Bryce Masuk
09-16-03, 11:41 PM
Yep its real who else wants to get in on the "Black Market" Barbie?
Saudi religious police campaign against 'Jewish' Barbie
By THE JERUSALEM POST INTERNET STAFF
Barbie
(Mattel Inc.)
Saudi Arabia's religious police have declared Barbie dolls a threat to morality, complaining that the revealing clothes of the "Jewish" toy - already banned in the kingdom - are offensive to Islam.
The Committee for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, as the religious police are officially known, lists the dolls on a section of its Web site devoted to items deemed offensive to the conservative Saudi interpretation of Islam.
"Jewish Barbie dolls, with their revealing clothes and shameful postures, accessories and tools are a symbol of decadence to the perverted West. Let us beware of her dangers and be careful," said a message posted on the site.
A spokesman for the Committee said the campaign against Barbie - banned for more than 10 years - coincides with the start of the school year to remind children and their parents of the doll's negative qualities.
Speaking to The Associated Press by telephone from the holy city of Medina, he claimed that Barbie was modeled after a real-life Jewish woman.
Although illegal, Barbies are found on the black market, where a contraband doll could cost $27 or more.
In May, the watchdog group Middle East Media Research Institute wrote that the religious police Web site showed a photo of several Barbie dolls.
The group, which translates Arabic media, also translated this text from the Web site:
"The enemies of Islam want to invade us with all possible means, and therefore they have circulated among us this doll, which spreads deterioration of values and moral degeneracy among our girls."
With the photo of Baarbie, under the heading "The Jewish Doll," was a story titled "The Strange Request."
The story reads: "One girl said to her mother: 'Mother, I want jeans and a shirt open at the top, like Barbie's!!' The dolls of the Jewish Barbie in her naked garb [sic], their disgraceful appearance, and their various accessories are a symbol of the dissolution of values in the West. We must fully comprehend the danger in them."
Barbie owner Mattel Inc. declined comment.
The creator of Barbie was Ruth Handler, who with her husband Elliot, co-founded Mattel. Barbie was named after the Handler's daughter, Barbie. Handler was the daughter of Polish Jewish immigrants to the United States, and was brought up in a Yiddish-speaking household in Denver, Colorado.
According to the Web site characterproducts.com, Ruth Handler was inspired by three smutty "Lilli" dolls she picked up in Europe in 1957. The Lilli dolls were modeled after a character in a German comic strip. Lilli was not a baby doll like most other dolls on the market in the 1950s. Lilli had a well developed, curvaceous body, a tiny waistline, and wore skimpy, tight clothes.
After watching her daughter Barbie play with adult paper dolls, Ruth Handler decided to create a doll that would "project every little girl's dream of the future."
According to Mattel, more than 1 billion Barbie dolls (and family members) have been sold since 1959 in more than 140 countries. Barbie is the best-selling fashion doll in almost every global market, with worldwide annual sales of $1.5 billion.
- Associated Press contributed to this story
Saudi religious police campaign against 'Jewish' Barbie
By THE JERUSALEM POST INTERNET STAFF
Barbie
(Mattel Inc.)
Saudi Arabia's religious police have declared Barbie dolls a threat to morality, complaining that the revealing clothes of the "Jewish" toy - already banned in the kingdom - are offensive to Islam.
The Committee for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, as the religious police are officially known, lists the dolls on a section of its Web site devoted to items deemed offensive to the conservative Saudi interpretation of Islam.
"Jewish Barbie dolls, with their revealing clothes and shameful postures, accessories and tools are a symbol of decadence to the perverted West. Let us beware of her dangers and be careful," said a message posted on the site.
A spokesman for the Committee said the campaign against Barbie - banned for more than 10 years - coincides with the start of the school year to remind children and their parents of the doll's negative qualities.
Speaking to The Associated Press by telephone from the holy city of Medina, he claimed that Barbie was modeled after a real-life Jewish woman.
Although illegal, Barbies are found on the black market, where a contraband doll could cost $27 or more.
In May, the watchdog group Middle East Media Research Institute wrote that the religious police Web site showed a photo of several Barbie dolls.
The group, which translates Arabic media, also translated this text from the Web site:
"The enemies of Islam want to invade us with all possible means, and therefore they have circulated among us this doll, which spreads deterioration of values and moral degeneracy among our girls."
With the photo of Baarbie, under the heading "The Jewish Doll," was a story titled "The Strange Request."
The story reads: "One girl said to her mother: 'Mother, I want jeans and a shirt open at the top, like Barbie's!!' The dolls of the Jewish Barbie in her naked garb [sic], their disgraceful appearance, and their various accessories are a symbol of the dissolution of values in the West. We must fully comprehend the danger in them."
Barbie owner Mattel Inc. declined comment.
The creator of Barbie was Ruth Handler, who with her husband Elliot, co-founded Mattel. Barbie was named after the Handler's daughter, Barbie. Handler was the daughter of Polish Jewish immigrants to the United States, and was brought up in a Yiddish-speaking household in Denver, Colorado.
According to the Web site characterproducts.com, Ruth Handler was inspired by three smutty "Lilli" dolls she picked up in Europe in 1957. The Lilli dolls were modeled after a character in a German comic strip. Lilli was not a baby doll like most other dolls on the market in the 1950s. Lilli had a well developed, curvaceous body, a tiny waistline, and wore skimpy, tight clothes.
After watching her daughter Barbie play with adult paper dolls, Ruth Handler decided to create a doll that would "project every little girl's dream of the future."
According to Mattel, more than 1 billion Barbie dolls (and family members) have been sold since 1959 in more than 140 countries. Barbie is the best-selling fashion doll in almost every global market, with worldwide annual sales of $1.5 billion.
- Associated Press contributed to this story