women.

We’ve certainly come a long way since Princess Barbie, complete with a pink fluffy dress, crown and castle replacing Barbie’s Dream House. ‘I Can Be President’ Barbie signifies this leap in personal politics.

I plan on purchasing the doll for myself when it hits shelves this August. I’ll also be buying it for my two younger cousins and any other young women I can think of who still play with dolls, but I can’t help but admire the irony of the dolls’ name.

‘I Can Be President’ implies it’s an aspiration, a goal or a possibility. ‘I Am President’ Barbie would be a concrete reality or scenario. It’s disappointing Mattel didn’t think to simply use the name ‘President Barbie.’ ‘I Can Be’ references potential, but ‘I am’ translates to decisive, strong and successful.

This choice of phrasing is strikingly gendered when considering play toys that are marketed toward young boys. Everyone’s favorite soldier isn’t named ‘I Can Be G.I. Joe.’ The actual doll isn’t so much the issue as much as the idea that Barbie ‘can be’ president, leaving women to think that they are capable, but still can’t actually acquire the title.

While the specific language is problematic, it unfortunately mirrors the status quo of the limited number of female politicians and women represented in government.

There are only six female governors, 17 female senators and, despite Hillary Clinton’s ’19 million cracks in the glass ceiling,’ there still hasn’t been a female president or vice president. Women only make up 23.6 percent of state legislatures, according to Off the Sidelines, a project started last year by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York.

The gender gap in U.S. government is also reflected on college campuses. The Washington Post reported in 2011 that less than one-third of student presidents are women at the 50 highest-ranked colleges by U.S. News and World Report.

The release of ‘I Can Be President’ Barbie comes in an election year when the realization a woman will not be running for president again in 2012 forces us to question why women still can’t break past the notion that they ‘can be’ president and actually be voted into office.

Maybe the problem isn’t with Mattel or even Barbie herself, but this new toy can be an opportunity to address the underlying issues of gender inequality in U.S. politics. In the meantime, I’m preordering mine.

Krystie Yandoli is a senior women and gender studies and English and textual studies major. Her column appears every Wednesday. She can be reached at [email protected] or followed on Twitter at @KrystieLYandoli. 

Published on April 17, 2012 at 12:00 pm