The Consumer's
Association of
Penang (CAP) in
Malaysia has
launched a
blitzkrieg to ban
Barbie.
The doll is being
blamed for promoting
inappropriate
stereotypes
among children.
Janet Pillai, a
lecturer in
children's theatre
at
the Universities
Sains, Malaysia,
says, "The notion
of beauty
promoted through
Barbic - hour-
glass figure,
stereotypical racial
features and long
hair - is, sadly, a
shallow, sexist
view of feminine
beauty".
CAP also seeks to
counter
the popular belief
that playing
with Barbies
encourages creativity in children.
Since the doll
and all the
paraphernalia that
go with it are
fixed and
ready-made,
children really do
not have the
opportunity to
exercise their
creative skills.
According to Chiam
Heng Keng,
a psychologist at
the University of
Malaya, Penang,
"Earlier, children
used to be taught
how to make dolls.
The activity in
general involved,
among other things,
colouring
and pasting, which
enhanced a
child's
imagination." If
one were
to help children
make their own
dolls and encourage
them to play
traditional games
like hopscotch,
money could be
saved as well. The
price tags on
Barbies in Malaysia
range from US $4.50
to a whopping
US $80.
The other side of
the camp, however, claims that
Barbie was never
intended to be a
doll. According to
Cy Schneider, an
advertising executive who worked on
Barbie campaigns, "We did not
depict Barbie as
a doll. Rather, we
treated her as a
real-life teenage
fashion model.
Young girls who
identified with
Barbie became
deeply involved with
her."
Concerns over
Harbie portraying and belonging
to an alien
culture have also
been raised.
CAP's demand for a
ban on the
sale of the doll in
Malaysia has met
with some angry
protests from
the public.
