Since the beginning of time, women have not lived up to set expectations. Society has long been obsessed with the idea of the perfect woman. This slightly varies in different cultures, but in America, they have been known to be housewives and mothers who must constantly look pretty. In Marge Piercy’s “Barbie Doll,” she uses bold diction and symbolism to shows society’s views on women. Anne Sexton uses metaphoric imagery, for the same reason, in her poem “Her Kind.” In Marge Piercy’s “Barbie Doll,” females are pressured into their pre-assigned gender roles starting at a young age with their dolls. Once the “girlchild” is born, she is given, “dolls, stoves, irons, and lipstick,” (Piercy 2-4) to prepare her for her future roles and clueing her …show more content…
For example the use of “girlchild,” she is being fairly generalized just stating it is a young girl, but that is her only identity. Much like a housewife, or a mother is often the only identity society wants a female to have. This is also showing that any race, or background female can be affected the same. Marge Piercy also says the dolls were “presented,” emphasizing that they were not just random gifts but almost life instructions. The girl was thought to have not reached her womanly potential by becoming a beautiful flawless woman ready to become a housewife and mother because she was flawed. The girl had “a great big nose and fat legs,” She heard this multiple times and finally decided the only thing she could do was remove them, resulting in her death. Nevertheless, she is finally perfect with her “turned-up putty nose, dressed in a pink and white nighty… Consummation at last. To every woman a happy ending,” This is saying that a woman is better off being dead and presented pretty in her casket than to walk through her life everyday not being society’s perfect image. This woman’s life is now viewed as complete because she has finally became the perfect woman, it did not matter it only happened in
In the beginning of “Barbie Doll”, pleasurable and unpleasurable imagery is given so that the reader can see the extremes girls go through to be considered perfect.
The treatment of females from the 18th century through the 21st century have only gotten worse due to society’s ignorant judgment of the gender. Of which, is the change from the previous housewife like actions to the modern day body figure. This repulsive transaction is perceived throughout literature. From the 19th century’s short story, “The Story of an Hour” written by Kate Chopin in 1894 and the 20th century’s poem, “Barbie Doll” composed by Marge Piercy in 1971.
In the essay 'Our Barbies, Ourselves,' Emily Prager explores the history of the Barbie doll and talks about the Barbie doll itself. Prager seems convinced that the Barbie doll was an object created by a man and that Barbie reeks of sexuality, sexual innuendo and serves as the anti-feminist embodiment of every man's fantasy. In her own expressive and persuasive modes to fashion an essay designed to persuade the reader that the Barbie doll is a twisted and corrupt tool designed by men to combat the feminist revolution. Though her attempts at persuasion are commendable, I was not swayed in my opinions on Barbie. If anything, I just found fault with this writer's point of view, and I found her accusations to be outrageous and her 'facts' to be completely wrong.
In Marge Piercy’s, “Barbie Doll,” we see the effect that society has on the expectations of women. A woman, like the girl described in ‘Barbie Doll’, should be perfect. She should know how to cook and clean, but most importantly be attractive according to the impossible stereotypes of womanly beauty. Many women in today’s society are compared to the unrealistic life and form of the doll. The doll, throughout many years, has transformed itself from a popular toy to a role model for actual women. The extremes to which women take this role model are implicated in this short, yet truthful poem.
What do little girls do with these dolls? They put on fresh makeup, change there fashionable clothing, and style there long luscious hair. This alone is creating a psychological change in a little girls brain, it is instilling that this is what is customary for a girl to do. Rather than fixing things you are to play princess, along with your easy bake oven. For centuries society has quietly driven a complex into the hearts and minds of young girls, that you have to be pretty to succeed. In our time today you rarely see unattractive; politicians, movie stars, musicians, officials or entertainers. Anybody who is somebody these days has attractive physical qualities.
the poem then progresses to talking about how the baby when it grew up it was “was healthy,tested intelligent possessed strong arms and back … everyone saw a fat nose and fat legs” in this section of the poem we see how marge piercy tries to indicate that although this girl was “healthy, tested intelligent, possessed strong arms and back” that is not what society saw in her all they saw was “a fat nose and fat legs”. In order for this girl to feel as though she is able to be accepted in the society that she lives in she decided to “cut off her nose and her legs and offered them up…. doesn't she look pretty everyone said consummation at last”. this lastly proves the toll that society continues to have on people especially women the girl in this poem decide to mutilate herself so that she could be accepted into the society where at the end it says that “doesnt she look pretty everyone said consummation at last” this shows the sickness that is society in this
“If Barbie was designed by a man, suddenly a lot of things made sense to me,” says Emily Prager in her essay “Our Barbies, Ourselves” (Prager 354). Prager’s purpose for writing this essay is to explain the history of Barbie and how the doll itself has influenced and continue to influence our society today. Prager is appealing to the average girl, to those who can relate to the way she felt growing up with Barbie seen as the ideal woman. Emily Prager uses a constant shift between a formal and informal tone to effectively communicate her ideas that we view women today based upon the unrealistic expectations set forth by Barbie. By adopting this strategy she avoids making readers feel attacked and therefore
In Barbie Doll, the girl chooses to end her life instead of suffering through it with a negative self- image. She “cut off her nose and her legs / and offered them up” (Piercy 17-18). After she mutilates herself in an attempt to make herself look beautiful, others take notice and comment on how pretty her corpse looks laying in the casket. In The Chimney Sweeper, the young chimney sweep finds enough hope in religion to keep him going. In a dream the boy has an “Angel told Tom, if he’d be a good boy, / he’d have God for his father, and never want joy” (Blake 19-20). This gives the boy the motivation that he needs to continue his life and so as he awoke, he “was happy and warm; / [and] if [he did his] duty [he] need not fear harm” (Blake 23-24). The young boy decides to suffer through his brutal everyday life so that one day he can go to heaven, where he will be happy. These two polar- opposite approaches to dealing with the misfortune of the characters is what shapes both the theme and tone of the
Author, Marge Piercy, introduces us to a young adolescent girl without a care in the world until puberty begins. The cruelty of her friends emerges and ultimately she takes her own life to achieve perfection in “Barbie Dolls” (648). At the time when all children are adjusting to their ever changing bodies, the insults and cruelties of their peers begin and children who were once friends for many years, become strangers over night caught in a world of bullying. A child who is bullied can develop severe depression which can lead to suicide; and although schools have been educated in recognizing the signs of bullying, there is an epidemic that has yet to be fully addressed within our schools or society.
