By Arieh O'Sullivan

Tehran, Iran

Plastic toys have replaced weapons in the virtual conflict between Iran and the West.

Long frowned upon by the conservatives in Iran, the Barbie doll, an iconic symbol of "corrupt, immoral Western culture," has been subjected to a fresh campaign to purge her from the shelves of toy shops in Iran.

But life in plastic is still fantastic for real war games and Iran will be sending back to Washington a toy replica of the sophisticated RQ-170 American spy drone it brought down last month. The administration of U.S. President Barack Obama asked Iran to return the real drone.

"We will send a squadron of this toy to Obama and his family very soon in a special ceremony," Reza Kioumarsi, a spokesman for the Aaye Art Group, a Tehran-based non-profit, non-governmental company that makes novelty items, told The Media Line.

The drone clone, which is one-80th the size of the original aircraft, is turning out to be a hot item for Iranian children. Aaye says it is producing thousands a day and selling them for about 70,000 rials ($4) each (A real RQ-170 probably costs about $6 million, not counting development costs.)

But for Barbie, it's no party in Teheran. Police last week told toy shops that the Barbie doll can no longer be sold and as a result some of Tehran's large toy stores have started removing them from shelves, according to the Iranian website Mashregh, which reflects the views of the most conservative clerical leadership.

The police wasted little time and shut down dozens of toy shops in Teheran offering Barbie dolls for selling "manifestations of Western culture," the Mehr news agency reported.

The move comes as clerics and conservative quarters in Iran have stepped up their criticism of Western culture. The Gerdab website argued last week that playing with the impossibly busty and long-legged Barbie "triggers a psychological change in children and increases the influence of values that go against the values of Iranian-Islamic culture."

The website is by no means solely anti-West. It also blasted the toy shops for selling Chinese-made makeup for children who want to doll themselves up like the American doll of the material world.

However, while makeup is forbidden in Iranian government offices contrary to the Islamic Republic's religious establishment restrictions, Iran's urban centers are full of elaborately made-up women and teenage girls. In fact, Iranian women are some of the world's top consumers of cosmetics and - together with men - have made Iran the Middle East's second-largest market for cosmetics

In the mid 1990s, Iranian clerics called the full-figured, glamorous Barbie doll, not to mention her clingy gowns, skimpy swimsuits and her more lately acquired feminist pretensions, a Trojan clothes horse for Western influences into the Islamic republic. But nothing was really done about it and demand remained high.

In 2002, the influential Institute for the Development of Children and Young Adults attempted to offset the popularity of Barbie and her life partner Ken with an Iranian version called Dara and Sara. The modestly dressed brother and sister were aimed at promoting traditional Islamic values. But it soon became clear that the dumpy Iranian dolls could not capture the hearts of Iran's children. Barbie continued to rule.

But several months ago a conservative website criticized the Iranian authorities for not doing enough to stop the use of Barbie's image on such children's items as schoolbags, stationery, clothes and watches. The website claimed that the doll is "taking over the souls of the youngsters" and that the authorities need to collaborate with local manufacturers to encourage the use of Iranian and Islamic characters instead of Barbie.

Dr. Eldad Pardo, an expert on Iranian gender issues and modernism and a professor at the Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace, said that Iranians have traditionally been "intoxicated" with American culture, even as they express anger with the United States.

"Barbie doll for the average girl in the West is a woman that is beautiful, attractive and independent. She goes where she wants, wears what she wants and chooses her own career. This is not traditional Islam," Pardo told The Media Line.

"The Islamic government wants to engineer their people; where people in the West are encouraged to think independently. In Iran people are indoctrinated."

 

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It's Goodbye Barbie in Iran | Global Viewpoint