Iran found a new threat - Barbie doll
Posted on April 29, 2008
Filed Under Middle East, News, Stupidity
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Some things in any country’s policies are wrong, based on policy makers’ ignorance; some things are intentionally malicious. Some are simply ridiculous, bordering with pure stupidity.
Iran found a new threat to its cultural heritage - Barbie doll! Yes, the very same Iranian culture that they love to boast about, is apparently so weak and fragile (or perhaps shattered by centuries of Muslim oppression) that American children idols - Barbie, Spiderman, Batman and Harry Potter - are considered to be a social and cultural danger.
Tehran: A top Iranian judiciary official warned on Monday against the “destructive” cultural and social consequences of importing Barbie dolls and other Western toys.
In the latest barrage in a more than decade-old government campaign against Barbie, Prosecutor General Ghorban Ali Dori Najafabadi said in an official letter to Vice President Parviz Davoudi that the doll and other Western toys are a “danger” that need to be stopped.
The letter said “The irregular importation of such toys, which unfortunately arrive through unofficial sources and smuggling, is destructive culturally and a social danger.”
Iranian markets have been inundated with smuggled Western toys in recent years partly due to a dramatic rise in purchasing power as a result of increased oil revenues.
While importing the toys is not necessarily illegal, it is discouraged by a government that seeks to protect Iranians from what it calls the negative effects of Western culture.
Najafabadi said the increasing visibility of Western dolls has alarmed authorities and they are considering intervening.
His letter said, “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 the officials in the cultural arena.”
Najafabadi said Iran is the world’s third biggest importer of toys and warned that smuggled imports pose a threat to the “identity” of the new generation.
“Undoubtedly, the personality and identity of the new generation and our children, as a result of unrestricted importation of toys, has been put at risk and caused irreparable damages,” he said.
Mattel Inc., the maker of Barbie, had no immediate comment on the Iranian letter.
To this, Borat would say, “WAWAWEEWA!”
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