Hooray! The Eleanor Barbie doll is on sale now – buy it! – especially for any little girl in your life. Let her see and imagine a true superhero, and let her imagine that she can grow up to be one of the most important leaders in the history of humanity, the same as any man.
Little girls should have the same dreams of leadership as little boys, and they both should be taught that we are all in this together here on Earth, so their leadership should include everyone, not just those in some particular nation state.
You can buy the Eleanor Barbie here.
Now I realize this may seem cheeky to some people. First, there’s nothing wrong with a smile and a sense of humor. Second, it’s actually serious stuff. Many years ago, I, along with other lawyers, brought a lawsuit to require the Californina State University System to create more women’s sports teams throughout the entire state system. My favorite line in court, with the room packed with women atheletes, was that “women should have the same dreams as men.”
We won based on a state law that women should have equal opportunities as men. That’s the power of law, and why the core of Eleanor Lives! is an International Bill of Rights. Based on this win, and many others across America, hundreds of new women’s soccer teams were created. Then, given the opportunity, these women went on the play in the World Cup for Women, and won numerous times.
Dreams matter, and they are not equal. Watch this video about the “Dream Gap.” Today, girls are taught at an early age they are inferior to boys.
Then close the gap. Become a “light for rights” on the Eleanor Lives! website. Don’t listen to the negative voices, including perhaps the one in your head, that “an International Bill of Rights will never happen, so why bother.” The Eleanor Barbie box has one of my favorite Eleanor quotes: “Nothing is ever achieved by the person who says ‘it can’t be done.'”
In the 25 years (approximately 1,000 hours a year) since I began working with the former Dean, then professor, Frank Newman, at the Berkeley Law School, to make rights such as equality for women juridical (that is, enforceable in the courts of all countries), the only argument I have ever heard against it, with some slight variation, is “it can’t be done.”
Eleanor Roosevelt, Rene Cassin, John Humphrey, P.C. Chang, Charles Malik and others created the best plan for humanity ever written. Over the years, and 13 Versions of our booklet, we have even offered a 5,000 reward to anyone with a better plan than the one included the booklet, including the draft International Bill of Rights. No one has offered a better plan – not even close.
So it may appear to just be a doll, but it represents a legacy. One of the most important goals of Eleanor Lives! is to share Eleanor’s legacy and fill girls internationally with the inspiration that they too can be great leaders. When you share the doll, please share the spinning globe on the website too so that girls, and boys, can follow in Eleanor’s footsteps.
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