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The Norton Introduction to Literature. Shorter 12th ed. New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 2016, pp. 794-800. "Overview: 'Barbie Doll'.
Girls are beginning to see a deep gender bias from very young ages. The media perpetuates this bias by editing women to be inhumanly perfect. Advertising is set around people’s insecurities. This is giving girls the idea that the only thing that matters about them is the way they look and how men perceive them. Women are said to spend more money on beauty than they do on their own education (Netflix).
Barbie is rich, she wears the most expensive clothing and accessories. Barbie symbolizes the societies norm for the perfect women. Just by staring at the Barbie dolls you wouldn't see any negative imperfections. However, if we go far beyond the plastic we can reveal the wide phenomenon the world has of all the types of people in society as a whole. All the products that consumers buy can be used to establish self-identities and social relations.
With the constant fear of ridicule and discrimination, we still try and define ourselves, though we are always under the society’s scope. Marge Piercy, in her poem “Barbie Doll”, gives us a look at the influence of our surroundings and how something as innocent as a doll can trigger these insecurities. Our strive for acceptance and “perfection” can cause major emotional damage on anyone who identifies as a woman. Young girls look at these depictions of “perfect” bodies, such as a barbie doll for example, and compare themselves. In the poem “Barbie Doll”, Piercy talks about a young girl who she described as “...healthy, tested and intelligent...” (247) but, she was picked on by peers who said she had “a great big nose and fat legs.”
The poem Barbie doll by Marge Piercy is about a little girl who grows up only to kill herself for not living up to society’s standards. The speaker shows how she had a normal childhood and was happy playing with here baby dolls and toy stove. However, during puberty, her body changed and everyone noticed. She was criticized for her “fat nose and thick legs”. She tried to change by dieting and exercising, but soon tired of doing so.
Fried chicken, collard greens, macaroni cheese, and ice cream have a very special place in my heart till this day. You are wondering, why does these delicious, mouthwatering foods have a special place in this girl’s heart? Well, these foods but not limited to these foods made me happy in my own special way. Not only did these foods made me happy, they made me realize who I really am and the meaning of a family. When I was seven or eight, I live in a small town, let us call it Barbie town.
Although Barbie has conveyed many beliefs through the clothes and jobs she has had, the most controversial belief has been body image. Since first being brought out into the world, Barbie has had an unreasonably shaped body, with a small waist and large breasts. All of Barbie’s body features have impacted the way society expects women to look. But in 2016, Barbie had a dramatic makeover, she was released in different heights and body shapes, making her more suitable to the way women actually look. Barbie’s new look has made a positive impact on young girls and potentially society’s unrealistic expectations of
Many images in media makes girls to be dissatisfied with their images since they believe that other individuals view the idealized images as desirable (Haugen & Musser, 2011). Most of the media images are stereotypical and not real but girls’ constant exposure to those images has led them to seek to attain them since they are made to believe they are ideal. These images affect the girls negatively since they will be dissatisfied with their bodies and have low self-esteem. This influences them to associate with irresistible urge to alter their body images so as to conform to what they deem ideal. They wrongly think that physical appearance is indicative of personal traits.
In such a way that, Barbie has displayed multiple career paths, offered in various ethnicities but always displayed in the same way and with the use of Logos and Ethos. Although the whole idea behind the Barbie doll was to encourage young girls to be able to dress Barbie how they wanted to with the various wardrobes, it was not until quite recently that Barbie was able to hold more “leadership like” rolls in society. With advertisement of the Barbie doll, gender equity closely intertwined with the portrayal of the doll. “Consistent with other commercial advertising formats, males were found in the leadership and authority roles, while females were generally portrayed in more passive roles. When women were the only individuals in the advertisement, the ad copy usually reflected a biased message toward the abilities and function of the women in their roles as professionals.”
Barbie dolls extend girls an invitation to a ‘‘plastic society’’ that doesn't accept the genuineness each of us possesses. They present a role model impossible to accomplish. The characters didn't have names, they could hold a symbolic representation of society’s judgment. The girls had the first dolls just like they wanted, but they desired to cover all of the imperfections on the dolls damaged in the fire with new clothes such as the ‘‘Prom Pink outfit’’ (Cisneros). Thereupon, no one would notice the
Barbie is a bad role model for young girls. Barbie has a perfect appearance, she is very stereotypical, and she causes girls to have poor mental health. To begin with, Barbie is a bad role model, because she has a perfect appearance. She has flawless skin and this causes many girls to have low self-esteem. She is also usually tan and this has led many girls to go tanning at the beach.
Women are characterized to be a particular way since they are constantly being prejudiced on the basis of their gender. They are expected to dress a certain way, act in one way as opposed to another, take care of a family, and be able to cook. This prejudice is prevalent across the globe, whether in America, as depicted by the poem “Barbie Doll” by Marge Piercy, or in Antigua as described by the prose “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid. Even though there is a great similarity between the social pressures faced by women in both America and Antigua, American women are greatly judged on a physical level, while in Antigua, women are predominantly judged on their capability to completing household chores.
Barbie is not an Appropriate Role Model What comes to mind when you think of Barbie? The thoughts perfect, thin, and has everything come to mind. This is what Barbie encourages girls to be. At a young age most girls have Barbies; they play with the dolls look up to them. But, what role does Barbie play in young girls lives?
The poem “Barbie Doll” by Marge Piercy suggests that girls are fatally and ultimately entrapped by society's definition of what feminine beauty and behavior is. In our society we believe that women should be perfect. We want women to be as flawless as a Barbie doll and in doing so we create many struggles for women because no one can ever achieve that goal. The poem gives off a sense of irony when “society” compares a young girl to a Barbie doll. Our society has an ideal that was created by the influences of popular media and culture that is impossible for anyone to reach.
But where did it all start and how did you get to this position? You’re five years old when you receive your first Barbie doll. Your innocent mind looks at the plastic figure as just a symbol of inspiration or a relatable toy used on the playground
