Iranian Official Calls Barbie "Destructive"

I. Citation

Iranian Official Calls Barbie “Destructive”

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

CNN

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/04/29/iran.barbie.ap/index.html

II. Summary

This article discusses the views of a top Iranian government official on the vending of Barbie dolls in Iran. While it is not illegal to import Barbie dolls (a US product) into Iran, it is strongly discouraged by the administration. They believe that Western products, such as Barbie dolls have a negative influence on their children. For example, they believe that the way Barbie dresses in “swimsuits and miniskirts” is extremely inappropriate, considering that the women of Iran wear head scarves ad can’t even swim around men! Iranian officials have been discouraging the vending of these dolls in Iran for over 10 years, but have yet to ban them, or been able to stop their being sold. One method of stopping the popularity of Barbie in Iran has been to make new dolls who meet the cultural standards of Iran. The names of these dolls are Dara and Sara, but Iran’s vendors have not been able to sell them, despite an honest effort. Iranian officials also believe that it is not just Barbie who is a negative influence on Iran’s children, but most of the Western (hemisphere) toy products. I think it will be interesting to see what measures Iran officials take next in trying to reduce the sale of western toy products, as well as how the United States will react to Iranian officials commenting negatively on the culture of the US people.

III. Reactions:

A) This article relates to the AP World History theme of impact of interaction among and within major societies. The article shows us how by importing products of the US, like Barbie, Iran’s children have been negatively affected. These children are growing up in the light of a culture that is not acceptable to their morals, as Western toys, such as Barbie, do not correspond with their moral values. If the US and Iranian vendors hadn’t worked together to bring Barbie to Iran, the youth might not now be under what they consider to be a negative influence.

B) The presence of Barbies in Iran has been an issue for Iranian officials for about ten years now. It makes sense that Iranian officials are upset about the presence of Western toys, like Barbie, in their country. The people of Iran follow a very strict moral code, which requires women to wear head scarves in public, and puts restrictions on interaction between male and female (such as the way that women aren’t allowed to go swimming in the presence of men, since they would be wearing a bathing suit). Toys such as Barbie are giving the youth of Iran a view of women that does not correspond with their culture, and Iranian officials are understandably upset.

C) This article came from a US news source, and from text of the article, I can assume that it was written by a person of the US. While they included a lot of quotes from government officials in Iran, they did not themselves negatively represent the Barbie doll. On the other hand, I would tend to think that although they were from the US, they probably weren’t too proud of their culture as while writing the article, they did not stand up for the Barbie doll, or anything like the way it is dressed (a depiction of American Culture). I was not able to determine the gender of the author.

D) I thought that the author did a very good job of presenting of all the facts in the article. She/he did not seem to side with Iran’s officials, as well as did not write as if she/he was offended by any part of what the Iranian officials were implying about US culture. But, since she/he (author) is most likely an American, I can conclude that they probably don’t agree with some of the aspects of American culture, such as they way Barbie depicts women, for they don’t stand up for Barbie, or the company who produces Barbie, Mattel, at all.

E) One point of view that is missing from the article is that of an Iranian woman. I am interested in knowing Iranian women feel about their culture. If they feel that it is too strict, making women feel subordinate to men, maybe the youth need to be influenced by Western culture in giving women more of an assertive role. I’m definitely not saying that their youth should go out and start dressing like Barbie, but maybe it is time for women to step up and have more of an equal role to men.

F) I am not at all surprised that Iranian officials are upset about Barbie being sold in their country. I agree that Barbie probably isn’t the best influence on children who are supposed to grow up to follow a very strict moral code, especially when it comes to the clothing of women. At the same time, I also think it would hurt Iran’s economy if they took Western products like Barbie off the market. These products generate a lot of money for their economy. I think the best option would be for Mattel to work with Iran in making a Barbie that is suitable to their culture. Barbies would still be helping the economy of Iran, but the youth would not be potentially negatively influenced by Barbie’s appearance.