Mattel Pulls Mexico Barbie From Website Over "Stereotype" Controversy

Mattel added a Mexico Barbie to its "Dolls of the World" lineup, joining Spain, France, the Philippines, Holland, Chile and China.  All the dolls come with their own traditional dress, a passport, and in most cases an extra accessory. The French Barbie holds a basket of baguettes, the Dutch one a bunny, the Chilean a doggy, and the Chinese one a panda.  Spain and the Philippines get nothing, but Mattel added a chihuahua to the Mexican Barbie- after all, the breed did originate in Mexico, and the bulk of the dolls come with something typical of the country of origin. But the usual reactionaries have blasted Mattel claiming the doll is culturally offensive because it comes with the chihuahua and the passport. Huh?  Culturally offensive?  No-one has complained about the other dolls with 'stereotypical' accoutrements. 

As a result of the controversy, it looks like Mattel has  pulled the Mexican version since it is no longer available on their website.  It used to be there, according to this google search:

But if you click on the product link, you get "no results found", and a link to the Chilean Barbie doll.

Apparently you can get still get them on Amazon, and probably Ebay if you are dying for one of your own.

More on the controversy.

Of course this isn't the first time a company has pulled an item because of public backlash. Sears pulled its sexy burka halloween costume this past Fall. Then there's the Star Wars Lego that a Austrian/Turkish Muslim group claimed was racist. Although Lego denies it was because of Muslim backlash, they will no longer make the toy.

I'm sure we won't see the last of this kind of overreaction.

Bye Bye Barbie and Ken- Iran Cracks Down On Sale of Un-Islamic Barbie Dolls

Barbie dolls have been banned in Iran since 1996, not because oftheir unrealistic, anorexic, cinch-waisted, long-legged, blond-headed perfection but because they represent Western culture in all its hated glory.

But that fatwa hasn't stopped shop owners from selling those evil dolls in their stores. The mullahs might find Barbie and Ken dolls distasteful, but the average Iranian is just as taken with the cultural icons as people in the West. But the Iranian Jane-Q might have a harder time finding Barbie as a result of a recent crackdown by the Iranian morality police.

Iran’s morality police are cracking down on the sale of Barbie dolls to protect the public from what they see as pernicious western culture eroding Islamic values, shopkeepers said on Monday.

As the West imposes the toughest ever sanctions on Iran and tensions rise over its nuclear program, inside the country the Barbie ban is part of what the government calls a “soft war” against decadent cultural influences.

“About three weeks ago the morality police came to our shop, asking us to remove all the Barbies,” said a shopkeeper in a toy store in northern Tehran.

As a replacement for the un-Islamic Barbie and Ken, the Iranian government in 2002 approved of Sara and Dara: plump, modestly and traditionally dressed female and male dolls that were deemed kosher for Iranian consumption. 

But that hasn't quite work out as planned, because people still want their Barbies.

“My daughter prefers Barbies. She says Sara and Dara are ugly and fat,” said Farnaz, a 38-year-old mother, adding that she could not find Barbie cartoon DVDs because she was told they were also banned from public sale.

Though they were openly sold in shops in spite of the ban, the Iranian government's latest Barbie clampdown has the shop owners scuttling to hide those harbingers of Western cultural decadence behind Iranian-sanctioned toys.

Pointing to a doll covered in black long veil, a 40-year-old Tehran toy shop manager said: “We still sell Barbies, but secretly and put these in the window to make the police think we are just selling these kinds of dolls.”

I wonder if Barbie wore a veil would she be state-approved? 

Oh, and remember that U.S. spy drone that Iran claims it allegedly shot down, although there is debate as to whether it actually crash landed?  Replicas available in a slew of different colors will be available in toy stores soon.