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Millions of girls around the world are dressing their Barbie dolls in skimpy designer outfits and high heel shoes, and slide her slender legs into a bright pink convertible next to her male counterpart, Ken. These same girls will gaze into the mirror, staring at their thighs and hair, and attempt to balance themselves in a pair of their mother’s high heel shoes. They will wonder why they do not look like Barbie. They will wonder today, just as I wondered years ago. As the years of make-believe with the American plastic icon of girlhood nostalgia passed, I discovered Barbie’s hidden effects. Although Barbie lent herself to fond memories of childhood, she also influenced my early ideal image of the female body. As I began to realize Barbie’s false representation of a real woman, I dis...
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.
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.
The brain starts the size of a seed and develops along the growth of a person. A brain holds a hundred billion cells, but even with this capacity, its potential is easily stunuted. Poems help turn the science of life into a fresh analytical perspective. The challenge poems offer is stretching the mind to see the world from a new perspective. The poems “Barbie Doll”, by Marge Piercy, and “Kitchenette Building”, by Gwendolyn Brooks, provide twisting plots that offer a new fresh and personal perspective of society's views. The poems “Barbie Doll” and “Kitchenette Building” show how society limits the potential of its own people. The restrictions are seen through the examination of the judgment from bystanders, suppressed dreams, and self dissatisfaction
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.
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.
In the Article “Barbie Doesn’t Add Up,” the author Ken Schroeder states that Barbie dolls were just dolls that gave young girls false ideas of what they should be and look like as they get older. This article was written in the Education Digest in 1992, which helps understand why the author talks mostly about Barbie’s intelligence. The main audience of this article is directed towards parents of young girls in particular. The author is not very persuasive in the article about Barbie because he does not give enough legitimate examples and proof that his theory is correct. Also he is not in any type of field work that studies how children grow up to be after playing with Barbie. It is hard to find many credible examples to back up Mr. Schroeder’s views and thoughts on Barbie and how she makes girls think they should not be good at math.
“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 the poem “Barbie Doll” by Marge Piercy, a young girl is bullied for not achieving physical perfection. The title itself is an icon of perfection, it gives the reader an idea of the standard the girl is held to. Barbie dolls are modeled to be tall, thin, colored eyes, with a symmetrically beautiful faces the icon of perfection. The speaker states, “Everyone saw a fat nose on thick legs,” (Piercy 7). Here the young girl is objectified into body parts. She becomes her flaws and is no longer seen as a person. Even though the speaker states “She was healthy, tested intelligent, / possessed strong arms and back,” (Piercy 7-8), everyone focuses on her flaws and ignore all the good aspects to her. The speaker goes on to state, “She was advised to
Imagine being a 5 year old girl playing with baby dolls and brushing your Barbie doll’s hair and feeling fat. A 5 year old feeling fat sounds crazy, right? Well with the influence Barbie has had for years is causing girls younger and younger to feel that their body is not “perfect”. Eating disorders, unrealistic expectations, and self-confidence are all at jeopardy once a young girl is rewarded with her first Barbie doll.
Gender stereotypes have a huge effect on our generation now, and in the past. It makes us think in a certain way that we do, about males and females; which can make people insane from the expectations. A few of the expectations for males are that they have to be strong and muscular. On the other hand female’s expectations is weak and feminine. A great example of gender stereotype having the effect of making people insane is Barbie Doll, Ken Doll, and The Yellow Wallpaper. These three pieces of literature with gender stereotype, made the main character go into insanity.
The narrative accompanying the doll is just as important as her appearance and sets the intention of how the girl will engage in performative play. Dollmakers have the power to send girls positive messages about how a girl will take place in the world with her doll. Will the girl mimic a surgeon if she plays with Doctor Barbie? Will her dream of Olympic aspirations when she plays with swim champion? What kind of role model shall we fashion this doll? Unfortunately it’s been a slow climb to to get Barbie to . Her first careers were a secretary, teacher, and flight attendant. As Feminist put themselves into the debate, Mattel added professions over the years, catapulting Barbie to enter new fields, as a doctor, a judge, a lawyer and even The President of the United States. In contrast, Bratz dolls are underemployed. They are teen girls who love fashion, shopping, sharing and creating their dreams with their friends. In terms of role models, the production of famous figures in the market leans toward movie starlets, models and pop singers. Women who have careers based on their looks before their talent are more likely to be fashioned into a doll. Doll versions of Cher, Marilyn Monroe, Jennifer Lopez and actresses linked to a blockbuster movie are often easy to find in a store. There are exceptions; recently Mattel released doll versions of more women known for their groundbreaking accomplishments including ballerina Misty Copeland and film director Ava
Barbie Girl captures the essence of Daisy Buchanan. All Daisy truly cares about in life is being the prettiest girl in parties , even if that means that being in loveles marrige. When Daisy says “ I hope she’ll be a fool” it shows how much Diasy loves her life of being a beautiful ditsy foul in comfortable life. She is fine with being treated liked a Barbie doll and having no control of her life as long as she has a comfrotable lifestyle.
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.
According to Lisa Belkin, Barbie is good for society because she’s fun to play with and she encourages little girls to use their imagination and dream big. Many young girls who play with Barbie dolls have realized that she is just a doll. Some of these little girls don’t have the desire to look like Barbie; they just think Barbie is just a doll that they play with and leave them everywhere. At a young age girls are given their first Barbie doll and thought what “perfect” should be. Barbie portrays the perfect image and life. Not only is Barbie tall, skinny, and beautiful, she has all the luxurious accessories to match her perfect life. To go along with her perfect life she is accompanied with the perfect boyfriend, family and dream house.At a young age girls are also being influenced by this doll, what they should look like, and what kind of life they sgould lead. Young girls strive to achieve this look which is life threatening to obtain. Regardless to the changes they made to Barbie, she is still far from real. Little girls that are mature enough don’t strive to look like Barbie because she’s just a plastic doll.(Debate.org, 9). According to “The Intentions behind the creation of Barbie”, Barbie dolls ...
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.