LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – During Michigan’s gubernatorial race last year, Michigan’s Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, in her support for transgender equity, called women “people with a period” and “menstruating people.”

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Now, for some unexplained reason, the Michigan government appears to have been co-opted by Mattel and has been promoting the new Barbie movie by portraying women in Michigan government, and those they wish to recruit, as “Barbies.”

It started with Gov. Whitmer posting one of her nine Barbie-related Twitter posts on July 20th with a photo of a dark-haired Barbie in Whitmer’s trademark fuchsia clothing, wearing a pantsuit and a Michigan necklace in front the state capitol. She tweeted, “Come on Barbie, let’s go govern. This Barbie is the 49th Governor of the great state of Michigan, and just like @Barbie, fuchsia is my power color. I’m committed to fighting for a state where every Michigander, no matter their background, can thrive.”

Gov. Whitmer went on to post photos of Governor Barbie instead of photos of herself to talk about the progress she feels she has made with things like the budget and battery manufacturing.

More Michigan governmental departments, who appear to have chosen to be unserious last week, also got in the Barbie game as well.

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources had a photo of a Barbie in a field with daisies and a butterfly and tweeted, “This Barbie is a wildlife biologist” and another with jeans, a purple shirt, with bright pink hair and sunglasses sitting next to a stuffed bear with the tweet, “This Barbie is a customer service specialist.”

Michigan State Parks, Trails and Waterways had photos of two Barbies on a shoreline in Michigan and tweeted, “Barbie can do anything. (And so can you!) Barbie is a shoreline birder who shares her passion for neotropical migrating birds with everyone, just like her trip plan, so her friends know where she is. Be like Barbie.”

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They posted another Barbie photo with the doll on a boat and tweeted, “Barbie can do anything. (And so can you!) Barbie can trailer a boat, often on her own, after work, because she likes to feel the wind in her hair after a busy day changing the world, and she always wears a life jacket. Be like Barbie.”

A third tweet had Barbie dressed up as a park ranger and said, “This Barbie is a Park Ranger so she literally CAN DO EVERYTHING. Electrical, plumbing, light construction, driving a tractor, hospitality, fire-making, landscaping, conflict resolution and so much more! Be like Barbie.”

The Michigan House Democrats appeared to be looped into the Barbie promotions as well and tweeted out a photo of the state capitol in fuchsia with the title “The Real Dreamhouse.” They tweeted, “We built Michigan’s Dream House because, as Barbie says, together we are strong.” However, the tweet no longer appears on their timeline. Instead, they re-tweeted one of Gov. Whitmer’s posts.

Another group that tweeted about Barbie and then later took down the tweet was the Michigan State Police, who got into hot water when they used a uniformed Barbie in a recruitment pitch. They had tweeted, “This Barbie is ready to serve the state of Michigan! When you join the MSP, #youcanbeanything. From a trooper to a forensic scientist, a motor carrier officer to a pilot, the possibilities are endless. Explore your future career path with the MSP today at michigan.gov/MSPJobs.” The tweet didn’t stay up long and was replaced an apology that said, “MSP’s social media team values the contributions of our female members and out of respect for them we have removed our previous post about Barbie.”

So far, a quick search through other Michigan departmental twitter feeds didn’t yield any Tax Barbies (Department of Treasury), Voting Barbies (Michigan Department of State) or Highway Barbies (MDOT).

While some women might say that being called a Barbie is a step above being called a “menstruating person,” others might argue that it isn’t much of one.