LIVONIA (AP) -- If Ken has any designs on this
doll, he'd better convert to Islam and be prepared to fork out a hefty dowry
because Razanne's looking for more in a man than the macho, debonaire image
that Barbie's beau flaunts. Instead, with her long-sleeved dresses, hijab
or Muslim head scarf and, by her creator Ammar Saadeh's own admission, a less-than-flattering
bust-line, Razanne is all about modesty and piety. That's what encouraged
Mimo Debryn of West Bloomfield Township to buy the doll for her daughter,
Jenna, four years ago.
"Razanne looks like the majority of women around Jenna," said Debryn. "She
loves that doll, and always took care of her, giving Razanne a special place
in her room, treating her with respect.
" "Jenna never tried to take Razanne's hijab off, though Barbie was usually
stripped naked," she said as Jenna, a cherubic 11-year-old, curled up on the
couch with a smile. For Saadeh, the doll fills not only a marketing void,
but also offers Muslim girls someone they can relate to.
"The main message we try to put forward through the doll is that what matters
is what's inside you, not how you look," said Saadeh, who, with his wife and
a few other investors, set up Noorart Inc.
The Livonia-based company, founded about seven years ago, sells the Razanne
doll and a number of other toys geared toward Muslim children. "It doesn't
matter if you're tall or short, thin or fat, beautiful or not, the real beauty
seen by God and fellow Muslims is what's in your soul.
" Unlike Barbie's curvaceous figure, Razanne was designed with the body of
a preteen. The doll comes either as a fair-skinned blonde, olive-skinned with
black hair or black skin and black hair. Her aspirations are those of a modern
Muslim woman. On the drawing board for future dolls are Dr. Razanne and possibly
even astronaut Razanne.
There's also Muslim Girl Scout Razanne, complete with a cassette recording
of the Muslim Scout's oath. What sets Razanne apart from the few competitors
is that she "holds a global appeal for Muslim girls," said Saadeh. Laila,
the Arab League's answer to Barbie that offered girls of the league's 22-member
states a culturally acceptable alternative to Barbie's flashy lifestyle, never
made it to store shelves.
Sara and Dara were launched a couple of years ago -- Iran's version of Barbie
and Ken. The two were offshoots of a children's cartoon in Iran. But Saadeh
said those dolls are more "cultural and don't have mass appeal in the Middle
East.
" In the United States, Mattel, which makes Barbie, markets a Moroccan Barbie
and sells a collector's piece named Leyla in the Girls From Around the World
collection. Leyla's elaborate costume and tale of being taken as a slave in
the court of a Turkish sultan is intended to portray the trials and tribulations
of one Muslim girl in the 1720s. "It's no surprise that they'd try to portray
a Middle Eastern Barbie either as a belly dancer or a concubine," said Saadeh,
who noted that countering such stereotypes was one of the main aims in developing
Razanne.
Razanne's launch five years ago has met with success, Saadeh said. While declining
to give specific sales figures, he said the doll is marketed and sold throughout
the United States, Canada, Singapore and Germany and soon will be sold in
Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
Prices range from $9.99 for a single doll to $24.99 for a set like Teacher
Razanne that includes a briefcase and other accessories. Middle Eastern countries
such as Saudi Arabia likely would be attracted to Praying Razanne, who comes
complete with a long hijab and modest prayer gown.
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