The “Stolen Election”

Hijabi Barbie

Iran’s top prosecutor has called for restrictions in the import of Western toys, saying they have a destructive effect on the country’s youth.

The Prosecutor General, Ghorban Ali Dori Najafabadi, said that toys such as Barbie, Batman, and Harry Potter would have negative social consequences. He also wants measures taken to protect what he called Iran’s Islamic culture and revolutionary values. Correspondents say Western culture is becoming increasingly popular in Iran.

Mr Najafabadi’s comments were made in a letter addressed to Iranian Vice President Parviz Davoudi, and quoted in several Iranian newspapers. He wrote, “The displays of personalities such as Barbie, Batman, Spiderman and Harry Potter… as well as the irregular importation of unsanctioned computer games and movies are all warning bells to officials in the cultural arena. The irregular importation of such toys, which unfortunately arrive through unofficial sources and smuggling, is destructive culturally and a social danger.”

The BBC’s Pam O’Toole in Tehran says the increasing popularity of Western culture has been causing concern in Iran’s clerical establishment for years.

Mr Najafabadi, a high-ranking cleric, said Iran was the world’s third biggest importer of toys, with many more being smuggled into the country.

In the past, Barbie dolls have been targeted by Iranian authorities bridling at their revealing dress.

In public Iranian women must cover their bodily contours – a rule, correspondents point out, that Barbie conspicuously fails to follow. Perhaps what they need is actually a veiled barbie doll. But Iran has made previous, unsuccessful, attempts to find substitutes for such toys.

A modestly-dressed version of Barbie and her partner Ken – named Sara and Dara – launched by Iran did not manage to counter the popularity of the Western version.

Fulla is the name of an 11 1/2 inch Barbie-like fashion doll marketed to children of Islamic and Middle-Eastern countries as an alternative to Barbie. The concept of her evolved around 1999, and she hit stores in late 2003. Fulla was created by a Syrian manufacturer from Damascus, and a toy company called NewBoy Toys. Fulla is also sold in China, Brazil, North Africa, and Egypt, while a few are sold in the United States. Although there had been many other dolls in the past that were created with a hijab, such as Razanne and Moroccan Barbie, none of them had ever been as popular as Fulla. Fulla is a role-model to some Muslim people, displaying how many Muslim people would prefer their daughters to dress and behave.

Fulla and Barbie are alike in many ways, such as in size, height, and popularity, that Fulla is sometimes nicknamed a ‘Muslim Barbie’. Differences between them include lifestyle and appearance. Fulla’s activities mostly include shopping, spending time with her friends, cooking (LOL), reading, and praying. Barbie dolls come in a wider range of hobbies and careers. According to the brand manager at NewBoy, there will be a doctor and a teacher Fulla in the future, as “these are two respected careers for women that we would like to encourage small girls to follow.”

Although they both have a wide range of clothes, furniture, jewelry, and other equipment, Fulla’s outdoor clothes do not include swimwear or anything similarly revealing. Compared to Barbie’s curves, skinny legs, and large breasts, Fulla has a smaller chest, is skinnier, and may be younger than Barbie. While the standard Barbie has blonde hair, blue eyes, and fair skin, the standard Fulla has darker hair, brown eyes, and olive skin. Despite this, they are both criticized “for presenting the same unrealistic idea of beauty… a certain image for women to conform to.”

Fulla was actually once described to be the physical antithesis of Mattel’s Barbie.

See the dolls in motion here.

Buy the any of the dolls mentioned above here.

Persepolis

As a fan of graphic novels and all things foreign, it seemed natural for me to read graphic novels that are written for or by authors of worldly origins. Since I’m not one to go against nature, I read quite a few randomly selected graphic novels, including Exit Wounds by Rutu Modan and The Golem’s Mighty Swing by James Strum.

Although my initial readings were entertaining, some of them quite intense, none can top the range of emotions that Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi helps the reader to experience. Satrapi tells her own story, so in a sense it’s her autobiography in comic-book style cells. She tells of a time where the world around her was changing very dramatically - she was raised around the time of the Iranian Revolution, and her parents decided it was best for her to attend a foreign school.

Eventually she returns, but Iran is not as she remembered it.

The book is hilarious. It will make you laugh. But at the same time, some of Satrapi’s darker moments are revealed, which, yes you guessed it, will most definately make you cry.

I’d hate to ruin this as a read for you, so I won’t say much more as it really is best portrayed by Satrapi across two volumes (for English readers), Persepolis 1 and 2. I’d advise you to get both in one volume, as I know for a fact you will read the whole thing, probably in no more than one sitting – and that’s not because it’s short, far from it actually. My own version is so battered up (through intensive reading and re-reading) that I’m considering purchasing another copy.

Stop the press, that’s not all. In mid-2007 it emereged that Satrapi was working to bring Persepolis to a wider audience via the medium of cinema. Persepolis is now an animated film, which is currently only available for download in French. Although I obviously have no qualms about downloading films from Hollywood and fat cat production/film companies, I think it’s important to support the independent artists, actors, directors and musicians who put in the effort for the real music and film that we love. The best way for that in this case would be to go out and watch this in a Cinema when it comes out (in English) around April time.

Currently, following over four-thousand votes, IMDb rates Persepolis 8.2/10. 

Persepolis has been nominated for an Academy Award and an Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film and a Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film of the Year. See all nomintions and awards here.

Have a look at the trailers here.