Men and Women in Advertising
In her article Islamic Revolution Barbie, Porochista Khakpour tells us that in Iran, she had a collection of Barbie dolls as a little kid. Her mother, who had played with big glass baby dolls for years, had finally gotten into Barbie as an adult and had bought her daughter Barbie dolls as well.
The Iranian government decided that Barbie dolls weren't acceptable playthings there and had introduced the Muslim Sara and Dara, equivalent to Barbie and Ken, equipped with a prayer books and headscarves.
Dolls help girls model adult behavior by showing them "This doll is what adults do, and you can do with them as you please." Barbie is a great example for little girls to look up to because she's had so many different career paths. There's been a million different Barbie dolls with a million different jobs. It tells little girls "You can be whatever you want when you grow up." Just like the commercials say - be who you want to be, Barbie girl.
As for Porochista Khakpour's experience in the office when an employee called her "Persian Barbie," I think that made her excited because as her "rite of passage," she renamed her Barbies, Sharpie-d their hair black, and tried to change their skin color to match hers. To know that her, the only ethnic girl in her office, was being referred to as Persian Barbie, had to make her happy to know that you don't have to be a skinny, white blonde-haired girl to be like Barbie. Anybody can be like Barbie, no matter you look like.
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