伊斯兰芭比娃娃热销～～
（发布时间： 2008-5-21 9:06:19 来自：）
Move over(1) Barbie, veiled is beautiful. The physical ideal of Muslim girls increasingly includes the hijab(2), as evidenced by toy shops' best-selling doll "Fulla" and the string of showbiz(3) stars opting(4) to cover up.
The dark-eyed and olive-skinned(5) Fulla has replaced her American rival's skimpy(6) skirts with more modest "outdoor fashion" and Barbie's luxuriant(7) blonde mane(8) with an Islamic veil.
"Fulla sells better because it is closer to our Arab values: she never reveals a leg or an arm," says Tarek Mohammed, chief salesman at a Toys R Us branch in Mohandessin.
The Arab answer to Barbie has been selling like hot cakes for Eid Al-Adha(9), not least because it is cheaper than its American rival, although both are made in China.
Fulla is not the first Islamic doll but none of her predecessors(10) have taken the regional market by storm like she has, selling some two million since its creation two years ago by the Emirates-based NewBoy Design Studio.
Saudi Arabia's religious police had then just banned "Barbie the Jewish doll", whose "revealing clothes and shameful postures, accessories and tools are a symbol of decadence(11) to the perverted(12) West."
Fulla, named after an Arabic word for a type of jasmine(13), was initially sold in the Gulf in a similar pink box but in more modest attire(14), such as the traditional abaya(15) overdress and complete with a little prayer mat.
"Her wardrobe(16) had to be widened to adapt to the Egyptian market. In other words, she became more modern," said Ahmed, a sales clerk at City Stars, Cairo's largest shopping mall.
Fulla can now dress her perfect albeit slightly less busty(17) figure with tight t-shirts and jeans and wear the same colourful head scarves donned by most young Egyptian women today.
Fulla also has two female friends, Yasmine and Nada, with lighter hair.
But she is still single as no plans appear to be afoot for(18) marketing an Islamic equivalent of Ken, as giving her a boyfriend would be seen inappropriate in conservative Muslim cultures.
The dark-eyed and olive-skinned(5) Fulla has replaced her American rival's skimpy(6) skirts with more modest "outdoor fashion" and Barbie's luxuriant(7) blonde mane(8) with an Islamic veil.
"Fulla sells better because it is closer to our Arab values: she never reveals a leg or an arm," says Tarek Mohammed, chief salesman at a Toys R Us branch in Mohandessin.
The Arab answer to Barbie has been selling like hot cakes for Eid Al-Adha(9), not least because it is cheaper than its American rival, although both are made in China.
Fulla is not the first Islamic doll but none of her predecessors(10) have taken the regional market by storm like she has, selling some two million since its creation two years ago by the Emirates-based NewBoy Design Studio.
Saudi Arabia's religious police had then just banned "Barbie the Jewish doll", whose "revealing clothes and shameful postures, accessories and tools are a symbol of decadence(11) to the perverted(12) West."
Fulla, named after an Arabic word for a type of jasmine(13), was initially sold in the Gulf in a similar pink box but in more modest attire(14), such as the traditional abaya(15) overdress and complete with a little prayer mat.
"Her wardrobe(16) had to be widened to adapt to the Egyptian market. In other words, she became more modern," said Ahmed, a sales clerk at City Stars, Cairo's largest shopping mall.
Fulla can now dress her perfect albeit slightly less busty(17) figure with tight t-shirts and jeans and wear the same colourful head scarves donned by most young Egyptian women today.
Fulla also has two female friends, Yasmine and Nada, with lighter hair.
But she is still single as no plans appear to be afoot for(18) marketing an Islamic equivalent of Ken, as giving her a boyfriend would be seen inappropriate in conservative Muslim cultures.
