In Mideast, Some Find Barbie Threatening

[Khephra]

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- 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, which is an arm of the Saudi government, 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.

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/wire/sns-ap-saudi-barbie,0,3019698.story?coll=sns-ap-world-headlines

[LeftofU]

1. Some find Barbie just downright offencive.

unatural expectations and all.

[Khephra]

2. I'm in the "finds Barbie unattractive" crowd myself

.

[Laughing Mirror]

3. What they're really trying to tell Mattel

is that they want their Barbie dressed in unrevealing Muslim garb.

Mattel ought to pay attention.

You would think that a company would jump at a potential market of millions of Muslim girls and some boys too, I suspect.

[joeybee12]

4. Barbie is dangerous!

Get too close and one of those things could poke your eye out, if you know what I mean! No woman has such sharp and pointed ones!

[snooper2]

6. and..

with no tits...

[karlschneider]

5. Ah, so they got Asscrack's memo......

:eyes:

[demdave]

7. "Jewish Barbie dolls"

With this kind of blind hatred being spewed and believed in the Arab world, what is the chance that they will ever be in the same centry as the rest of us?

[goldilox369]

9. Blonde, blue eyed Barbie?

do they actually have a "jewish" Barbie? or are we talking about our all american blonde, blue-eyed big-busted barbie? are they different over there? gosh, does anyone but me think saudi arabia is just a little crazy? :eyes: they'll never catch up with the rest of the world. and the sad thing is, they think they're happier than we are.

[starroute]

10. The woman who invented Barbie and Ken was Jewish

And she named them after her children. (I saw that factoid in a magazine just this afternoon, in an extremely stupid article about whether Kerry is just trying to seem cool by acknowledging his Jewish grandfather.)

So the Saudis may be narrow-minded and bigoted, but they're not crazy.

[goldilox369]

13. thanks for clearing that up...but

Glad to know that little factoid about Barbie and Ken's creator. that's cool.

however, while i am not saying that "all" saudis are "hella crazy",
i do consider narrow-minded and bigoted people (of any country) a little crazy. and i don't mean any certain group.

i also would like to ammend my previous statement to include this disclaimer that by no means do i think that there aren't sane reasonable people in saudi arabia. But, yes i think their government is retarded.

i guess that makes me bigoted. and a little crazy too. oh well.

[StandWatie]

11. it was invented by Ruth Handler

who was Jewish, she ripped off the design from a German sex doll.

Yes, the department of vice and virtue is crazy though.

[lumpy]

12. Ya' they'll never catch up with rest of the world

until their women start getting those boob enlargments and start to bump and grind.

[lumpy]

8. Is this why little boys take delight

in dismembering Barbie and torturing her in the microwave ?