Iran’s morality police are cracking down on the sale of Barbie dolls to protect the public from what they see as pernicious western culture eroding Islamic values, shopkeepers said on Monday.
+ O. {) O) }0 O% q6 K1 \ crack down on: 镇压;制裁
% K* x: h% q3 n pernicious: 有害的;恶性的
7 h+ G: `1 ?4 {- A* j erode: 腐蚀;侵蚀 As the West imposes the toughest ever sanctions on Iran and tensions rise over its nuclear program, inside the country the Barbie ban is part of what the government calls a "soft war" against decadent cultural influences.
, s- C; x9 ^) ]1 M4 J: D3 b/ i8 D "About three weeks ago they (the morality police) came to our shop, asking us to remove all the Barbies," said a shopkeeper in a toy shop in northern Tehran.
8 K. `7 s3 z7 ] l9 [7 E, o Iran’s religious rulers first declared Barbie, made by US company Mattel Inc, un-Islamic in 1996, citing its "destructive cultural and social consequences." Despite the ban, the doll has until recently been openly on sale in Tehran shops. 0 K6 L) J8 r% I* Y; {# T
The new order, issued around three weeks ago, forced shopkeepers to hide the leggy, busty blonde behind other toys as a way of meeting popular demand for the dolls while avoiding being closed down by the police.
; U5 [6 T3 {# o0 x: f: D A range of officially approved dolls launched in 2002 to counter demand for Barbie have not proven successful, merchants told the reporters. / ~- B' D* T1 Q4 m: J$ H [
a range of: 一系列;一些;一套 The dolls named Sara, a female, and Dara, a male arrived in shops wearing a variety of traditional dress, with Sara fully respecting the rule that all women in Iran must obey in public, of covering their hair and wearing loose-fitting clothes.
) k! B5 c% [+ Z6 C! t4 i9 {; f loose-fitting: 宽大的
; d9 R% H. P, W6 a "My daughter prefers Barbies. She says Sara and Dara are ugly and fat," said Farnaz, a 38-year-old mother, adding that she could not find Barbie cartoon DVDs as she was told they were also banned from public sale.
! o! i* s0 w* @# W; K3 X Pointing to a doll covered in black long veil, a 40-year-old Tehran toy shop manager said: "We still sell Barbies but secretly and put these in the window to make the police think we are just selling these kinds of dolls." |