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. A woman by the name of Cindy Jackson however has spent her entire life trying to achieve a “Barbie look,” she’s been through more than twenty operations trying to achieve this (Semansky 1). Piercy however realized that for girls of the African American, Asian, Native American, Hispanic, and any other race besides the Caucasian this would be nearly impossible. They could never look “perfect” in the eyes of the society we live in, and so she began to write this poem. The personal experiences of Piercy also contribute to the outlook on how she wrote this poem.
Feminist say that Barbie is the cause of worldwide eating disorders, low self-esteem and false perception of beauty. Girls see Barbie as a role model they set out to be like her, but researchers have recently found that her body is so disproportionate. Barbie measurements would be 38-18-34, her head would be the same size as her waist, her breast would be too large for her to walk up straight and she would be too thin to menstruate. What girl wants to grow up to be like that? Barbie’s weight is set at 110 pounds and 6ft tall but not all girls know that except when in 1965 Mattel came out with a “slumber party Barbie” that came with a bathroom scale permanently set at 110 pounds, a book called “how to lose weight” and inside it said “don’t eat”.
Despite her being one of the first toys to portray woman at a feminist angle, she's not a great role model in every aspect. If you met Barbie as a human being, you would be looking at a five foot nine inch beauty. According to Beautytips.com, Barbie would weigh close to 112 pounds and have the measurements of 38-18-34: a 38 inch bust, a 18 inch waist, and a 34 inch hip. Her feet would be measuring at a size three. Members of the South Shore Eating Disorder Collaboration (SSEDC) came up with a movement against Barbie known as “Get Real Barbie.” A member of this association mad a life size paper mache of Barbies measurements.
Ruth worked with her husband to create the doll known around the world as “the single most successful doll ever produced” (NY Times, 2013, pp 1 line 1-2) in response to seeing her daughter putting her paper dolls into situations that are more adult than childlike. The introduction of Barbie was a flop with investors, as the doll was a radical change from what was on the market at the time. The public’s opinion of the doll, however, has much warmer. By the 1960s, Mattel was struggling to keep up with the demand for Barbie and within 10 years, the public had purchased $500,000,000 worth of Barbie dolls (Dolls4play, 2013). Barbie struck a chord with the children of the soldiers returning home from World War II.
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.
In Uncle Sam and Aunt Samantha it is stated that “women were made of finer stuff. The finer stuff was usually porcelain, decorative, and on the shelf, suitable for meals and show” (2). What this means is women are like porcelain dolls and that they don’t belong in the military, in other words they have to stay home caring for the family, cooking, doing chores like it was in the old days. For centuries women have been portrayed as the weak and submissive. They think that we as women can’t do anything by ourselves that we always need back up in everything we do.
Company Background The Body Shop opened its first store on March 26th 1976 in Brighton England. Selling cosmetic products made from quality, locally sourced ingredients, the company gained popularity and began to grow. Expanding by opening corporate stores and by franchising, the first international store opened in 1978 in Brussels. By 1982, the company continued its success and was expanding at roughly two stores per month. The impressive performance lead the company’s founder, Anita Roddick, to turn The Body Shop public in 1985. International expansion hit the US market in 1989 and by 1990 there were over 2500 franchise applications worldwide.
BARBIE BRIEF HISTORY Barbie doll is the most famous and sold toy around the world. It debuted on March 9, 1959 at the American International Toy Fair. Barbie was first idea by Ruth Handler wife of Elliot Handler co-founder of Mattel. In the 50s, Ruth Handler noticed that her daughter (Barbara) preferred playing with dolls adult characteristics, rather than the infant. In those times, most of the dolls that were manufactured were childish.
According to the American Society of plastic surgery, the most common reason for women to get cosmetic surgery is because they are unhappy with their bodies. Ezine Articles states “Almost ¾ of women surveyed said they think about their size and shape every day unhappy with their bodies” (Women and Cosmetic Surgery). Most women use cosmetic surgery as a confidence boost. After receiving the treatments they feel more beautiful and more confident in themselves. Heidi Montag is a 23 year old American reality television icon.
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?