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The Poem “Barbie Doll (1969)” by Marge Piercy describes the life of a young girl who fell victim to society’s idea of beauty. Marge Piercy was a known social activist and uses this poem to bring attention to serious issues facing young females in society. In the first stanza the author begins the poem by introducing a little girl. In the first line of the poem Piercy presents the idea that this little girl was like any other average little girl. “This girlchild was born as usual”(line 1). She then goes on to say like other young girls this child was given a Barbie doll, complete with the accessories. “…presented dolls that did pee-pee and miniature GE stoves and irons and wee lipsticks the color of cherry candy”(lines 2-4). As the child grew and hit puberty her fellow classmates picked on her because of her looks. She was told that she was fat with a big nose. The second Stanza continues the story of the child. The author explains in the first three lines the little girl was fit, intelligent and filled with passion. Regardless of all of her excellent attributes the girl went back and forth apologizing and asking for forgiveness because “Everyone saw a fat nose on thick legs”(line 11). In the third stanza the girl is told to play modest, to be whole-hearted, to exercise, to diet and to charm. Eventually she could not take it anymore and gave up. “Her good nature wore out like a fan belt. So she cut off her nose and her legs and offered them up”(line 16). Sick of the constant bulling the girl gives up on trying to be perfect and fit in with society’s ideals. The last stanza talks about her funeral. The girl is displayed in her casket on satin fabric with the mortician's make-up applied. A fake turned up nose is applied to the girl t... ... middle of paper ... ... she lay with the undertaker's cosmetics painted on, a turned-up putty nose, dressed in a pink and white nightie”(lines 19-22). In the examples it is easy for the audience to picture little accessories for the child's Barbie doll and a young girl, dressed in a pink nightgown with makeup applied, lying in a casket. Also the symbolism used in this poem is important. For example “So she cut off her nose and her legs and offered them up” (line 17). This example symbolizes the young girl freeing herself from pieces of her the society did not like. All in all “Barbie Doll” by Marge Piercy is a poem that tells the story of a young girl victimized by society’s idea of beauty. The author uses few poetic devices and instead focuses on writing a free and natural story like poem. Works Cited Piercy, Margie. "Barbie Doll." Poem Hunter. N.p, 06 June 2011Web. 11 February 2014.
“Barbie Doll” by Marge Piercy and “ David Talamentez on the Last Day of Second Grade” by Rosemary Catacalos are two poems that show a unique view into society and the roles society expects people to fill. Sometimes those expectations can lead people to take drastic measures or even cause defiance in some people. The irony of this is that it seems the more we push people to be what society wants the more it drives them to be what they don’t want.
In order to understand the poem we need to understand the author’s background and their work focus. Marge Piercy was born in Michigan, she was the first person in her family
In the last stanza it is explained how, even when she was a child, she
In the poem “Barbie Doll” the speaker take more drastic measures to make herself acceptable to society. In line12 the speaker takes drastic measures to fix herself, “So she cut off her nose and legs.” This action will lead to her death in the end of the poem which would not have happened if her peers did not mock her about the way her nose and legs looked. People are aware of their own imperfections, but when people mock them and do not accept them because of it, that is when the drastic measures of starvation, excessive exercising, and depression can begin. It can happen without the pressures of society, but if society mocks them, it pushes the person further in to a state of
“If Barbie was designed by a man, suddenly a lot of things made sense to me,” says Emily Prager in her essay “Our Barbies, Ourselves” (Prager 354). Prager’s purpose for writing this essay is to explain the history of Barbie and how the doll itself has influenced and continue to influence our society today. Prager is appealing to the average girl, to those who can relate to the way she felt growing up with Barbie seen as the ideal woman. Emily Prager uses a constant shift between a formal and informal tone to effectively communicate her ideas that we view women today based upon the unrealistic expectations set forth by Barbie. By adopting this strategy she avoids making readers feel attacked and therefore
The treatment of females from the 18th century through the 21st century have only gotten worse due to society’s ignorant judgment of the gender. Of which, is the change from the previous housewife like actions to the modern day body figure. This repulsive transaction is perceived throughout literature. From the 19th century’s short story, “The Story of an Hour” written by Kate Chopin in 1894 and the 20th century’s poem, “Barbie Doll” composed by Marge Piercy in 1971.
The poem starts with the line, “This girlchild was born as usual,” which suggests that as soon as a girl is born, society already expects her to learn the role she will soon play in when she hits puberty (1). Thus, showing why we are given dolls as little girls to illustrate how we should act and appear according to society. After we learn all the roles we will soon take part in, “the magic of puberty,” hits and girls immediately begin applying the ideals to their own lives (5). As if this attempt to conform is not enough we have other people telling us we are not to perfect. “You have a great big nose and fat legs,” says a classmate to the girl (6). This type of pressure can slowly but surely destroy even the little confidence women do have in themselves.
