Evils of Western Civilization Barbie

Next year, Barbie will turn fifty. Mattel's iconic doll is officially rounding the mid-life bend and heading over the hill. Our gal is no stranger to controversy: In 1965 Slumber Party Barbie came with a book entitled "How to Lose Weight" which advised: "Don't eat." The doll also came with pink bathroom scales reading one hundred and ten pounds, which would be around thirty five pounds underweight for a woman five feet nine inches tall. In 1997 Barbie's body mold was redesigned and given a wider waist, with Mattel saying that this would make the doll better suited to contemporary fashion designs. That and maybe just a little more realistic depiction of the female body image.
Even at her age, she can still create a stir. In September 2003 the Middle Eastern country of Saudi Arabia outlawed the sale of Barbie dolls, saying that she did not conform to the ideals of Islam. The Committee for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice stated "Jewish Barbie dolls, with their revealing clothes and shameful postures, accessories and tools are a symbol of decadence to the perverted West. Let us beware of her dangers and be careful." In Middle Eastern countries there is an alternative doll called Fulla which is similar to Barbie but is designed to be more acceptable to an Islamic market. Fulla is not made by the Mattel Corporation, and Barbie is still available in other Middle Eastern countries including Egypt. In Iran, Sara and Dara dolls are available as an alternative to Barbie. "The appearance of personalities such as Barbie, Batman, Spiderman and Harry Potter and ... computer games and movies are all a danger warning to the officials in the cultural arena," said Iran's Prosecutor General Ghorban Ali Dori Najafabadi. Iranian markets have been inundated with smuggled Western toys in recent years partly due to a dramatic rise in purchasing power as a result of increased oil revenues.
One wonders what the enterprising black marketeer would get for a "Happy Family Midge" doll, with detachable pregnant stomach and baby. Interesting that there was no mention of GI Joes.