In addition, she witnesses her daughters grow up with Barbie influence. Smiley believes that Barbie dolls can be role models for young girls, and she also thinks girls like Barbie because with the doll they can discover new things, girls define their femininity, and it is their liking during childhood. Jane Smiley states that young girls like Barbie dolls because they can try on a no-holds-bared (376). Smiley’s daughters are in the childhood stage when they are often curious to try something. Smiley says, “Both of them learned how to put makeup before kindergarten” (376).
Giovanny Sanchez May 5, 2012 Ms. Collins Barbie’s World In everyone’s childhood there is always that one special non-living figure in their personal lives, a figure we admired, something we looked up to be, like an idol. In “You Can Never Have Too Many,” Jane Smiley thanks Barbie for the effect she had on her daughter’s lives as they were growing up to be young adults; by teaching them the feminine side of woman at an early stage, which ultimately allowed their minds to have a lot more options when it really came down to figuring out who they wanted to be at an adult stage. Smiley however, does not effectively support this argument because she gives a lot of credit to Barbie for the way her daughters turn out to be but she’s forgetting
Piercy analyzes the girl from birth and uses a detached, expecting tone to portray her normality. In lines two through five Piercy creates a bitter tone when talking about the toys her parents presented her as a child. Piercy's tone can also seem as if she is disgusted because she talks about the “dolls that did pee pee” and uses a sarcastic alliteration when she said “lipsticks the color of cherry candy” (2-4). At this point it is clear the child is a toddler or in adolescence since she plays with these toys that little girls are expected to pay with at that age. The first stanza abruptly ends with “You have a great big nose and fat legs.” (6).
“ Seen Through Rose-Tinted Glasses”: The Barbie Doll in American Society Wether we realize it or not the toys our kids play with everyday have an immense impact on their behavior and development. Motz essay describes the perfect example of what these toys do to our society. In her essay, Marilyn Ferris Motz describes how Barbie portrays an image of a woman that lives based on her appearance, her popularity and her status. When playing with this dolls, girls take on the role of a teenager or an adult woman, letting them imitate adult female behaviors they see on other people and on the media. Girls take on the role of the doll enabling them to participate in dating and other social activities.
14 Feb. 2009. 2 June 2009 This source discusses the topic of children beauty pageants. Young girls are exploited in beauty pageants and are placed under harsh conditions. They must receive a total body makeover and spend hours preparing when they should be out enjoying their childhood. This source was one of my favorites because it proves so much information that backs up my idea on child pageant; I am going to refer to this source later on.
In the poem, the speaker states the girlchild has “wee lipsticks the color of cherry candy” (4), showing that she already wants to alter her appearance. As children grow into young adults, they become aware of outside judgments; as the girlchild was made aware in the poem. “Then in the magic of puberty, a classmate said:/ You have a great big nose and fat legs” (5-6). Girls are pressured into looking the way media portrays beauty. Unfortunately, outward appearances take on a more important role than other characteristics to teenage girls.
Regardless of the criticism she soon became a trend setter. She was a model for women in both dress and action, again just like Barbie. Some people disputed that "Gibson Girl" as a national standard for feminine beauty. They felt she would disturb social order but in fact most women welcomed the change (Gibson Girl, 2010). The caricature image became very popular representing American girls.
Not only is it to inform adult women but it is also young girls too. She states, “If even the heroine in a Disney ‘girls’ movie’ does not enjoy being a girl, how must the girls watching her feel about it?” (Ross 553). She also reiterates that she is aiming to analyze and inform girls later in the text. “… I am concerned about what girls may learn about this potentially explosive aspect of their characters that could so easily burst the bounds of traditional feminity” (Ross 555). These two quotes present that the audience is in fact female.
In “Barbie Dream House,” there are 3 Caucasians, 1 African, and 1 that doesn’t show her face. One of the blonde girls is the main character because she gets to play with the doll house first while everyone in the background are non Caucasians. The blonde girl gets all the attention. As a leader of the commercial she gets to play with the doll. We need to be aware of what’s taking place in children programming’s.
Amanda Ravens George Powell Eng. 102 28 February 2014 Is Being Sexualized Really A Problem? Stephanie Hane’s article, “Little Girls or Little Women? The Disney Princess Effect,” explains why she thinks young girls are being sexualized at a very young age and how others can help girls see the problem. To make her argument more effective, she talks about a woman named Mary Finucane and her person experience with her daughter.