Just in time for EID, the Islamic festival that marks the end of Ramadan fasting, there's a new Barbie doll making its debut: Burka Barbie! Wearing fabric that covers the entire doll and leaves only a veiled slit in front of the eyes or, in another version, exposing only a small portion of the face, the new look was created by Italian designer Eliana Lorena for Mattel, the company that owns Barbie. The dolls were created as part of Barbie's 50th anniversary celebrations and sold in a Sotheby's auction in November that benefited Save the Children.
While it's not the first Barbie to wear Islamic dress (some of the "Dolls of the World" series such as "Moroccan Barbie" preceded it), it is the first to cater to the rising fundamentalist tide in the Islamic world. Barbie's sales in the Middle East have been falling over the last few years. In 2003, Saudi Arabia even banned the doll, calling it a “symbol of decadence to the perverted West." Barbie has also lost ground to local "Muslim values" competitors such as "Fulla," a dark-eyed Barbie look-alike created by Syrian-based NewBoy Design Studio and "Salma," an Indonesian-designed imitation manufactured in China. Both dolls are available with traditional Islamic accessories like hijabs, head scarves and flowing Arabic robes. "Fulla" sold over 1.5 million dolls in just the first two years after its introduction in 2003.While some people are welcoming Barbie's new conservative Islamic look, others are decrying it as a symbol of oppression against women.
One of these is Barbara Kay, who wrote in Canada's National Post, “There can be no parallel between these travesties of multiculturalism and other 'diversity' Barbies -- brown Barbies, native-dress Barbies, pilot Barbies -- avatars that reflect the natural appearance and truly traditional garb and career choices of free women.”
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Referring to a British Barbie collector's statement that the new doll was important for girls because they would now be able to play with a Barbie that represented their own values, Kay wrote, "What's next in dolls that are 'important for girls' to play with? ‘Illiterate Barbie’? ‘Forced-Marriage Barbie'?"So, is this case of multiculturalism gone mad for profit? I don't know. I just wonder if, were there were enough demand for it, anyone would come out with a "Klaus Barbie" doll?
Photo Credits:
1) Burka Barbies (Handout/CatersNews/Iberpress)
2) Fulla (image from BBC)
3) SS Hauptsturmfuhrer Klaus Barbie, head of the Gestapo in occupied Lyon, France. Also known as "the butcher of Lyon."
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Comments
Yikes! I think they might have missed the mark with this one. Surely there's a way to show a strong, proud Muslim woman without covering her head to toe?
Instead of having Ken, who rides dune buggy with Barbie, they have Muhammad, who throws stones at Burka Barbie until she is dead. Then he cuts off her head, in the name of his religion of peace. (Head-decapitating sword sold separately.)
I think Burka Barbie is awesome. Just because American's have a different outlook on culture, doesn't mean everyone else's is wrong. We should respect different cultures and their belief's. What do you think They think of our Brats dolls in micro mini skirts and stiletto's and who All look like they had plastic surgery. So which image would you give to your daughter? Slut or Conservative?
The problem I see here is that you could ostensibly put a zucchini under that burqa and no one would be the wiser. It really is a bad bit of marketing by Matel.
Do they have a Muslim fashion line out yet for the Barbie? I think it's kinda cool but...the full niqab? A bit much. Just a hijab would be the way to go.
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