In this essay, I will explore the themes of various poems from “Kinky”, by Denise Duhamel. The poems “The Limited Edition Platinum Barbie” and “One Afternoon When Barbie Wanted to Join the Military”, reflect upon the oppressive beauty standards and gender expectations in our culture and hyperbolize them to a dystopian point. Duhamel uses Barbie as a metaphor throughout these poems, and addresses our culture’s misogyny, while making Barbie a first person character and giving her a voice. The poem “The Limited Edition Platinum Barbie” critiques our culture’s narrow standard of beauty. Our society is consumed by the fantasy and perfection of the idealized body.
After reading the novel Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, I recommend that other high school students read it based on its figurative style and satire. Through the book Speak there is a myriad of figurative language that runs parallel to Melinda Sordino's life and the intractable conflicts she's facing. Based on this students should read the book because Anderson's figurative style is rich with imaginative metaphors and symbols with predictable meanings. One example of this is Malindas Barbie doll sculpture made from bare turkey bones and the head of a decapitated Barbie, “I pop the head of a Barbie doll and set it inside the turkey's body… I place a piece of tape over the Barbies mouth” (Anderson 63-64). One may interpret that she's doing this to express the gruesome loss of her identity and she chose the barbie because like herself the Barbie is fake and plastic on the outside appearing perfect to the world.
The narrator in “Barbie-Q” resisted the negative association with the shame expected of her and did not allow that shame to stop her from enjoying her toys. The narrator posed this to readers when she says, “So what if we didn’t get our new Bendable Legs Barbie and Midge and Ken…in nice clean boxes and had to buy them on Maxwell Street, all water-soaked and sooty” (“Barbie-Q” 16). She used her innocence as a way to avoid the shame associated with her dolls and just focused on the excitement of receiving a new one. By her lack of real shame over her dolls and her own situation, she really fought the idea that one must feel ashamed and negatively towards themselves because of the shame they are presumed to feel because of their financial
‘Beauty is not defined by your physical features, it is defined by the heart inside your chest and the love that flows through it. ’- Imania Margia. This meaningful quote written by Imania Margia explains the true significance and message shown through both the short story “Barbie” written by Gary Soto, and “Pretty Hurts” sang by Beyonce. The short story, “Barbie” written by Gary Soto presents a young girl named Veronica who learned from a young age that in order to be pretty, you must fit standards and stereotypes- Barbie stereotypes.
During the Colonial times in America, people from all over Europe migrated to the new American Continent. They came for many reasons such as religious freedom, escape a destitute life, laws or taxes, and most to escape King George III of Britain. Yet the miles of ocean separating them from Britain did not save them from the oppression of Britain’s King or his tax demands. This caused a major unrest among the colonies and eventually led to the Revolutionary War.
The development of stereotypes is shown in this short story because one barbie is described with mean eyes and the other one is nice with bubble hair. In the story the barbies smelt like smoke because of the toy warehouse burned down. The girls playing with their barbies state that even though the barbies might smell and have some things wrong with them they are still barbies and fun to play with. The girls
The end of the poem you see her in a casket with a new nose and makeup and essentially she looks like a doll. Everyone who is there to see her comments on how pretty she. She is said to now have a happy ending. This poem talks about how this girl was just an innocent girl who didn't have any issues with herself till she reached a certain age.
“Beauty is not defined by your physical features, it is defined by the heart inside your chest and the love that flows through it. ”- Imania Margia. This meaningful quote written by Imania Margia explains the true significance and message shown through both the short story “Barbie” written by Gary Soto and “Pretty Hurts” sang by Beyonce. The short story “Barbie” written by Gary Soto presents a young girl named Veronica who learned from a young age, that in order to be pretty, you must fit standards and stereotypes- Barbie stereotypes.
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.”
For example, the first stanza creates the image of a little girl playing with the usual toys, like the baby born dolls (the dolls that did pee-pee), mini GE stoves, and makeup. Female readers can easily relate to playing with these toys as children. They are the typical toys given to girls at a young age, which is the point of presenting this information. It shows the girl was brought up like usual, which makes it seem like the ending of the poem could also become commonplace. It also gives a good visual representation of her body at the funeral when the speaker says she has a “turned up putty nose”, which makes the girl seem both perfect and fake.
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
(Kramer and Nelson 1997). Using the idea that Barbie depicts a woman who can be whoever she wants to be gives a sense of ethos present in the advertisement. This will then influence the audience (young girls) that they too can be whoever they want to be. By giving the opportunity for emotional attachment and representation of the little girl holding the doll looking up to Barbie as someone much like themselves, it gives a sense of hope and inspiration for the young girl. With the use of pathos, advertisement of Barbie makes it appear as though she is very approachable because of her looks and the way she seems to “fit the standards of society.”
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
The story tells the reader about how two girls, each owns a Barbie doll with their one outfit piece and they made a dress out of worn socks for the dolls. One Sunday, they both went to the flea market on Maxwell Street, where the dolls of the other characters in Barbie were sold with lower price as a big toy warehouse was destroyed by fire. They did not mind to buy the dolls at the flea market even though the dolls were flawed, soaked with water and smelled like ashes. Barbie is widely pictured as a successful girl, who is perfect in every way; with her beautiful face, a slim body, nice house, secured job and a handsome boyfriend which is the fancy of every girl. The story tells the reader of the expectancy for women to have this immaculate figure, ignoring the fact that each person has different body fat percentage and body mass index which may affect their sizes and weights.
They do not care what the Barbie doll looks like because to them, the toy is still a Barbie on the inside. This short story shows that beauty is not what is on the outside, but what is in the inside. It focuses on beauty and what beauty means to the two young girls. When the two young girls look at a Barbie, the only thing they see is the beauty within it and what it could become to them. “So what if our Barbies smell like smoke when you hold them up to your nose even after you wash and wash and wash them.
