Is “Burqa Barbie” exporting oppression?
November 23, 2009
by The New Agenda
|18 Comments
Is this about bringing women back to the age of oppression? That’s what Brigitte Gabriel had to say on FoxNews:
Tell us what you think.
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This is complicated, to be sure.
But I am going to choose to side with Birgit Gabriel and Phyllis Chesler on this one. I have known too many Americans who “disneyfy” the wearing of the veil. As if it is kinda fun and exotic…. like Jasmine in Aladdin. It is not!
I wonder how those same folks who support this … would feel about Barbie in a chastity belt? And Ken with the key?? Frightening question to consider…. Isn’t it?
This “Santa” won’t be shopping Mattel. What are they thinking, or is it that they aren’t? When they began introducing Barbie in new less sexist roles, I was slowly softening toward her. So if she were a real person, she couldn’t walk or sit up maybe, but she’s a paleontologist off to a dig. My daughter gifted me with a Maternity Barbie to tell me I was about to become a grandmother. We both laughed at the pop-out baby. If only it were that easy. The image for little girls, though, is that Barbie can be a doctor and Barbie can be a mother. I could live with her waistline immediately returning to normal when you take the “baby cartridge” away. But to create a doll whose body has been so deliberately sexualized, and then cover it in a Burqa and give it to a little girl to play with? Female oppression from all directions. Your body should look like this but you should be so ashamed of your womanhood that you shroud it. I can’t support a company whose target audience is children and doesn’t see what’s wrong with this.
Where is ass kicking barbie? That’s the barbie I want to see.
To take the Mattel idea of “real person” barbies, will we soon have a sex skave barbie, a abused victim of violence Barbie? This PC stuff must stop,
I definitely agree, Bruce. I do not believe Mattel is intentionally trying to be sexist, but it is trying to be politically correct with the viewpoint that all cultures are equally valid. Mysogyny is the result.
If women want to be oppressed and enslaved, there is nothing anyone can do about it. We saw equality from a distance and decided it looked difficult and gave up. Just like the US did in 2000 and again in 2008 — we saw the future and voluntarily turned to the past. That’s what this is about. We’re on a serious slide downward as a gender and as a species. I wonder when headscarves will become flashy fashion choices next? Wait for it. It’s coming.
yttk,
“Ass Kicking Barbie” would be one and the same as “Caribou Barbie.” You know… the one they wish they could pull back off the shelves about now…. cuz her sales are through the roof??
Ooops. Too late. The demand is just too great….
LOL.
The idea of even trying to explain a Burka Barbie to my 9 year old daughter is disgusting to me. There is absolutely no justification for producing a doll like this. Young girls, impressionable girls, play with Barbie dolls. I grew up being told I could do anything I wanted to do. I tell my daughter the same thing. Now, using the “politically correct” justification, the Burka is being promoted as a fashion trend.
Love the chastity belt comparison. And, yes, if Mattel is going the direction of real life Barbie, then they need to create a whole line of abused, neglected, and killed women and girls.
Better yet, how about an honor killed Barbie?
” … yes, if Mattel is going the direction of real life Barbie, then they need to create a whole line of abused, neglected, and killed women and girls.”
Well, gawd knows there won’t ever be a need for a PRESIDENT Barbie in the future, will there? Guess they had to fill the void with “Knows Her Place Or Else” Barbie.
From what I understand, this Burka Barbie is one of 500 special Barbies being sold to raise money for Save the Children. Not saying I support it, but I don’t believe Mattel is putting this Barbie on a par with the standard Barbies (you know those impossibly thin, model-faced dolls with perfect long blonde hair).
That being said, millions of Muslim women do not wear burkas. Millions wear no headcovering at all, and millions more wear just a headscarf. Burkas are considered extreme by millions of Muslims across the world. Just because our political Wahabi enemies and friends (like Saudi Arabia) in Afghanistan and the Middle East demand burkas, that doesn’t make them standard.
Just as we don’t like seeing American women being stereotyped, let’s not stereotype Muslim women either. That is why I don’t think this Mattel doll is a good idea. Too many people don’t understand other religions anyway and will assume all Muslim women are to dress like this. It’s like a caricature.
Fantastic point Sofia! It is like a caricature in addition to the other reasons it irks me. If I were a Muslim woman, I think that kind of weird over the top pandering would offend me.
Today I spent much time on the phone speaking to all involved parties (except for the designer in Italy.)
Save the Children 800-728-3843 203-221-4030 202-640-6600
Sotheby’s 212-606-7000
Mattel Inc. 310-252-2000 608-8364949 608-836-1999
The woman at Save the Children seemed to be regretful and said that they were hearing from other people in opposition to this Burka Blunder. I politily told them that their charity was getting much bad publicity on the WWW and that what ever amount of money Burka Barbie’s auction would raide for their charity, the damage to Save the Children would surly exceed the benefits.
I also informed them that their Cahrity was beening refered to as Slave the Children on many blogs.
Sotheby’s was slightly receptive and Mattle gave me alot of mind numbing liberal non-sense about the Italian designer’s artistic expression and cultural diversity-SICK.
Oh, here is the so called designer’s info:
Elaina Lorena
info@team-csd.com
signed the puma prowl letter to Mattel and Sothebyes
seems that are the letters Juliette referred today. great that you could call.
PROWL INSTRUCTIONS:
Copy and Paste this letter into your email and send it to the following: foundation@mattel.com, prowl@pumapac.org, info@team-csd.com, twebster@savechildren.org, info@sothebysinstitute.com, info.ny@sothebysinstitute.com,
Dear Mattel,
As an American woman and a member of Puma PAC, People United Means Action, I have a couple of questions about your marvelous new Slave Barbie Collector’s Item:
Does she come with stones?
Does her head come off?
Does she come with a tiny vial of acid?
Does she need to be accompanied by a man in order to leave the store?
Who gets flogged if she takes her Burqa off in public? Doll? Or child?
Who arranges Burqa Barbie’s marriage?
If Burqa Barbie is “honor killed” do I get a refund?
The Burkha Slave Barbie is an outrage. My family, friends, and I will be boycotting ALL of Mattel’s products this holiday season, including, of course, Barbie, but also Hot Wheels, Fisher Price, and American Girl. We will DEFINITELY NOT BE BUYING any toys from Mattel for girls ever again after this outrageous insult to women and girls and to the women who fight for women’s freedom and rights worldwide.
Sincerely,
Your Name
Burqas are slave shackles misogynistic hateful religions force women to wear. Any woman who ‘chooses’ to participate in this hateful misogynistic slave tactic is sick and should be approached and all assistance should be given to free her. Any religion or country that promotes this evil practice should be chastised and forced to change. Like Apartheid, the practice of burqas keeps women separate and most un-equal. It is like being a prisoner. always. If Apartheid is not politically correct, than neither are burqas.
That being said, for Barbie to wear a burqa is really not a surprise as Barbie is a disgusting toy that promotes gender stereotyping, sexualization of women and young girls, and is just plain dumb. Why not a burqa? Could she get any worse than she is naked….I think not.
I would love to see Mattel put out of business, but the status quo is getting dumber quicker these days. And when you have idiots like Naomi Wolfe stating that burqas are ’sexy’ and claiming to speak for modern feminists you have proof of my position.
Women must want freedom to get it…..
what about stoned Barbie? How about honor killed Barbie who a removable head and her own ax? Acid attacked Barbie?
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