Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Barbie gets a hijab

Barbie has been somewhat of a controversial icon to little ladies and bigger ladies around the world since 1959.

We have seen Barbie go through many transformations from Barbie and the Rockers to ballerina Barbie, Malibu Barbie and beauty Barbie, family Barbie with token baby and relationship Barbie with her sexy boyfriend Ken.

Mattel has been on a quest to turn Barbie into the all American woman (relating to all women) so she has been Latino, African-American and parts of other ethnic community groups.

Questions about Barbie relating to all ethnic groups were raised when even the very low key "Princess Barbie's" attire was bought up as it exposed areas of her body such as her cleavage and half of her arms.

So intelligent toy makers have come up with a solution. Barbie has now converted to Islam and now comes with morals, prayer mat and hijab.




Introducing Fulla "A Girls Dream Doll".

Differences between the two. Barbie is independent, has a great job and is what ever she puts her mind too, the only issue with Barbie is she is societies idea of the Blonde Bimbo. Fulla is Muslim yes but everything else is really the same. She wears a hijab but it is an accessory much like the camper van or the Ferrari. Fulla is extremely fashion conscious and to me it seems that she is the type of doll that can teach young Muslim girls to feel beautiful like her while wearing a hijab.

Another difference is Fulla doesn't come armed with optional Prince charming / Ken. She is single and does not date. To me this seems kind of strange, Ken was never a temptation to me nor to Barbie as he had plastic undies (plastic crotch) meaning he had inaccessible bits and pieces.
Also how will Fulla meet her husband?
I must say I love Barbie and as a child I had an array of different styles. To me the fun was undressing them and making her engage in some foreplay with Ken or my NKOTB Dolls.
Fulla I can understand is filling a need for a religious group which is great, but my final thought if all little girls think the same as I did the Hijab will be on the floor and Fulla will be partying it up in the spa with Fatima, Barbie and Skipper.




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