Analysis Of Marge Piercy's A Barbie Doll

Considered very significant to numerous people, happiness and external appearances plays a part in themes of various works. Therefore, these themes of people’s happiness and outward looks are usually ones that many people want to experience. Reading works with these themes can allow the reader to view the subject within the author’s point of view. Poems with these themes lets the readers understand the topic through new eyes, and they may even inspire the reader think about what is truly valuable in life. Two poems that share the themes of happiness and external appearances are Marge Percy’s “Barbie Doll” and Edwin Robinson’s “Richard Cory”. Through these themes of the poems, they show what the minds and lives of those whose lives revolve around

A girl walks into the toy store and pulls into the doll section. She stares at the imitation doll and the Barbie doll standing next to it. She contemplates between picking the black hair doll and the perfect blonde doll. In a quick second, she grabbed the doll. The Barbie doll. Society is the same thing. In the story, Veronica always wanted the stereotypical barbie doll with blue eyes instead of the imitation doll that may look like her, even if to her the blonde hair doll may not look like her but is beautiful. Throughout the story, she learned that the two dolls may not look alike, but are the same to her in the end. The Story “Barbie” by Gary Soto reflects the theme of what’s on the inside counts and the symbolism for the two dolls, and

Literature is frequently comprehended by most people as a mass of writings. In particular, it refers to those reckoned to have the aptitude of being inventive and rational, or which deploy languages which departed from the common usage. Global literature, on the other hand, has two different definitions where the first one explains it as the summation of all literatures of the world, including personal and nationalized work. The second definition is, global literature consists of the world’s classics, or the most sought after works that are read across time, ethnic and language borders in which they were produced and become the intercontinental patrimony of civilization. (Gafrik, 2009, p. 28) Global literature penetrates deep into cultural

Sandra Cisneros is a writer who spoke through her poetry and short stories. Cisneros faced adversity because she was female writer who was not afraid to write how she felt. As Rivera explains, “The predominant image of docile, submissive, nurturing, and effacing women who relegate their own needs and personal desires to tend to needs of others, particularly the men and children in their families, gives way to literary representations of assertive, self-supporting, tenacious, and strong- willed women who assume control of their lives and circumstances.” Cisneros reminded people throughout her writing the women face challenges, but can overcome obstacles because they are strong and determined. In the stories “Barbie-Q” and “His story” Cisneros shows the true aspect of female characters and how they overcome adversity and challenges. These stories support Rivera’s statement about Cisneros writing.

In the short story ''Barbie Q,'' Sandra Cisneros portrays that Barbie dolls can impact girl's lives as they grow up, and influence the way they act and perceive themselves. These girls grow up in a poor family environment considering that they acquired the rest of the dolls in a toys sale after a store burned down. In ‘‘Barbie Q,’’what is the thematic significance of the damaged dolls after the fire? The girl’s enthusiasm to get the new dolls -when they said that they prefer to receive new doll’s clothes- suggests that the meaning of these Barbie dolls is more than just a new toy. I believe that the damaged dolls exemplifies the way women feel imperfect due to all the criticism they encounter. Understanding the real meaning of the stereotypes surrounding an "acceptable" way of dressing, the smoke and water on the burned dolls, and Barbie’s ‘‘MOD’ern cousin,’’ (Cisneros) contributes to a better analytical interpretation. Beyond poverty, these dolls represent the effects of the stereotypes that society has implemented to women.

Everything and everyone should be treated equal no matter what something or someone looks like. The short story Barbie-Q by Sandra Cisneros proves that. This short story is about two young girls who do not have enough money to afford everything they dream of. All they want is a new Barbie doll to play with. When the two girls get a broken or damaged doll, they do what they can to cover up the flaws that it has. 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.

The poem Barbie Doll by Marge Piercy is a short poem that talks about a little girl who is born just like any other little girl. She plays with dolls and little ovens and messes around with makeup. She is fine and unbothered with her life till she hits puberty. Around that age she has a classmate tell her “you have a big nose and fat legs.” She was a girl who was healthy, strong, and intelligent but, she was apologizing to everyone for what they saw. She dieted and exercised to try and be better and she put a smile on her face to make it all seem okay but, it got tiring and she couldn't do it anymore so she gave up her nose and legs. With that being said it could mean various things so take it as you will. 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.

