Barbie Doll By Leslie Heywood Analysis

731 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Negatives of beauty standards

The American society has undergone massive change. Since the 1960's and 1970's, women have worked tirelessly to to secure their rights, however for many women we cannot be complacent. The central facing issuing in today's society neglects the potentiality a women and her composition may posses. There are gender differences in the vulnerability a man or a women uphold; in today's global society the women must uphold a stern image. H, as shown in "I Want a Wife" by Judy Brady's, "Barbie Doll" by Marge Piercg, and "One of the Girls" by Leslie Heywood the cognizance of a women is impeded by the perception society covers them in today.
As long as humans have existed, the role of a women have been known as playing the house wife at any given situation. Those house wife implications include; managing the family, caring for the children, cooking, buying, and storing the families needs each and everyday. …show more content…

In Marge Piercg poem, "Barbie Doll", portrays how women might feel compelled and brainwashed into looking and being something they're not. By the end of the poem, the girl child of the poem cuts off her "fat nose on thick legs" (Piercg 378) just to please everyone else and have a moment of looking beautiful even though at this point she is lying dead in a casket. Piercg pulls together the absurd way society normalizes expectations of women that are not quiet normal. Women play a huge part in the continuation of our society at large and Marge Piercg engages the reader to think about the ways society can make or break the image of a woman. Society portrays an ideal body and characteristic for women to live up to by encouraging them to "exercise, diet, smile, and wheedle" (Piercg 378) in order to become accepted and acknowledged. By trying to please society and again following the expectations, women are wasting time on an ideal body that is unrealistic, and prevents them from feeling truly

Show More
Related

  • Lucille Clifton's Barbie Doll

    595 Words  | 2 Pages

    In both poem “ Barbie Doll” by Merge Piercy and “ homage to my hips” by Lucille Clifton, they both expressed the different way on how our society wants us, women to look and act in order to be except into the society. Our society condemned any women who are to act differently from our norms. In this society and in every culture aspect they are always stereotype, women always been taking advantage of no matter what century we are on. In “Barbie Doll” the author tend to provide more effective critique of society expectation about our body image than “homage to my hips”.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Marge Piercy's Barbie Doll

    1681 Words  | 4 Pages

    In a world where many are led to believe that they fall short of what society depicts as “perfect”, it is still true that everyone is beautiful in their own way. There are even more demands on girls now a days than there has ever been before. Some may think they need to fit in, so they become someone they are not or they begin to act like a totally different person. “Barbie Doll” by Marge Piercy, illustrates society’s high and unrealistic expectations on the physical appearance of women, while failing to see that a woman’s self-esteem is at risk of being diminished.

    Read More

  • Kate Chopin's Barbie Doll

    855 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Marge Piercy’s Barbie Doll

    604 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Marge Piercy’s Barbie Doll

    1441 Words  | 3 Pages

    Every woman grows up knowing that they one day want to be beautiful. In Marge Piercy’s “Barbie Doll” she gives an in depth look at what negative effects the concept of beauty can have on an individual. From infancy to a full grown adult woman, beauty has been a way of thinking and lifestyle. As a little girl you are given petite shaped, blonde, blue eyed dolls. While boys are given brawny soldiers and mechanical toys.

    Read More

  • The Fat Girl Andre Dubus Analysis

    692 Words  | 2 Pages

    Throughout history women have been portrayed as inferior to men in all ages. However women have transcended from being too inferior to men to actually being portrayed as naive in the sense that women only care about their beauty since that is the only thing that society cares about now. This has now spread to age in society where now women are portrayed by the media as sex symbols so that could be enticing to society. In the “Fat Girl” by andre dubus the main charcter Louise is pressured by her family members espically her mother to lose weight so that she can fit into societies portrayal of women.In the poem “the barbie doll” by margie piercy the female charcter is forced to correct her body images in order to fit with that of which society

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis Of Our Barbies Ourselves By Prager

