No barbies for Iranian girls
Categories: Alcohol & Drugs, Media, Toys & Games
Barbie, the iconic American fashion doll, is destroying the youth and the culture of Iran. So says Ghorban Ali Dori Najafabadi, anyway. Najafabadi is Iran's Prosecutor General and he wants restrictions on the importation of Western toys in order to preserve Iran's Islamic culture. Iran is, according to Najafabadi, the third biggest importer of toys in the world.It's not just Barbie, of course; Batman, Spiderman, and Harry Potter are subjects of Najafabadi's ire as well. "The irregular importation of such toys, which unfortunately arrive through unofficial sources and smuggling, is destructive culturally and a social danger," he wrote in a letter to Iranian Vice President Parviz Davoudi.
Iran requires women to be very conservative in their dress and Barbie, of course, does not meet that expectation. There have been attempts to create alternatives that do conform to Islamic law, but they have not been successful. "We need to find substitutes to ward off this onslaught, which aims at children and young people whose personality is in the process of being formed," Mr Najafabadi said.
I'm not sure if it is possible to prevent the influx of Western culture or even if they should even try, but I suspect ultimately it will be the children that will decide what sort of toys they really want to play with.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Adriene 4-30-2008 @ 3:31PM
I have a great respect for other cultures and religions but come on... What little girl would want to play with a doll that has just its eyes visible?
Sorry I was just trying to picture what kind of toy he wouldn't find offensive.
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anon 4-30-2008 @ 8:22PM
I actually have sympathy for this viewpoint. I don't think Barbie is good for any children. Marketing of things to kids undermines parents, and unfortunately we are used to this in the US. I don't think it's right that kids should decide what they will play with. They don't have the maturity to understand all the implications of a skimpily clad doll with makeup and an impossible body type. Parents should have the right to control what products their kids are exposed to.
Addy 5-01-2008 @ 7:42PM
Sorry I was just trying to picture what kind of toy he wouldn't find offensive.
Dashin Fashion Children\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ 5-01-2008 @ 5:32AM
This article makes me wonder what toys Iran would export to the western world...
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ImNoDhimmi 5-01-2008 @ 5:23PM
Probably a beheading kit, complete with a stuffed goat to practice on.
Meagan 5-01-2008 @ 11:28AM
I have some sympathy to the view point too... except I'm troubled by "anon"s comments that it's unfair to market to children because the parents should be able to control what toys their children play with. Parents ARE the ones who ultimately control what toys their children play with (at least in their own house) whether it's through saying, "No, you can't have that," or whether it's from the INABILITY to say no. Parents should be the ones making the decisions and if they aren't, it's not really the fault of marketers.
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diane 5-01-2008 @ 5:45PM
I agree Meagan. Parents need to assert control over what toys come into their home. I know that in my home, we approve any and all toys, or they go back to the store to exchange it for a more appropriate toy. Of course, appropriate may vary from home to home.
Kat 5-01-2008 @ 3:33PM
IT'S A DOLL PEOPLE. A TOY. GET OVER IT.
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amanda 5-06-2008 @ 2:27PM
WTF?
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David 5-01-2008 @ 5:34PM
Good for Iran! The makers of Barbie have made her out as a 5lut and just for more money.
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Courtney 5-01-2008 @ 3:47PM
Iran would rather let their children play with bombs and blow themselves up.That is how sick and twisted they are!
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Nora 5-01-2008 @ 4:23PM
not all iranian's are terrorist people who think so are just close-minded bigots!
c 5-01-2008 @ 3:46PM
hitler did the same thing
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wood 5-01-2008 @ 3:52PM
Maybe we should fly over and drop about 100,000,000. (That's one hundred million) Barbies, Spidermans, Harry Potters, etc.
While they are busy looking for them all, let the Iraqis invade them for sending all those Iranian thugs to their country.
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The Ween 5-01-2008 @ 4:01PM
Instead of tinkertoys......they play with terror toys. No time for play when you have to learn all the terror tactics that daddy and his dad before him had to learn. Of course, they were both dead before 30.
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arizo 5-01-2008 @ 7:24PM
wow.. thats really funny...
i am ashamed that we have such sterotypical and close-minded people here. If Iran has decided not to allow barbie dolls that is no one elses business, and i personally feel that barbies are not the best of toys.. but if someone want to classify an inanimate object as a role model then that would be their first problem.
Phil 5-01-2008 @ 9:37PM
Kudos to Meagan for hitting the nail on the head.
I hear too many parents today complaining about how they can't control their children and how they HAVE to buy the latest hot toy or fashion for their children because they have lost the ability to say "no" to them.
No matter how much an advertisement made me want something (Life lesson: it is the job of ads to make us want things), I heard "no" a lot when I was a kid. Coming from a single-parent household, I couldn't manipulate my parents by playing one against the other to get what I wanted, either. So "no" meant "no."
And to all the parents who fall for "but all the other kids have them" - grow up. As Grandma used to say, "if all the other kids jumped off a bridge, would you, too?"
Ten-year-olds don't NEED a cell phone and designer sneakers and jeans just because their friends have them because their parents apparently have too much money and have lost the ability to say "no."
"No" builds character and teaches kids that you "can't always get what you want." Sing it, Mick!
As for the Iranians - let them do what they do. The things we do seem crazy to us and vice versa.
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ms.r 5-01-2008 @ 4:13PM
dont give them barbies raise them with guns an pipe bombs its the islomic way
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jan 5-01-2008 @ 5:32PM
wow your even more of an idiot than i thought i mean you dont even know how to spell islam. here let me help you, it's i-s-l-a-m-i-c ok you got it now?
arizo 5-01-2008 @ 7:27PM
actually its not the islamic way that would be like saying being gay is the ways of christians and raping children the way of catholics... and also, Islamic is spelled with an "a".