Combat Barbie

I can't let International Women's Day go past without mentioning Lance Corporal Katrina Hodge, known to her comrades in the Royal Anglian Regiment as "Combat Barbie", a thoroughly modern miss. Miss England in fact. She was decorated for bravery in Iraq, models lingerie, took 6 months off army duties to fulfill her obligations as Miss England and is now a paid ambassador for Uniform Dating. (CLICK for a YouTube video.) What reminded me of Katrina was the news that US toy giant Mattel Inc. has shut its Barbie concept store in Shanghai after only two years. I'm not surprised. How many Chinese barbies have you seen? They're all blondes (CLICK). Nobody at Mattel noticed that Chinese girls have black hair!