Hippie Barbie, written by Denise Duhamel, uses the symbols of the contemporary life of the fairy-tale lifestyle into reality. The words and ideas used in this narrative poem give fantasy a different perspective. It is inferred that the speaker is a female Barbie specialist, who reflects her knowledge by using the popular Barbie doll as the main character. Throughout the poem, she gives key points that have female perspective; for instance, kissing Ken, thinking about having mixed-race children, and walking a poodle. She establishes a story-telling tone, which introduces Hippie Barbie as a real woman.
This stanza begins the encounter. It sets the scene saying it is a lazy street. He begins to describe the woman's beauty, pointing out her hazel eyes and tiny feet.
Although the little girl doesn’t listen to the mother the first time she eventually listens in the end. For example, in stanzas 1-4, the little girl asks if she can go to the Freedom March not once, but twice even after her mother had already denied her the first time. These stanzas show how the daughter is a little disobedient at first, but then is able to respect her mother’s wishes. In stanzas 5 and 6, as the little girl is getting ready the mother is happy and smiling because she knows that her little girl is going to be safe, or so she thinks. By these stanzas the reader is able to tell how happy the mother was because she thought her daughter would be safe by listening to her and not going to the March. The last two stanzas, 7 and 8, show that the mother senses something is wrong, she runs to the church to find nothing, but her daughter’s shoe. At this moment she realizes that her baby is gone. These stanzas symbolize that even though her daughter listened to her she still wasn’t safe and is now dead. The Shoe symbolizes the loss the mother is going through and her loss of hope as well. This poem shows how elastic the bond between the daughter and her mother is because the daughter respected her mother’s wish by not going to the March and although the daughter is now dead her mother will always have her in her heart. By her having her
At first glance, the poems The Chimney Sweeper by William Blake, and Barbie Doll, by Marge Piercy appear to have no tangible similarities. However, upon further analysis and interpretation, they can be seen as somewhat akin. In these two poems, the harsh treatment of children, the use of imagery, and children’s self-image in the poems are comparable. The differences between the two poems include the time period in which they were written, the background of the characters, and the characters’ reactions to the problems that they are faced with. Although the surface level information in the poems Barbie Doll and The Chimney Sweeper is easy to contrast, if one dives a little deeper,
The first stanza describes the Barbie Doll and her accessories. It is also stating how the girl was just a normal person, but at the end of the stanza, it shows how she is being tormented by one of her classmates. “Wee lipsticks” is some form of makeup that helps cover the flaws that one has; which are seen as perfection; such as not looking the way one sees as perfect. However, the iron is what helps ameliorate the clothes. The girl in this poem was technically raised to be perfect, she was surrounded by perfection. She was happy with the way she looked before until the classmate told her “you have a great big nose and fat legs” (6). Through the comments, the girl was forced to believe she was anything but prefect and fell short of the Barbie Doll image. The girls self-esteem begins to
Stone, Tanya Lee. The Good, the Bad, and the Barbie: A Doll's History and Her Impact on Us. New York: Penguin Group, 2010. Print.
of the difficulty in acceptance. In the first few stanzas the poet creates the impression that she
The speaker reflects on the teenage girl’s childhood as she recalls the girl played with “dolls that did pee-pee” (2). This childish description allows the speaker to explain the innocence of the little girl. As a result, the reader immediately feels connected to this cute and innocent young girl. However, the speaker’s diction evolves as the girl grew into a teenager as she proclaims: “She was healthy, tested intelligent, / possessed strong arms and back, / abundant sexual drive and manual dexterity” (7-9). The speaker applies polished language to illustrate the teen. This causes the reader not only to see the girl as an adult, but also to begin to grasp the importance of her situation. The speaker expresses what the bullies told this girl as she explains: “She was advised to play coy, / exhorted to come on hearty” (12-13). The sophisticated diction shifts towards the girl’s oppressors and their cruel demands of her. Because of this, the reader is aware of the extent of the girl’s abuse. The speaker utilizes an intriguing simile as she announces: “Her good nature wore out / like a fan belt” (15-16). The maturity of the speaker’s word choice becomes evident as she uses a simile a young reader would not understand. This keeps the mature reader focused and allows him to fully understand the somberness of this poem. The speaker concludes the poem as she depicts the teenage girl’s appearance at her funeral: “In the casket displayed on satin she lay / with the undertaker’s cosmetics painted on” (19-20). The speaker elects not to describe the dead girl in an unclear and ingenuous manner. Rather, she is very clear and