21 Aug. 2006. 2 June 2009 This source discusses the anger of beauty pageants. Beauty pageants promote the sexualization of young girls and provide to those involved in pedophilia. Parents are the ones who are at fault for exposing and subjecting their daughters to the sexual use of beauty pageantry. I’m going to use this info to prove that Beauty pageants aren’t just for fun and games, that there child could be in danger .
3-Page Essay #1 “Barbie Doll” by Marge Piercy On a daily basis the media feeds us images of what they describe as perfect and beautiful people. From magazines, television, films, and even toys, society provides a mold of how women should look and act. More and more everyday woman are surrendering to the pressures of society and mold themselves into what they believe is ideal. In Marge Piercy’s “Barbie Doll”, the girl in the poem is very young when she hears a few careless words about her nose and weight. After that, she can only view herself as a big nose and fat thighs.
Barbie-Q The story, which was chosen to explain theme, was written by Sandra Cisneros. The main purpose of Barbie-Q is trying to expose the evils that young girls experience by playing with an immensely popular toy, the Barbie doll. The doll, which was once viewed as being an iconic positive figure, proves to be the contrary in this story. It shows the obsessive nature of two girls hunt to have and act like an image created by these fictitious plastic dolls. The theme of the story is to show how Barbie dolls are negatively influencing young girls and the drastic change they had on young girl’s observations of relationships, self-image, and childhood innocence.
The Dastardly, Unobtainable Quality: Perfection With the abundance of super models, Barbie dolls, and other symbols of perfection in the world today, it is no surprise that women and young girls have insecurities, as well as self-image issues. Girls grow up playing with Barbie dolls and creating fantasy worlds for them, pretending to be them and un-knowingly psychologically convincing themselves that they need to be like that Barbie doll to have the fantasy life and a Prince Charming. The challenges of the idealization of perfection do not get better as a young girl progresses in life. In fact, it gets worse. Between the perfect Barbie dolls, the perfect girls on social media, the perfectly airbrushed celebrities in popular magazines, and the less than perfect friends who point out all of one’s flaws, how can these girls not feel less than perfect and, therefore, strive for an unfortunate, unobtainable, dastardly goal called perfection?
In the third stanza I could tell by the descriptions that she is a young adult, and is being pressured by the real world to be “perfect” in every way. The last stanza is the stage in life that everyone goes through, but maybe not as soon as this young girl, which is death. At the beginning we see her youngest, purest years of life. She did the things that most young girls do. She had “dolls that did pee-pee and miniature GE stoves and irons and wee lipsticks the color of cherry red,” (1-3).
My intelligence was offended when Teacher Barbie came out in the 90’s but had to be recalled because she didn’t wear panties. Mattel that was tasteless and wrong. I never understood the whole concept of playing with a teenage doll when I was little. What were girls thinking? Didn't they play with dolls to change diapers and feed them?
Getting the “Barbie” look means going to the extreme. “Preparing for the pageant requires time and patience, hair lasting around an hour and forty-five minutes, make-up around an hour”. (Children and Beauty Pageants) Some mother’s make their daughter’s get a spray tan to have that golden glow and to make them stand out. It requires getting the expensive outfits and the hair style to match them. Now do you expect a 5 year old to be using wigs to make them look better?
“Barbie-Q” In “Barbie-Q” Sandra Cisneros writes a creative, childlike reality in a short story. The setting takes many girls back to their younger years when they would have play dates and dream about the new Barbie’s being released. With the point of view of children excited for any toy they can play with brings back many memories for people and she can reminisce about their childhood. The plot shows the struggles of a family who may not be able to afford more than the next family which is why the girls only have one a piece. The setting being so life like can be a familiarity for so many women.
It is okay to help teach your daughter proper behaviors for when in public (Saying “Yes ma’am, no ma’am”, Being aware of surroundings, not talking with mouth full, dress accordingly etc.) and encourage them to be a little bit competitive. Toddlers and Tiaras is a perfect example of what happens when mothers do not do this, or take it to the extreme. There are 5 year old girls up on stage in provocative outfits meant for women over their twenties. Research show most mothers enter their daughter into this pageant for bragging rights.
In her essay, Barbie’s Body May be Perfect but Critics Remind Us It’s Plastic, Angela Cain analyzes how Barbie and other media icons affects women’s self image in our society. Barbie, one of the most popular fashion icons, has been shaping the way girls view their bodies since 1959. Barbie, and her unrealistic proportions, has been the idealistic body type. Women have struggled at great lengths to achieve the generally unattainable, to look like Barbie. Studies have shown that over 60 percent of women were unhappy with their bodies, as they have been raised comparing themselves with Barbie and other various models of the fashion industry.