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Look out, World…It’s Burkha Barbie!

The New Oppressed Version of Barbie

I can just hear the commercials now:

“Hey, Girls!   Are you tired of having to drape a washcloth over your barbie when playing ‘Barbie and Ken love Sharia?’ Now you don’t have to!  Your Babie doll can now come complete with a hijab that covers her beautiful face lest Ken look upon her with desire….”

I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw this article, “It’s Barbie in a burkha: World-famous doll gets a makeover to go under the hammer for 50th anniversary

I remember reading about the first changes Barbie had to undergo when they marketed the doll in the Orient.  It was logical, of course. There are no five foot, eight-inch tall blond-haired blue-eyed oriental women and the doll just sat on the shelves in Chinese and Japanese toy stores.

I remember when Barbie began to emulate women from all over the world in appearance and costume. It was a good thing. Often times the doll would wear the traditional costume of that culture and it was a learning experience for our daughters all over the world. I know I loved them. They were beautiful; but this is taking it too far.

Barbie has always represented the progressive American woman. She had her own mansion, she had her own jeep, she had various careers and an amazing wardrobe. Barbie also had a Ken doll, but he never really made it as her husband in our culture.  He was just kind of a “boy-on-the-side”, wasn’t he?  While I played often with my Barbie dolls, and even played Barbie “goes on a date” with Ken, I never really needed Ken to be happy with my Barbie collection. It was all about the clothing and accessories.

Well now some lucky little Italian girls will be able to play with their Barbies “appropriately”.

Clothing: Check!

Accesories: Check!

Amazing Shoes for Perfectly Arched and Dainty Foot: Check – infinity! (oh, yes, it is all about the shoes…)

Now dress her up, kids, but don’t forget to drape her underneath her Hijab. We don’t want anyone to actually SEE your Barbie.  They might like the way she looks.

In the article referenced above, they used a clever phrase to describe hidden-from-view Barbie. She’s going “under cover”. Isn’t that cute? Well, here’s a wake-up call, Italy.  Spies go “under cover”. Strong independent warriors who work overseas to keep our country informed and policemen who are trying to infiltrate crime rings go under cover.

Muslim women under the Hijab are not “under cover”. They are oppressed. Shrouded. Secluded. Mistreated.

From the article:  “The company director of Laird Assessors from The Wirral, Cheshire, said: ‘Bring it on Burkha Barbie, I think this is a great idea.  I think this is really important for girls, wherever they are from they should have the opportunity to play with a Barbie that they feel represents them.”

Really? Even if what their playing with represents a life of bondage???

While I tend to agree with Cheshire in regards to the importance of girls identifying with their toys, I think she is out of touch with the realities of Islam. How this is possible is beyond my understanding when Italy’s own Oriana Fallaci wrote continuously about the dangers of the invasion of Islam and Sharia law upon her soil.  Cheshire must have never read any of Fallaci’s works, or Fallaci was tragically correct when she said that her society was in danger.  Why else would a career woman like Cheshire be so deceived that she would encourage the glorification of a symbol of sorrow?

Shouldn’t a girl play with a toy that gives her hopes and dreams to become something wonderful? A girl should have a doll that encourages her, not condemns her to a life of non-identity. Women are only allowed to remove the coverings within their homes, or in the houses of women friends whose husbands are not presently at home.

{Already that causes my eyes to sting with the tell-tale signs of tears.  They are “allowed”…} Does no one see what an imprisoned life this is?

You may be seen in your house, but nowhere else. Prison.

If you leave, you must cover yourself with this cloth. Prison.

Can you hear the women now, so brainwashed into thinking that it is appropriate that they are thanking their husbands for the generosity of providing the revealing eye screen so they won’t trip over things wherever they go?

Why is it that so many Islamic women are condemned to this lifestyle?

To quote cleric Nasser Al-Huneini, “If revealing a woman’s face might lead to temptation and other things, it is forbidden. In addition, even when they permitted the revealing of the woman’s face, they placed restrictions on this.  Even Sheik Al-Albani did so.  The woman is not allowed to expose her neck or her hair. She is not allowed to appear with make-up or jewelry.”

In essence, women are draped in coverings for the sake of men who refuse to control their cravings and lust. Instead, they punish the woman for being. She is punished for being beautiful. She is punished for being attractive. She is punished for being lovely.

Every honest man would say that it isn’t what is seen that drives men wild. It is what is NOT seen.  To wonder at what lies beneath a woman’s clothing is the very thing that gets his blood pressure going, and anyone who has done a modicum of research knows that it is what is left to the imagination that men are attracted to. It is my personal opinion that seeing women walk around underneath such concealing items will only push a man to imagine himself into a frenzy. And now we are going to teach our little girls that it is appropriate to punish the woman for being born pretty instead of teach our little boys to control their eyes. It’s always been rude to stare, remember?

While I do not endorse skimpy clothing, and have even had my concerns about the non-realistic body of the Barbie doll, I have never prevented my own children from playing with them and I would certainly never endorse the shrouding of even a doll’s body and face in cloth.

What is next? Will Ken now come with his own stick to beat Barbie when he doesn’t know what else to do with her independent ways, and his own jeep to run her over in an attempt at an honor killing if she becomes “too western”?

The Hijab is a violation of women’s rights.  A cruel creation designed to keep a woman’s unique appearance, delicate grace, and loveliness hidden from view.

It is NOT a toy.

And Heaven help us if this idea comes to America.

Ms. Eliana Lorena with her designs.

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Rich Mitchell

Rich Mitchell is the editor-in-chief of Conservative Daily News and the president of Bald Eagle Media, LLC. His posts may contain opinions that are his own and are not necessarily shared by Bald Eagle Media, CDN, staff or .. much of anyone else. Find him on twitter, facebook and

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3 Comments

  1. Burkha Barbie.. good grief. I never thought I’d see the day when an American icon was forced to hide her face. Where is all the feminist outrage from the left? Come on libs, where are you now that women really need you? Oh, yeah, forgot .. doesn’t promote your socialist agenda, nothing to see here, move on. (dot org)

  2. Hi Almita,

    Very interesting “developments” on the Barbie Doll today. Considering that this is an American icon in the toy world for little girls, I find it reprehensible that they now feel the need to semi-covertly try to *nudge* little girls towards accepting the oppression of Sharia Law in this manner. No conspiracy theory here, just common sense. This is advertising at it’s base, as mentioned by the Jeep Barbie drove. I say sell them in the Middle East all you want, just ban them from here in America, where women are free to drive and wear what they want to look attractive in life. This is nudging, plain and simple. I Value, Honor and Cherish American customs and way of life.

    I don’t quite agree with one statement above.
    “Barbie has always represented the progressive American woman. She had her own mansion, she had her own jeep, she had various careers and an amazing wardrobe.” When looking at the political scene today, Barbie has seemed to me to be more a capitalist at her core, with business suits,expensive extras and jewelry, etc. That would make her the Anti-Progressive/Liberal today. Then again maybe they will give her a Chevy Volt next year and tell the little girls that the loads of electricity to charge the car is produced by unicorns peddling zero emissions generators.

    Very interesting, well-written article Almita. I wonder if all the Muslim Barbies will have to wear those flat shoes too? Throw out those high heels girls!

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