Young girls tried with all of their might to be just like Barbie, to be perfect. In 1973 when Marge Piercy wrote this poem, she was conveying a message to her readers that no matter how hard we try, perfection is not something we achieve in our lifetimes, only in death. At the time this poem was written, Barbie had already been out for nearly twenty years. “Millions of children throughout the world, mostly girls, owned and played with one or more Barbie dolls, while some older people collected them (and some still do)” (Sherrow 1). Many of these women and young girls were trying to emulate her look at the time, which considering her measurements of 39-18-33, was virtually impossible.
How Barbie is affecting young girls She is perfectly skinny, has a perfect boyfriend and family, perfect hair, perfect house perfectly perfect. Yet how is this doll impacting the millions of young girls who are playing with her? Out of all the young girls in the world 95% of them own at least one Barbie if not more. When girls spend hours on end playing with their dolls their brain is retaining everything about that doll. How popular she is and perfect she is, and so naturally these girls are beginning to want to be just like Barbie, happy and perfect all of the time.
At the beginning of the poem the girl is portrayed as a typical little girl without a care in the world. Her parents and family members presented her with gifts and toys like any other child would be. She receives gifts like Barbie dolls, play ovens and pretend make up. Piercy uses an anaphora in the first stanza as she repeats the word “and” three times (2,3,4). This is an effective strategy because it stresses the amount of gifts the girl is given to play with.
Within the past few years the idea of the Barbie doll has been questioned by society: is Barbie what every woman is to suppose to look and act like? In Marge Piercys poem, titled “Barbie Doll” the author tells the story of girls short lived life who thought that she was normal until puberty hits and the little girl is trapped by soceitys narrow definitions of what every woman should look and act like. Through her use of irony, imagery, and symbolism Piercy voices her opnion against modern day’s view on what woman should look like. In “Barbie Doll” the main subject of the poem, a little girl, is born like any other person and is given all the things a little girl is given so that she is presented with what her role women are supposed to fill from a young age.The poem starts by teling the readers that the girl child was born “as usual” and given dolls that function like a normal baby, miniature ovens and red lipsticks. The child in the poem is treated like anormal girl growing up, until puberty hits her.
All of the mother's hopes lay on the daughter. Her hopes are bolstered by stories about remarkable children with incredible talents. If they can succeed are such a young age, surely her child can as
That was a good demonstration of how sadness is inherent in life. I think much of who we are as adults has to do with how we socialize, interact and are raised as children. The first four line of the poem “Barbie Doll” speaks about the child’s innocence. “Entertaining toys such as dolls, lack certain ingredients that teach cause and effects but will have psychological effect on how a girl child interprets what is beautiful and eventually how she see herself” says Dr. Hall, a child psychoanalyst with twenty years experience (preschooler.thebump.com). The following two lines and second stanza speak of puberty and what her class mates think of her.
The Inner Beauty That One Does Not Always See Do many people believe the statement “Beauty’s Only Skin Deep” immediately or over a period a time? Some people probably believe it immediately while others have to endure challenges to make them believe the statement. At first, Alice Walker falls into the group of people who place more importance in outward beauty, but as she matures, she learns to trust her inner beauty rather than her physical beauty. Alice Walker as a child has great confidence in her beauty and abilities during her first stage of her life. At the second stage of her life, Walker is full of shame but gains academic and social success by interacting with her peers and teachers after a corrective surgery to her injured eye.
Society’s Unrealistic Expectations of Physical Beauty Betsy Gwinnett Ogeechee Technical College The poem Barbie doll by Marge Piercy is about what women think they should do to fit into the American society’s view of how one should look. In this poem it tells of how the girl was “healthy, tested intelligent, possessed strong arms and back, abundant sexual drive and manual dexterity.” She had no issues with how she was born and was a perfectly healthy girl. She would have continued to be mentally healthy if not corrupted by the societal views of what beauty is. The American society has been telling young woman for years what they should wear and how they should look. The problem is this standard is so unreal and changes from day to day that how can any woman truly be this so called perfect woman?
History of Barbie in Advertising Barbie Millicent Roberts, better known to the world as the famous Barbie, debuted March 3, 1959. While Barbie was originally designed for Ruth Handler's daughter Barbara, the appeal soon grew to children across America. Ruth realized that as children grew tired of playing with baby dolls, they did not have a replacement to play with. With this in mind, Ruth set out to create a doll that would allow children the ability to see what they would grow up to look like. Ruth modeled Barbie after a German fashion doll called Bild Lilli.
Yes Melissa Heaston Instructor Gina Crawford English 101 September 13, 2011 Marissa: A very special little girl The purpose of this essay is to let the reader know how a special little girl who was born with Microcephaly (small brain), which causes developmental delays, is determined to walk and talk just like all other little girls. I am Marissa’s grandmother, I am writing this essay about Marissa because I am so impressed with her motivation and determination to be just like other kids her age. Marissa has had a hard three years of life so far, but she has come along way. I am very proud of her, she is my little princess. When my daughter was pregnant with Marissa she took to much Tylenol which caused Tylenol poisoning.