Software companies are targeting girls,but is their marketing on the mark?

Click on the wedding cake icon and she appears before you, impossibly long legs, cotton-candy hair spun into a curly halo atop her head. She wears nothing but a snowy white bra and panties. She waits, as she always waits, for you to dress her. You choose a flouncy strapless with a full skirt. Click on another icon and the dress sprouts a demure collar and billowy sleeves. Next come the pert pointy shoes, modest nosegay, full-length gloves, and cascading veil. Barbie's wedding dress is white, of course. But if you're in a playful mood, you may choose from 11 other colors, including three shades of pink.


Barbie is ready to strut down her pink festooned runway in your creation. Once in the spotlight, she abandons her timid bride facade. She rolls her hips and swings her arms, undulating in a virtual bump and grind. She halts at the end of the catwalk, thrusting out her considerable bust. Cupid's-bow lips parted slightly, her vacant cornflower-blue eyes fix on you. Barbie, the unlikely revolutionary.
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