Values and Dolls

Children of Abraham

Richard L. Shafer[1]

We who follow one of the Abrahamic faiths have historically relied on our religious organizations to teach us values. My dictionary defines value as “something (as a principle or quality) intrinsically valuable or desirable.”

Last fall, the SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE published an article (on Thanksgiving Day) about how a doll called Fulla is the “top selling doll in North Africa and the Middle East.”[2] The author carefully tells the purveyors’ claims that this doll “embodies the image of a proper Muslim woman” rather than the “Western values that Barbie is thought to promote.” Proper…image? Values?

Can dolls really embody intrinsically valuable or desirable qualities? I suppose they can, if we who buy and give those dolls so imbue them. It would seem these two dolls are popular with givers because they do teach children something important about their world. Well then, what values do we teach when we give dolls like Fulla or Barbie to our children? Are these the values we learned from our religious institutions?

Most of us have seen Barbie: Besides the [perhaps improper? perhaps impossible?] body image, what other values does Barbie display? One value promoted by the Barbie doll is (in my estimation) immodesty. Take a look sometime at the wardrobes available for the doll – some of the clothes seem pretty skimpy. Many of the more conservative Jewish, Muslim, and Christian women may dress more modestly than Barbie seems to typify. Others, particularly in the West, dress less modestly in public -- witness shorter hemlines, or bare midriffs.

I have only seen pictures of the Fulla doll, so I can’t really attest to what image the doll embodies. The pictures show her in the black scarf and long robe worn by many Muslim women in public in Saudi Arabia. Later editions of the doll come with a white scarf and pastel coat, typical of less conservative Muslim communities. Apparently, the doll also has “indoor” clothes, such as might be worn when the wearer might be seen only by other women, and very close male relatives. “Though the clothes come in trendy styles and colors, none reveals more than a few millimeters of flesh”[3] “Fulla's wardrobe has grown larger and more colorful, though it would still strike Americans as downright dowdy. Skirts fall modestly below the knee, and shoulders are always covered.”[4]

Fulla might teach modesty in dress, compared to Barbie; but both seem to teach the importance of having many clothes. Newer editions of the Fulla doll even come with suitcases in which to pack her “dozens of seasonal outfits”. Barbie comes with impossibly many outfits, including many formal dresses, or shorts and sleeveless tops, all trendy. Specialty outfits are available for specialty dolls too. For example, one can choose from a variety of military uniforms, should one wish a military Barbie. In fact, outfits seem to fit all the potential careers Barbie might enter, from astronaut to (probably) zoo keeper! We’re told that soon the Fulla doll will come as “Doctor Fulla” and “Teacher Fulla,” two of the vocations to which girls can “contribute.”[5]

“Three Barbies are sold in the world every second”[6] Probably sales of Fulla are much slower. But Fulla comes with a prayer rug; Barbie does not.

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[1] This is one of a series of occasional columns in which the author, raised in the Christian tradition, searches for common ground and common history among the teachings, beliefs and practices of adherents of the Abrahamic faiths -- Islam, Christianity and Judaism

[2] “The Middle East’s answer to Barbie: demure Fulla” Written by Craig Nelson, Cox News Service; published in SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE, November 24, 2005, p. A 31

[3] http://www.sptimes.com/2004/01/12/Floridian/Coverup_girl.shtml

[4] http://www.sptimes.com/2005/05/15/Floridian/The_doll_that_has_eve.shtml

[5] Ibid.

[6] http://www.abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=1425715