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Gender representations in media
The Good the Bad and the Barbie: A Doll's History and Her Impact on Us
Female gender stereotypes in media
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Society has a way of placing unrealistic expectations on women. By using television, magazines, billboards, and even toys we see a mold of what women are supposed to look like. In other words the perfect woman should look like a Barbie Doll. In Marge Piercy’s, “Barbie Doll,” we find a girl child growing up through the adolescence stage characterized by appearances and barbarity. Piercy uses lots of imagery to describe the struggles the girl experiences during her teenage years and the effects that can happen.
In the first stanza we see the beginning of an ideal image being stained in the girls mind. She was “...presented dolls that did pee-pee and miniature GE ovens and irons and wee lipsticks the color of cherry candy” (2-4). By being presented these gifts the girls parents have already instilled a visualization of what the perfect woman is like and the girl is already learning her place in society. The poem was written in 1936. In this day and age women were still seen as objects and not really people. Their place was in the kitchen and taking care of the kids. Piercy has painted an image to the reader of a little girl playing with toy stoves and irons and wearing red lipstick to make herself pretty.
The tone of the poem takes a turn toward a more bold statement when the author uses “...the magic of puberty” (5) to describe the age where appearance comes into effect. The girl was insulted by a classmate who made humiliating comments about her nose and...
Author, Marge Piercy, introduces us to a young adolescent girl without a care in the world until puberty begins. The cruelty of her friends emerges and ultimately she takes her own life to achieve perfection in “Barbie Dolls” (648). At the time when all children are adjusting to their ever changing bodies, the insults and cruelties of their peers begin and children who were once friends for many years, become strangers over night caught in a world of bullying. A child who is bullied can develop severe depression which can lead to suicide; and although schools have been educated in recognizing the signs of bullying, there is an epidemic that has yet to be fully addressed within our schools or society.
Lincoln Electrics management style in their culture makes it so that every employee has a way to improve the company by making suggestions to management, from there, management will assess the idea and employees are rewarded for suggestions they make. Management also gives their employees more responsibility. The companies management incentive plan allows workers to be paid with what is earned and reflects their work; their earnings must be in accordance with accomplishments and there must be honesty and understanding between workers and management.
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.
In “A Million First Dates” (The Atlantic, Jan/Feb 2013), Dan Slater argues commiting to a stable relationship is negatively influenced by online dating because of a decline in commitment in couples. Essentially, the more options a person is given to find the perfect person in a short amount of time, the less they are inclined to stay in a relationship. For example, Slater’s case study subject, Jacob, a man with a difficult time meeting women and genuinely falling in love. After easily finding a dream woman on a dating website he found it easier to find someone else once their relationship ended. Hence, online dating made it easier for him (and possibly other users) to change views on a long or lifetime monogamous relationship. Additionally,
Marge Piercy wrote the Barbie Doll poem in 1973, during the woman’s movement. The title of the poem Barbie Doll, symbolizes how females are supposed to appear into the society. In the poem Barbie Doll, the main character was a girl. She was described as a usual child when she was born. Meaning that she had normal features that any person could ever have. Piercy used “wee lipstick the color of cherry candy” as a smile to describe the child before she has hit puberty. After the character hit puberty, the classmates in her class began to tease her saying “you have a big nose and fat legs.” (Piercy pg. 1) Having a big nose and a fat leg is the opposite of what females are supposed to be presented as in the gender stereotype. In the society that the girl lives in, follows the gender stereotypes that presented females as a petite figure with a slender body. These expectations made the character go insane. She wanted to fit into the society so she “cut off her nose and legs and offered them up.” (Piercy pg. 1) Even though the girl was “healthy, tested intelligent…” (Piercy pg. 1) no one saw that in her, but her appearances. In the end of the poem the girl end up dying, a...
Patricia Young’s poem talks about the ways girls want boys, or the ways girls should want boys, in a heteronormative society. Young uses
The Normans were responsible for the development of Castles in England during the middle ages. The Normans were master castle builders and literally brought castles and feudalism with them on their invasion fleets. They transported pre-built wooden castles by boat and initiated the motte and bailey style of castle as they moved through England. Unlink stone castles, which could take years to build, these rapidly built, wooden castles created a quick network across large distances.
