Despite the Iranian Government's dislike for Western culture, apparently they have a soft spot for Superman and Spider-Man. The Simpsons and Barbie are now added to the list supposedly not in Iran along with a long list including ice cream, women's rights and freedom of religion. Two things that strangely aren't added to the list however is the allowance Spider-Man and Superman dolls. Apparently the reason these two icons are aloowed is because they help oppressed people as well as maintaining a positive stance.
This recent ban is part of a decades-long crackdown on signs of Western culture in Iran. The Barbie dolls, which were created in 1959 by Mattel, were officially banned in the mid-1990s and criticized for wearing swimsuits and miniskirts in a society where women must wear head scarves in public. But despite the ban, the doll had been openly on sale. Authorities initially launched a campaign of confiscating Barbie dolls from toy shops in 2002 but the campaign was eventually dropped.
Islamists have repeatedly treid to fight what they see as a Western cultural invasion since 1979, but despite bans on many books, movies, satellite TV channels, music, haircuts and fashion from the West, many young people follow the Western culture avidly and can often obtain illegal products on the black market. In 2011, Iran imported $57 million worth in toy and officials believe some $20 million more worth of toys were smuggled across the border the same year.
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