Literary Analysis: “Barbie Doll” Today’s women hold themselves to unreachable and unreasonable standards of beauty. With media and social networking on the rise, the standard of beauty is skewed to what others portray it to be. Girls and women of all ages and diversity have self-esteem issues due to the “beauty myth”. Naomi Wolf, author of The Beauty Myth, defines it as an obsession with physical perfection that traps the modern woman in an endless spiral of hope, self-consciousness, and self-hatred as she tries to fulfill society’s impossible definition of ‘the flawless beauty’.” In Marge Piercy’s poem “Barbie Doll”, the deadly effects of the beauty myth are revealed. It all begins with a young girl being born into the world of judgment.
However, we all seem to encourage our little girls to play and interact with this dolls. Barbie has the same essence of the doll that was made in the 1890’s. She lives a life based on leisure activities, personal appearance, and accumulation of possessions in the search for popularity. Involuntarily, Barbie conveys to children and adults the
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).
She grew steadily in height, and was about average for her age. Her sensorimotor development progressed well. For example, Kayla smiled and giggled in response to adult smiles. She learned how to manipulate objects in her environment, including stuffed toys. The sounds of rattles and other objects delighted little Kayla, and her parents bought her some percussive toys to play with too.
She does this in order to show how the obsession that the girlchild has with her own body was one of the largest factors in the suicide. Another one of the stereotypes that Piercy draws upon is their behavior. Piercy describes how the girlchild was told to “play coy.” This describes the societal pressure of what is stereotypically “lady-like.” She was “advised” to act as other ladies would act, and she tried to the furthest extent she could manage. She attempted to act demure and sweet, which was the only thing society allowed for. The term
* Her language skills are very developed probably much more than the average four year old, as she is an only child and I feel more emphasis is given towards this area. * Her interaction with the other child was also age appropriate. Child #2 is a very shy and meek she suffers from no physical or mental limitations * She is also a very well behaved child but tends to be a bit jumpy * She was able to initiate activities that would allow her to play alone but she needed constant redirection to keep her focus on that activity * When the child parent/parents left the room she would search for them and would begin to melt down if she was unable to find them. This more represents anxious attachment. * Her language skills were age appropriate but was she was not as advanced as Child # 1, she is one of three children so I believe that this hindered her as her siblings talk for her and do not allow
The rhetorical stance that Prager conveys is that Barbie is one of the many reason that young adolescent girls today have body image issues. The intended pathos for “Our Barbies, Ourselves” is directed to those who can relate to Prager’s feelings towards Barbie. Young and middle aged girls can understand Prager’s reasoning for her mixed feelings. Prager gives examples of how she played with Barbie when she was younger and how she felt knowing that Barbie and Ken could never become romantic. Those who have played with Barbie dolls at some length can grasp what Prager was talking about.
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
Barbie Doll Women have a wrong perspective about beauty. With media and social networking on the rise, the standard of beauty is skewed to what others portray it to be. Women who don’t have supportive people around them to reinforce the true concept of beauty often grow up to be self-destructive and seek validation from all the wrong places. There is too much importance and too much anxiety placed on women to surrender to the image of being or becoming a Barbie doll. In the poem “Barbie Doll,” written by Marge Piercy tells a story of a young girl’s short life.
Review of a Children`s Book by Paige Banks ‘Baby Boomsticks’ by Margaret Wild `Baby Boomsticks’ is a children’s picture book written by Margaret Wild and Illustrated by David Legge which depicts a growing child who wants to be accepted among others. The term implied reader refers to who the text has been written for (Winch et al., 2010). Wild has intended this text to be read by very young children who will be able to read the simple large font, be delighted with the beautiful realistic illustrations and appreciate the humble storyline. Children who are developing will enjoy seeing Baby Boomsticks grow and change and will be able to personally relate to Baby Boomsticks development this creates a connection to the storyline (Russell, 2001). The plot begins with a very traditionally: “Once upon a time,” being such a vague setting of time and place most children would be able to follow the plot.