ipl-logo

Meaning Of Barbie Q By Sandra Cisneros

606 Words3 Pages

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. At first, the Barbie dolls in better conditions with fancy clothes enacts the way society thinks that women are materialistic and egocentric. This relates to the moment the girls call Ken a ‘‘stupid-looking doll,’’ (Cisneros) they prioritize clothes and they would rather have new clothes for …show more content…

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

Show More
Related

  • Shame In Barbie-Q By Cisneros

    1539 Words  | 7 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Sherman Alexie's Barbie-Q

    980 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Figurative Style In Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak

    977 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Growing Up In Marge Piercy's Barbie Doll

    1240 Words  | 5 Pages

    After reading Marge Piercy’s poem Barbie Doll, I was suddenly blown away. The poem thoroughly navigates through all the obstacles a young women between the ages of 13-18 go through in this society. I fell in love with this poem after reading it because it reminded me of my childhood and the obstacles I faced growing up. The emotions expressed in this poem are ones I’ve experienced on my own. Puberty is something we all dread, but secretly long for.

    Read More

  • Barbie's Problem Is Far Beyond Skin Deep Analysis

    996 Words  | 4 Pages

    Within Jill Filipovic’s Time Magazine article, “Barbie’s Problem Is Far Beyond Skin Deep” posted in January 2016, she discusses the diverse selection an traditional doll company is now releasing to fit into today’s society of women. The context of this article is discrimination towards the physical image of a women, to an audience of well educated, middle class women from various cultures and races. Filipovic’s exigence is her own personal childhood memory she had when her father used to “walk[ed] barefoot in the basement across a sea of sharp, skinny naked limbs and equally sharp, pointed naked breasts.” The use of appeals detailed into Filipovic’s article is recommended for the PopMatters’ Persuasiveness Prize. She clarifies the claim she

    Read More

  • Identity In Marge Piercy's Barbie Doll

    730 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.”

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Marge Piercy's A Barbie Doll

    1480 Words  | 6 Pages

    Piercy’s “Barbie Doll” takes a sarcastic approach to backlash at society and send the reader a message about what beauty really is. In “Barbie Doll”, A Barbie doll is used to show and symbolize what society views as what a female should aspire to become “perfect”. “Barbie's unrealistic body type…busty with a tiny waist, thin thighs and long legs…is reflective of our culture's feminine ideal. Yet less than two percent of American women can ever hope to achieve such dreamy measurements.”

    Read More

  • Barbie Dystopianis Duhamel Analysis

    805 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Marge Piercy's Barbie Doll

    854 Words  | 4 Pages

    In our American culture, the public encourages women on how to dress, act, think and be in the chance to stay accepted. From a young age, little girls are projected to convert into seamless feminine trophies, learning how to cook, clean, and iron for their prospective spouses.” Barbie Doll” hones in on the social characters in contrast to a doll. The author keenly shows a glimpse of foreshadowing and theme even before the poem begins with the title “Barbie Doll” which is the most iconic and idolized toy

    Read More

  • Short Story Barbie-Q By Sandra Cisneros

    770 Words  | 4 Pages

    It portrays how two girls make best of what they have and look past all of the flaws that each Barbie doll may have. Meaning that they do not care that their Barbie doll does not look like the rest of them, they still view the toy as a doll to play with. It shows how the two girls view beauty and what it means to them. The lesson learned in this short story is that you should not judge a book by its cover; there is always something beautiful about someone or

    Read More

  • Suicide Note Analysis

    502 Words  | 3 Pages

    This shows how the speaker could not cope and the only way she found to make her failures go away, was to kill herself. In the poem by Margie Piercy, “Barbie Doll” shows how the pressure and the views of other effect how one views themselves, which

    Read More

  • Barbie Doll Idealism

    1868 Words  | 8 Pages

    The characters in the poem and short story “Barbie Doll” by Marge Piercy and “The Birth-Mark” by Nathaniel Hawthorne can both relate to one another in the fact that the public sets expectations for women. “Then in the magic of puberty, a classmate said:/ You have a great big nose and fat legs.” (Piercy 5-6) This quote from the poem “Barbie Doll” is an exceptional example of our general society making fun of an adolescent, who does not meet the societal expectations that have been set for women, until a tragic event happens.

    Read More

  • Grotesque Imagery In The Doll's Face

    135 Words  | 1 Pages

    Through the grotesque imagery of the creation of the doll’s face, Ferré emphasizes the labels and objectivity placed on women through society. While explaining the aunt’s process in making a doll, Ferré emphasizes the creation of the face, saying that the wax face covered with plaster on both sides was “like a living face inside two dead ones”. By personifying the doll’s face, Ferré articulates the similarities of the nieces and the dolls brought upon them by societal labels. In addition, Ferré describes the doll’s face, a literal inanimate object, as “living” yet “dead”, to give personification to the doll, supporting her argument in that society depicts the nieces as nothing but a pretty face to show off. Overall, through dark imagery, Ferré

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On The Barbie Doll

    1108 Words  | 5 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Mattels Barbie Doll: The Ultimate Role Model For Young American Girls

    322 Words  | 2 Pages

    In 2006, American women have many career and lifestyle choices available to them, but it wasnt always that way. For four generations now, young American girls have learned what society expects from them through the eyes of a 12-inch molded plastic doll. Since her introduction in 1959, Mattels Barbie doll has epitomized, and in many cases, led the way in the changing roles of women in contemporary American society. With her stunning good looks, expensive sports cars, flashy designer wardrobe, handsome boyfriend, and varied careers, Barbie has served, for better or worse, as the ultimate role model for young girls for over 40 years and has become a cultural icon that has consistently represented contemporary American society. When she first emerged

    Read More

More about Meaning Of Barbie Q By Sandra Cisneros

Open Document