From the USS Clueless we get this remarkable story about Barbie dolls and their apparently subversive effect on Iranian girls. It’s hard to imagine Barbie dolls “sowing the seeds of feminist rebellion” as den Beste suggests, but when you read quotes like this from the WaPo story
Another toy seller, Masoumeh Rahimi, said Barbie was “foreign to Iran’s culture” because some of the popular Western dolls wear revealing clothing. She said young girls who play with Barbie, a doll she sees as wanton, could grow into women who reject Iranian values.
“I think every Barbie doll is more harmful than an American missile,” Rahimi said.
well, it’s equally hard to argue.