Archiv der Kategorie: oddly enough

oddly enough, photoblogging

The Veiled Barbie.

The NYT reports about the stunning success of a hijab wearing Barbiesque doll in the Middle East. Introduced in late 2003, the doll carrying the brand “Fulla” is reportedly available in “every corner store”. For those who aren’t fortunate enough to be able to afford the doll there is Fulla-branded chewing gum.

It’s an interesting development – as the paper reports, other companies, including Mattel, the owner of the Barbie brand, have product lines of veiled dolls marketed in Islamic countries, yet no foreign company was able to claim the cultural authenticity, that seems to have allowed Fulla to succeed to the extent she has.

Some seem to see this as a consequence of the growing cultural influence of conservative Islam in the Middle East, indicating that such a venture would not have succeeded 10 years ago, and that the doll serves well to perpetuate the importance of the veil –

“My friends and I loved Barbie more than anything,” she said. “But maybe it’s good that girls have Fulla now. If the girls put scarves on their dolls when they’re young, it might make it easier when their time comes. Sometimes it is difficult for girls to put on the hijab. They feel it is the end of childhood.” “Fulla shows girls that the hijab is a normal part of a woman’s life,” Ms. Ghayeh continued. She gestured behind her, at a pair of excited little girls examining a rack of Fulla-branded Frisbees and pool toys. “Now the girls only want Fulla.”

Not that I think it is appropriate to deny any woman the right to wear (or not wear) whatever she deems appropriate for whichever reason. However, while possible, it is unlikely that Fulla’s success is not at least partly related to recent geopolitical shifts in the Arab world – a region filled with peoples which are seemingly desperately trying reinvent their identities by reuniting their cultural and religious heritage with the world around them. So, while I’m sure that Fulla’s success will cause some concern among those hoping for the continously growing amount of young Arabs to achieve that, we know by now that it is usually a difficult and rather violent process. So I’m not sure Fulla isn’t actually a positive development.

Too bad that she will lead a rather lonely life – despite the fact that the company producing the doll is apparently called “NewBoy, Inc.”, there are no plans for a young handsome Arab Ken-doll.

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oddly enough, sex

The Glorious Eight 1

I just found this Washington Post article about The FBI finally joining the Bush administration’s War on Porn.

As Barton Gellman reported yesterday on page A21 of the paper,

“… the bureau’s Washington Field Office began recruiting for a new anti-obscenity squad. … The new squad will divert eight agents, a supervisor and assorted support staff to gather evidence against “manufacturers and purveyors” of pornography — not the kind exploiting children, but the kind that depicts, and is marketed to, consenting adults.”

It’s got a lot to do with attorney general Alberto Gonzales ambitions and his acceptability to Christian Conservatives and thus isn’t really interesting – the US has a history of obscenity vs. free speech conflicts, just ask Larry Flynt. But politically motivated initiatives like this seemed to have been out of fashion since the Reagan presidency. Clearly, the new top-priority unit consisting of 8+1 porn-fighters will keep America’s thriving porn industry from further subverting “family values”… although, the recruitment may turn out to be harder than expected, as an agent told the reporter – on condition of anonymity-

“Honestly, most of the guys would have to recuse themselves.’ …

I guess this means we’ve won the war on terror,’said one exasperated FBI agent, speaking on the condition of anonymity because poking fun at headquarters is not regarded as career-enhancing. ‘We must not need any more resources for espionage.’

Among friends and trusted colleagues, an experienced national security analyst said, ‘it’s a running joke for us.’

A few of the printable samples:

“Things I Don’t Want On My Resume, Volume Four.”

“I already gave at home.”

I suppose one of the perks coming with this job would be government sponsored tickets to the annual San Francisco Masturbate-a-thon.

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almost a diary, oddly enough

News from the School.

Still laughing my head off. Got this from the Guardian’s backbencher newsletter – they did not yet feature it in the alumni newsletter ;).

Congratulations to Monica Lewinsky, who will begin an MSc in social psychology at the LSE next month. Regrettably, the option on Gender and Psychology, which includes a unit on workplace relations, is not available in the next academic year. LSE suggests “Rethinking the [Word Omitted] Body: Theories, Cultures and Practices” as a suitable alternative.

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oddly enough, photoblogging

Red Light Cab.

Red Light Cab.

It’s probably hard to see, but this cab is featuring an advertisement for a brothel – Germany’s biggest, if I heard correctly. Never seen that before.. and it’s located in Cologne, easily a two-hour drive away. That would be an obscene cab ride in so many ways…

Clicking the image will take you to my flickr account. The picture was taken with a SE t610.

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almost a diary, oddly enough

Left behind what?

Spam is almost always annoying. Comment spam is the worst, because it requires additional attention, not rarely amounting to more time than it take to write a blog post. But there is also the rare instance where spam is fun or prompts reflection about its underlying social meaning, as in today’s case.

“Don’t get left behind” was the headline. “Add three inches today!” the goal – I’m assuming you’re familiar with the kind of addition offered -, and the way to do that was buying pills that my doc would most certainly frown upon, to say the least.

I know we guys tend to be competitive for the better or worse. It’s probably what evolution “had in mind” for a good number of reasons. I am also aware that the sexual evolution has brought about the general features of male primary sexual organ about whose size and functionality so many kind advertisers are so concerned about to offer help via email. But I wasn’t aware that technological advances had already turned a man’s endowment into a race to be fought individually let alone by taking pills.

So assume for the moment I decided to “add three inches” by taking the miracle pills. And then all other guys decided to do so, too. And if only size mattered… would I not be forced to eventually repeat the experiment? And wouldn’t all others? Would men eventually come to their minds and end a mostly certainly disfunctional sexual arms race? Or would we be more like the lemmings… (which I assume is what most girls believe ;))

I’m glad I won’t have to think about it anymore until I get the first spam about helping girls to cope with all those added inches… I’ll keep you posted.

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almost a diary, oddly enough, self-referential

Saving Toby?

I’m at loss for words. Those of you, my gentle readers, who know me, will be able to certify that being in that state is a rather unnatural condition for me. However, I just found out about a website called savetoby.com. Being a Toby myself, I felt the need to inquire what was going on with my name buddy.

Toby, it turns out, is a rabbit, whose life has come under threat by two anonymous American students, who, according to savetoby.com and MSNBC.com, are planning to kill and eat Toby on June 30 unless they have raised at least USD 50,000 from donations and profits from selling savetoby.com merchandise on the web.
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