Iran’s Latest Adversary: Barbie Dolls
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The Iranian Morality Police has been cracking down on the sale of Mattel Inc’s iconic Barbie dolls in toyshops all across the country, says a report by Reuters on Monday, as the nation engages in a “soft war” against decadent Western cultural influences.
“About three weeks ago they (the morality police) came to our shop, asking us to remove all the Barbies,” said a toyshop-keeper in northern Tehran.
The Iranian Morality Police has been cracking down on the sale of Mattel Inc’s iconic Barbie dolls in toyshops all across the country, says a report by Reuters on Monday, as the nation engages in a “soft war” against decadent Western cultural influences.
“About three weeks ago they (the morality police) came to our shop, asking us to remove all the Barbies,” said a toyshop-keeper in northern Tehran.
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Instead, toyshops have been encouraged to sell Dara and Sara – a male and female doll that came equipped with a variety of traditional dresses. Sara’s dress sense also went in full accordance to the cultural rules of female attire in Iran, with covered hair as well as loose-fitting clothes.
According to the Washington Post, Barbie dolls were first denounced in Iran in 1996, when the government issued a ban due to the doll’s “destructive cultural and social consequences.”
However, most shopkeepers chose to ignore the rule at the time due to the popularity of the doll among children.
[quote]”My daughter prefers Barbies. She says Sara and Dara are ugly and fat,” said Farnaz, a 38-year-old Iranian mother.[/quote]But, the latest crackdown has since turned Barbie dolls into a black market commodity as toyshop-keepers try to keep up with demand for the American-manufactured doll.
While some toy vendors such as Masoumeh Rahimi have openly spoken out against the “wanton” nature of Barbie dolls, declaring them to be “more harmful than an American missile,” others have chosen to circumvent the rules by selling the doll more discreetly.
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[quote]”We still sell Barbies but secretly and put these (Sara and Dara) in the window to make the police think we are just selling these kinds of dolls,” said a 40-year-old Tehran toy shop manager, as quoted by Reuters.[/quote]
