I wonder how much influence dolls have on kids? I remember I used to play with action figures a bit back in the day. G.I. Joe, Luke Skywalker and all ( yeah a lot of these were my brothers younger days in Canada ) which I re-used since I could only get cheap plastic"jumaa Bazaar" toys in Pakistan. LOL!
Anyways here is an interesting piece about dolls and Muslim girls . I am not sure what to think of it since obviously I do not have much experience with dolls from my youth. Hence I would like some comments!
"Currently, little girls from Iraq to Morocco are crazy for Fulla, a
creation of Syria's NewBoy Design Studio. A Barbie in a black hijab, with a
smaller bust, and far more modest clothing, Fulla was created out of concern
that Barbie would corrupt traditional values, turning Muslim girls into
high-heeled wonders with vacant smiles. And while sloe-eyed, darkhaired Fulla
does have a vacant smile, she also has abayas (traditional Muslim overdress),
head scarves, a prayer mat, and outdoor (modest) versus indoor (anything where
her plastic flesh shows) fashion.
...................................................................................
Barbie, Fulla, and American Girls are dolls, not role models or political symbols. I loved my Barbie dolls. But I never thought I had to be like them any more than I thought I had to look like Raggedy Ann. Surely girls are not so tractable, or
unable to ask questions, as some appear to think. It's hard to believe a doll
could have a more profound impact on a girl than her family. If parents in Syria
would prefer their daughter not dress scantily, they will set the example. If
parents in North America wish self-confidence for their daughter, they can help
her find the way, rather than enlisting her dolls.If only girls were so
governable by plastic playthings. We could create an "Invests-Well Barbie."
Better still, we could branch out, and get those people at NewBoy to create a
"Discourages-Her-Son-From-Strapping-Dynamite-to-His-
Body-and-Walking-Into-a-Crowded-Market Fulla." Unfortunately, influencing young minds isn't such child's play."
I did some more research on the topic and did find differing views:
Barbie dolls were pervasive in the experiences of both the young adolescent girls and boys surveyed. While girls generally reported imaginative play with Barbie dolls, boys tended to report destructive play and the disfiguring of Barbie dolls. The girls' reported experiences support the notion that play with Barbie dolls entails enacting adult social scripts, and perhaps shaping girls' developing self-concept through the internalize of stereotyped feminine scripts (Kline, 1993; Koste, 1995).
The girls in these studies reported that during late childhood and early adolescence, imaginative play with Barbie dolls became less appealing, and many reported disfiguring and damaging the dolls. Destructive play has been posited as a means of expressing anger and fantasy deemed inappropriate for public expression (Turkel, 1998). The disfigured Barbie doll may represent girls' views about their developing feminine self. Just as the girls leave behind and ignore their Barbie dolls for other play activities (or outright disfigure the dolls), so too may they forsake or damage their own feminine identity. The devaluation of Barbie dolls may symbolize girls' loss of voice and self, or their "silencing" (Freedman, 1986; Taylor, Gilligan, & Sullivan, 1995; Turkel, 1998).
and some more research:
"Toys do not embody violence or sexism or occult meanings. People must assign toys their meanings." Barbie is whoever we make her out to be. Barbie grabs a hold of our imaginations and lets us go wild."
1 comment:
Jumma bazaar toys rock!! lol
..
On my 11th birthday I remember getting wedding clothes for my Barbie and Ken and than we had the whole marriage ceremony and they got married.
Another time I remember I broke Barbie and her head come off, it was an accident I swear lol. I remember how hard it was to tell my dad of my horrid accident and the death of Barbie, he promised everything would be all right and that I didnt do anything wrong.
And than we all went to Pakistan while he stayed behind and when I came back after a month he said go look in the dinning room :) and I found a Barbie all packed and new! and lego's too :D Lol
Once on my "Result Day" weeks after my finals, I come home and I find in our room, my Barbie wearing a Jilbab and Skarf and Ken standing next to her in the doorway, they were ready to go outside. As a present my mom made a jilbab for my barbie.
I personally think, Dolls and the sort are all right. However, its better to play with inanimate objects rather than animate ones, I now own only one animate stuffed toy which is a baby lamb however it freaks me out sometimes because of its black beady eyes.
What I mean to say it, today they make such life like toys that its not healthy to keep them.
Moderation is the key, not too much and not too little. Since I didnt have many other dolls I guess I didnt get too obsessed with toys and the sort.
Once I remember I set out all these stuffed toys on my bed for when Abdul wadud was visiting Saudi for the first time, he was only 2 and when me and bhaijan took him to the bed with all the stuffed toys, Abdul Wadud was so freaked out! He was like what are all these things! Whenever I remember that I realize thats how innocent Angels are and thats the reason why angels dont enter when a room is full of all these lifelike things .. they get really scared!
Sorry for going on and on and on.
..and that is all :O)
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