In Marge Piercy’s, “Barbie Doll,” we see the effect that society has on the expectations of women. A woman, like the girl described in ‘Barbie Doll’, should be perfect. She should know how to cook and clean, but most importantly be attractive according to the impossible stereotypes of womanly beauty. Many women in today’s society are compared to the unrealistic life and form of the doll. The doll, throughout many years, has transformed itself from a popular toy to a role model for actual women. The extremes to which women take this role model are implicated in this short, yet truthful poem.
The Barbie is a plastic, man-made female toy, which has perfect facial symmetry, unnatural body dimensions, and perfectly unblemished white skin. In Chris Semansky’s Overview of “Barbie Doll,” he explains that the Barbie “is invented to show women have been socialized into thinking of their bodies and behavior in relation to a male-controlled idea” (Semansky). The title directly alludes to the Barbie toy, which represents a design of a man-made construction of the female image that shows an unnatural human form that could only exist inside the imagination of men. Throughout both “Barbie Doll” and “The Birthmark” you will find the female protagonists seeking an ultimately perfect form, free of the characteristics that those around them see as unworthy. It is as if they are chasing the blueprint of perfection that is present in the Barbie. The original Barbie came with three outfits a bathing suit, a tennis outfit, and a wedding dress (Semansky). Her outfits clearly symbolize restrictions forced on female privilege, identity, and autonomy, where “she embodies the ideals and values of her middle-class American community” who expect her to “spend her days at the country club and her afternoons cooking dinner for her husband” (Semansky). This is directly similar to the “outfits” those around the women in “Barbie Doll” where the girlchild is born
“I’m glad it’s a girl. And I hope she’ll be a fool – that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.” (page 17)
In a world where many are led to believe that they fall short of what society depicts as “perfect”, it is still true that everyone is beautiful in their own way. There are even more demands on girls now a days than there has ever been before. Some may think they need to fit in, so they become someone they are not or they begin to act like a totally different person. “Barbie Doll” by Marge Piercy, illustrates society’s high and unrealistic expectations on the physical appearance of women, while failing to see that a woman’s self-esteem is at risk of being diminished.
Love has been around since the beginning of time and for as long as romantic relationships have been around; people have tried various ways of meeting one another. The mid-1990s marked the start of online dating and since then has evolved into a much more common method of dating. Online dating is typically taken advantage of in one of two ways. Some people prefer to create their own profile and rely on themselves to choose their mate choice, while others allow the online dating services to create matches between the online subscribers. In a recent study conducted by Pew Research Center they found that one in ten American’s are using an online dating site to help them locate a spouse or a long term partner (Smith 1). Due to the advances in technology in recent years, online dating has developed into a resource that has become culturally accepted and has advanced in many ways, but with that comes mate choice, safety concerns, and the outlook on online dating.
A key technique current and nurses in learning can use is reflection based on past experiences. This method of critical thinking enables the user to have an approach of systematic analysis for present and future scenarios with the intent of improvement. In terms of knowing, reflection has appeared to be a crucial part of learning and understanding. (Bonis, 2009).
Such views influence both L1 and L2 reading studies. Kern (2000) explains the importance of the social and personal interpretation of reading, he says that readers have the freedom to interpret texts in any way they like if they do not deviate from the so-called interpretive constraints. In terms of fo...
Internet using has increased rapidly since (Fox, Anderson, and Rainie, 2005; Morales, 2009). According to current population survey data, 37% of U.S. households had at least one computer in 1997; by 2003, this number was 62%. Over the same time period, households with Internet access increased from 18% to 55% (Day, Janus, and Davis, 2005). Technology provides people a stage to meet with each other. There are lots of social networks, for example, Facebook, twitter, and Instagram. In addition, there are lots of certified websites for people to find the suitable daters. People can scan other’s information directly online and that is easier for them to make choice. Once people join a dating website, you can create your own profile before you start contacting with potential matches, and that is convenient because you don’t need to introduce your basic information when you chat with each daters. Most websites allow people to set up with individual information where he or she can find your personal interest, personality, body type, work, and physical attributes. In addition, the dating website provide a chance to include your personal photo in your profile. Before a few decades, people didn’t have lots of advanced technology. Therefore, it’s hard for them to have huge variety of potential matches. People should have face-to-face dating with each dater, and that would make them feel stress and pressure. Lots of women feel