Barbie-Q By Sandra Cisneros Essay

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.
“His story” starts out “I was born under a crooked star. So says my father. And this perhaps explains his sorrow. An only daughter whom no one came for and

Not having nice things can change the attitude of someone how they feel about people who have nicer things then them. Cisneros describes barbies in the following quote, “Yours is the one with mean eyes and a ponytail. Striped swimsuit, stilettos, sunglasses, and gold hoop earrings. Mine is the one with bubble hair. Red swimsuit, stilettos, pearl earrings, and a wire stand” (Cisneros, “Barbie-Q”). 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