 Not Afraid to Work
Posts: 4717
  
| casualdust07 - 2017-11-16 3:45 PM
Are barbies only sold in the US? Asking because I really don't know.
But, theres nothing wrong with wearing a hijab if someone wants to. I don't see why its hurting anyone for a muslim girl to get a Barbie she can relate to. Like others have said, no ones forcing anyone to buy it. And no ones making all the other barbies wear them either LOL.
I wish I could relate to Barbie - is there a plus sized one?  |
 BHW Resident Surgeon
Posts: 25351
 
Location: Bastrop, Texas | Until relatively recently, I think it was widely accepted that immigrants to this country needed to assimilate into our society.
In other words, accept certain cultural norms, and speak English.
My family name was "Zahara", which I think is a cool sounding name, actually. It means "flower" in Arabic. My great grandfather changed the name to something more "Americanized", so Zahara became "Harris". When I was a little boy I asked my grandpa why they changed the name, and he said, "It's just a name.....it doesn't change who you are, and the important thing is that America is my country, not Lebanon." True story.
At the heart of all of this lies what I consider to be the root cause of the disappearance of that attitude my grandfather displayed....."American exceptionalism". I believe that expression has been lost. That American Exceptionalism used to be sacrosanct, but not so much in recent years. It has slowly drifted away. Back in the 60's and 70's, when people immigrated to the USA, they became proud Americans. Many changed their names. They all learned English and they learned it very quickly. It wasn't because they were forced to adapt, rather, it was because they hungered to adapt and become a part of something exceptional. They were all uniformly proud American patriots. They studied for their American Citizenship exam, and most cried tears of joy when they passed and became US citizens. I remember....I saw it. I was there when they would come over to the house and my grandparents would tutor them. They were given American flags when they became citizens back then. I remember when I was over at Abdu Hajizi's house not long after he became a citizen. On his dresser was his Koran, a Holy Bible, and his flag. They held on to customs from the "Old Country", and were thankful that they were free to do so. He learned English so fast it was incredible. Abdu was in his 40's, and everyone in town loved his infectious laugh and sunny smile. He was a shopkeeper in Lebanon, but here he just worked for a contractor doing manual labor. Nobody, and I mean nobody, could outwork this man. He smiled the whole time while doing it too. That was back during the Vietnam war. He tried to enlist in the Army, but failed to pass his physical. He was very disappointed, I remember.
My reason for sharing these vignettes was to illustrate how American Exceptionalism was so important back then, and seems to have disappeared.
That's why people come here and fail to assimilate the way they used to assimilate. It's evolved to the point where it seems to be a badge of honor to refuse to assimilate. That's why I had to use an interpreter by video conferencing to evaluate a sick Micronesian woman a few days ago. She's lived here for 8 years and couldn't speak a word of English.
That's why things like Barbie Dolls wearing a Hijab have sucked the air out of the room.
Think about it. |
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