    580 Words  | 2 Pages

    “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

    Read More

  • The Role Of Women In William Faulkner's Barbie Doll

    1684 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Barbie is a plastic, man-made female toy, which has perfect facial symmetry, unnatural body dimensions, and perfectly unblemished white skin. In Chris Semansky’s Overview of “Barbie Doll,” he explains that the Barbie “is invented to show women have been socialized into thinking of their bodies and behavior in relation to a male-controlled idea” (Semansky). The title directly alludes to the Barbie toy, which represents a design of a man-made construction of the female image that shows an unnatural human form that could only exist inside the imagination of men. Throughout both “Barbie Doll” and “The Birthmark” you will find the female protagonists seeking an ultimately perfect form, free of the characteristics that those around them see as unworthy. It is as if they are chasing the blueprint of perfection that is present in the Barbie. The original Barbie came with three outfits a bathing suit, a tennis outfit, and a wedding dress (Semansky). Her outfits clearly symbolize restrictions forced on female privilege, identity, and autonomy, where “she embodies the ideals and values of her middle-class American community” who expect her to “spend her days at the country club and her afternoons cooking dinner for her husband” (Semansky). This is directly similar to the “outfits” those around the women in “Barbie Doll” where the girlchild is born

    Read More

  • Negative Body Image In Marge Piercy's Barbie Doll

    1014 Words  | 3 Pages

    To achieve this body, women will starve themselves or eat way below the accepted calorie count. Women will do anything to achieve the body they see so many models have. This is exhibited in the poem, Barbie Doll. In this poem, Marge Piercy uses a Barbie doll to convey the hardships women go through to achieve a body that they like. For example, “So she cut off her nose and legs and offered them up” (Piercy). Figuratively speaking, it can be inferred that since Barbie was not satisfied with her appearance, she sought out methods to change them. Barbie wanted to fit in and since everyone was making fun of her appearance, she decided that the only solution is to change what other people make fun of her about, to something that they would like. This shows that Barbie wanted to look like what everyone liked so bad that she would to go as far as to cut off her own nose and

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Marge Piercy's Barbie Doll

    1880 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Compare Hanging Fire And Barbie Doll

    905 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the poem “Barbie Doll” the speaker take more drastic measures to make herself acceptable to society. In line12 the speaker takes drastic measures to fix herself, “So she cut off her nose and legs.” This action will lead to her death in the end of the poem which would not have happened if her peers did not mock her about the way her nose and legs looked. People are aware of their own imperfections, but when people mock them and do not accept them because of it, that is when the drastic measures of starvation, excessive exercising, and depression can begin. It can happen without the pressures of society, but if society mocks them, it pushes the person further in to a state of

    Read More

  • Gender Roles

    596 Words  | 2 Pages

    Women and men both play crucial roles in our society. Through the years, we like to presume that gender roles aren’t perceived as they once were. Is that the case? Looking through pieces of literature such as “I want a wife” (1971) by Judy Brandy, “Barbie Doll” by Marge Piercy (1973), and “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1899) and comparing them to modern day depicts how much gender roles changed. Gender roles have not changed a whole lot; they did change, but defiantly not as much as we like to believe. Women have more freedom and independence now than ever before, but that doesn’t change the fact that they are still controlled and objectified.

    Read More

  • Language And Diction In Barbie Doll, By Marge Piercy

    1096 Words  | 3 Pages

    In “Barbie Doll,” by Marge Piercy, the speaker’s tone is remorsefully cautionary because she aims to protect females from the societal standards that caused the female subject of the poem to commit suicide. Early in the poem, the speaker illustrates the teen prior to her death: “She was healthy, tested intelligent, / possessed strong arms and back, / abundant sexual drive and manual dexterity” (7-9). Clearly, the girl had the potential to be very successful, as a result of her many natural gifts. However, she was constantly harassed and nagged because she had a “great big nose and fat legs” (6). Even though she had all the attributes of a very successful woman, she was still abused by her fellow classmates because she did not uphold the societal

    Read More

  • Gender Insanity in Barbie Doll, Ken Doll, and The Yellow Wallpaper

    637 Words  | 2 Pages

    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...

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay On Barbie Doll

    855 Words  | 2 Pages

    Seen as solely sexual objects, nurturers, and birth givers, these standards do not discriminate against age. From childhood, girls are required to conform to the standards strewn out before them. In the poem Barbie Doll by Marge Piercy, she depicts a young girl who struggles with the negative view of her peers “so she cut off her nose and her legs and offered them up” in an effort to please others (Piercy, 561). She lost her dignity and self-worth. This exhibits the type of mental torment that women--even young girls--sustain from these pressures.

    Read More

More about Barbie Doll By Leslie Heywood Analysis

Open Document