The poem, “Warren Pryor” by Alden Nowlan, introduces a boy, free’d from the hard-labour on a farm, with the sacrifices made by his parents, however, it evokes his sense of feeling trapped. In the poem, “Barbie Doll” by Marge Piercy, a girl modifies her appearance, because of this she dies. Seen as ‘successful’, isn’t the same as being successful. Both of these poems evoke change made for someone else's advantage, suggest an important message to their audience, and the characters were viewed as successful by others, not themselves.

When viewing advertisements, commercials, and marketing techniques in the sense of a rhetorical perspective, rhetorical strategies such as logos, pathos, and ethos heavily influence the way society decides what products they want to purchase. By using these strategies, the advertisement portrayal based on statistics, factual evidence, and emotional involvement give a sense of need and want for that product. Advertisements also make use of social norms to display various expectations among gender roles along with providing differentiation among tasks that are deemed with femininity or masculinity. Therefore, it is of the advertisers and marketing team of that product that initially have the ideas that influence

“Maybe she’s born with it. Maybe it’s Maybelline.” This slogan has been heard in every Maybelline makeup commercial and presents its viewers with women with unrealistically long eyelashes, flawless skin and fully glossed lips. But have we ever stopped to consider the message that these commercials entail? Could these Maybelline models have stumbled upon a full face of makeup that could be mistaken as a natural look? The media portrays these unrealistic standards to men and women of how women should look, which suggests that their natural face is not good enough. Unrealistic standards for beauty created by the media is detrimental to girls’ self-esteem because it makes women feel constant external pressure to achieve the “ideal look”, which indicates that their natural appearance is inadequate.

Whether it be in the workplace or walking down the street there is always going to be more pressure and judgment being focused on women than men. Why is this? Gender plays a big role on the reflection of our identities to society. We have been brought to believe that there are certain ways men and women should and should not act, dress and talk. These social norms do not just apply to what is acceptable in regards to public safety but rather, it is used as a way to control and evaluate behavior. In the following essay, we will explore how your sex and gender affect your identity in society.

Barbie is a doll that was introduced in 1959, she took the world by storm with her fashion and changing careers. She greatly influenced pop culture and the thoughts and beliefs of people. Barbie has been involved in many controversies over the years due to her body image and the high body expectations that she sets for young girls. She has had a significant impact on social values by conveying characteristics of female independence. Barbie has had positive and negative influences on fashion, interests and beliefs of a certain year, which continually changed throughout the decades.

“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. However, when she gets a new Barbie the following Christmas and ends up destroying it, she learns to accept both Barbie dolls. In “Pretty Hurts” sang by Beyonce, the speaker was taught from a young age to care about appearances. Throughout the story the speaker struggles with herself, and she thinks she is not good enough. In the end she comes to realization, and shes says she is finally happy with herself. Between these two sources, the theme; ‘Everybody needs to learn that you are beautiful in your own way, and don’t need to live up to beauty standards’ is shown between the dynamic character of the speaker in “Pretty Hurts” and the motif/symbol of the two Barbies in “Barbie”.

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. She then cut off her nose and arms in order to please the rest of society. Only at her funeral did people finally say she was pretty. As shown in this poem, the criticism placed on women in our society is a continuously growing problem today. By using imagery, symbolism, and diction, Piercy demonstrates the high standards placed on girls at a very young age.

As a little girl you are encouraged to be who you want to be. You fill your world with fairy tales or Barbie dolls that inspire you to believe that the sky is the limit. But little do you know, that as you grow older, the dreams you are forging for yourself is no longer achievable. Where you once saw the sky as the limit is now transformed to be seen as a man’s word as the limit. No little girl, you are not liberated nor are you empowered…you are simply propagated by a man’s world to believe that you are. But where did it all start and how did you get to this position?