The girls feel that people need to mask their imperfections and true selves to uphold the image of how they are supposed to be. These dolls were found in a less than desirable place, such as “Lying on the street next to some tool bits ,and platform shoes with the heels all squashed, and a florescent green wicker wastebasket, and aluminum foil, and hubcaps, and a pink shag rug, and windshield wiper blades, and dusty mason jars, and a coffee can full of rusty nails”. They find another Barbie with heals in the depths of junk. They cover up the physical flaws of the burnt barbies with pretty outfits such as the “Prom Pinks” dress. One of the girls state “as long as you don't lift her dress, right? - who’s to know.” This attempt to cover up where the dolls came from and their imperfections seem to parallel their feelings about themselves and where they come from. The girls have an image of how their dolls would be if they were new. This could be the role society plays on the image of how women are supposed to be and look
In the short story "Barbie-Q,” by Sandra Cisneros, the young girls didn't mind they did not receive other things such as new Barbie's or Ken Barbie's and the friends to go along with the dolls (206). These girls were just happy to play with their own dolls. The girls have bonded with each other and they enjoy playing with each other's dolls. A doll brings two or more children together for fun and social entertainment. Have you ever listened to a child frequently you will hear a child say " so what” that means the child really don't care, it don't matter; nothing else mattered to the two little girls. In the short story "Barbie-Q,” by Sandra Cisneros to purchase a brand new Barbie doll meant that the dolls are expensive in the store so the girls are very happy and pleased to own a second hand Barbie. When the parent places the dolls in the child's hands the dolls take on the character of the owner's beauty; culture; how girls see themselves and the future when the kids are all grown up. Barbie is a fun toy to dress up. Each child has her or his own imagination of a Barbie doll. I, too, myself, like watching all the different cultural background Barbie dolls in the malls or Macy's Department Store around Christmas times. Most large department stores dress
Marge Piercy wrote the Barbie Doll poem in 1973, during the woman’s movement. The title of the poem Barbie Doll, symbolizes how females are supposed to appear into the society. In the poem Barbie Doll, the main character was a girl. She was described as a usual child when she was born. Meaning that she had normal features that any person could ever have. Piercy used “wee lipstick the color of cherry candy” as a smile to describe the child before she has hit puberty. After the character hit puberty, the classmates in her class began to tease her saying “you have a big nose and fat legs.” (Piercy pg. 1) Having a big nose and a fat leg is the opposite of what females are supposed to be presented as in the gender stereotype. In the society that the girl lives in, follows the gender stereotypes that presented females as a petite figure with a slender body. These expectations made the character go insane. She wanted to fit into the society so she “cut off her nose and legs and offered them up.” (Piercy pg. 1) Even though the girl was “healthy, tested intelligent…” (Piercy pg. 1) no one saw that in her, but her appearances. In the end of the poem the girl end up dying, a...
“The Youngest Doll” by Rosario Ferre is ultimately about an aunt who constantly creates life-sized dolls for her three nieces. It becomes more of an obsession rather than hobby when the author explains that each year the aunt spends more time and effort into making these dolls resemble her nieces as much as possible. Towards the end of the story the youngest niece ends up marrying a doctor. The doctor who she ends up marrying views her more as an object to flaunt rather than respecting her worth. Many of the critics who analyze the story come across the idea that Rosario Ferre is attempting to make it appointed that during this time period there was a mixture of sexism, racism, gender, and class implications. As I agree with all of these statements,
Stone, Tanya Lee. The Good, the Bad, and the Barbie: A Doll's History and Her Impact on Us. New York: Penguin Group, 2010. Print.
Barbie, a doll manufactured by Mattel, Inc., encourages an unrealistic body image, racial insensitivity, and contradictive goals, and it is having a negative influence on young girls everywhere. Launched in March 1959 by Ruth Handler, an American business woman and president of Mattel, Inc., Barbie quickly became popular and has gone on to sell three dolls every second, in over one hundred and fifty countries. However, Barbie’s rise to success has not been wholly positive – there have been numerous controversies, parodies, and lawsuits, all addressing a number of issues. One such issue is how Barbie promotes an unrealistic and unobtainable body image. For example, to scale, Barbie is five feet, nine inches tall, has a thirty six inch chest, eighteen inch waist, and thirty three inch hips. Had Barbie been a real person, she would not be able to walk, much less hold her head up. Secondly, Barbie is racially insensitive and perpetuates stereotypes. “Mexico Barbie,” from Barbie’s “ethnic” line, comes with a passport and a Chihuahua, as well as stereotypical red lace ribbons in her hair. Lastly, Barbie portrays goals that are both unobtainable and contradictive. Barbie has had a variety of careers, such as being a doctor, astronaut, and President of the United States, but also engages in stereotypical domestic activities, such as cleaning and baking. These characteristics are affecting young girls in a time when they are most developmentally susceptible, and teaching them a number of negative lessons.