In the poem “Barbie Doll”, two techniques that were used in stanza 3 are; a dark tone and a dramatic monologue. The dramatic monologue represents the idea of society telling the woman that she needs to exercise and diet and play coy etc., in order to have a body size the is “acceptable”. The dark tone represents the idea that the woman was not accepted by society due to her body image. Society pressured her to do things that would make her ‘thin’ in size, and looking like a Barbie doll. In the end she committed suicide because she was overwhelmed by all the pressures that society had placed on her.
In the poem “Blink Your Eyes”, two techniques that I identified are ironies and tone. In the last stanza (stanza 5), it states, “can’t no bruthas drive outdoors, in certain neighborhoods, on particular streets near and around certain types of people”. (Sundiata,). This is the irony of the barriers that people of color are faced with. The law believes that they are dangerous because of the color of their skin. In terms of tone, I was able to identify two types of tone. The first is a happy tone. Here the narrator describes his luxurious car and how he was happy to go home to see his lover. The
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Enough light is not being shed on body shaming. The media and society is far too busy creating ways for women to look like a super model. Absolutely nothing is wrong with wanting to be a super model. The problem is that too many women, especially young girls, are not being taught to love themselves and embrace their natural beauty. Having younger nieces terrifies me, because at the ages of 4 and 6 they already like the idea of wearing lipstick and hair extensions. The journey ahead is long, but your poem is a start. Many lives can be saved with just a quick read. Thank you for acknowledging the tragedy of body shaming and sharing it with the rest of the
“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 The Barbie Doll, the author writes about a girl' s life. The author starts off by describing her childhood. She was given dolls and toys like any other girl and she also wore hints of lipstick. This girl was healthy and rather intelligent. Even though she had possessed many good traits she was still looked at by others as "the girl with a big nose and fat legs". She exercised, dieted and smiled as much as possible to please those around her. She became tired of pleasing everyone else and decided to commit suicide. During her funeral those who she had tried to please in the past were the ones to comment about how beautiful she looked. Finally she had received the praise she was longing for.
In the beginning of “Barbie Doll”, pleasurable and unpleasurable imagery is given so that the reader can see the extremes girls go through to be considered perfect.
Societal constructs of bodily perfection have a massive influence on both genders and on all ages. If you look at any magazine, you will see women constantly being compared to each other, whether it is in the “who wore it better” section or in the “do’s and don’ts” part of the magazine, comparing body images and overall appearances. All parts of the media that encompasses our daily lives are especially dangerous for young and impressionable teens because they see people being torn down for trying to express themselves, and are thus taught to not only don’t look like “don’ts”, but also look like the “do’s”. This is dangerous in that women in the magazine set very high standards that teens want to emulate, no matter the cost to themselves or their health. Celebrities have the benefit of media to make them appear perfect: Photoshop and makeup artists conceal the imperfections that are often too apparent to the naked eye. Viewing celebrities as exhibiting the ideal look or as idols will, in most cases, only damage the confidence of both young teens, and adults, and warp the reality of what true “beauty” really is. It makes teens never feel truly content with themselves because they will be aiming for an ideal that is physically impossible to attain and one that doesn’t exist in the real
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.
Society thinks if women do not fit within the unrealistic image, something is wrong with them. The highly glorified concept of beauty marketed by the media contributes to the concern over body image that causes many women, including myself, to have eating disorders and poor self-image. I could really relate to the article, like Susie Orbach wrote about, most women in our society occupy themselves with making themselves fit into an image that society, men and the media find attractive and beautiful. “The women’s body is not as satisfactory as it is. It must be thin, free of “unwanted hair”, deodorized, perfumed and clothed”
The poem, "Barbie Doll," written by Marge Piercy tells the story of a young girl growing up through the adolescence stage characterized by appearances and barbarity. The author uses imagery and fluctuating tone to describe the struggles the girl is experiencing during her teenage years, and the affects that can happen. The title of this poem is a good description of how most societies expect others, especially girls to look. Constantly, people are mocked for their appearance and expected to represent a "barbie-doll"-like figure. Few are "blessed" with this description. The female gender is positioned into the stereotype that women should be thin and beautiful. With this girl, the effects were detrimental. The first stanza describes the influence that a child is placed into during early childhood. Girls are expected to play with "dolls" and "stoves and irons," the usual toys that relate to the old-fashioned duties of women. A young girl begins to learn what she should be for society and not to deviate from the norm. The tone used in this stanza is quite silent and simplistic at first,...
In “Barbie Doll” the reader can see that societies unrealistic expectations for girls and women contribute to their subordination, as many of them cannot live up to these standards. Just as in “Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers” her husband caused the subordination of Aunt Jennifer because he was holding her back. These poems were not made to pity women; they were made to empower them. From “Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers” and “Barbie Doll” women should take home the message that life does not have to be that way. What one does with their life is up to them, not their husband or classmates. The more we as a society talk about the unfair treatment of women, the more it becomes a problem. That does not mean it needs to be brushed under the rug, it means that no gender should be victimized.
Everyone in today’s society has pressure put on themselves because of the way they look. No matter if you are the most gorgeous/handsome person on this planet, that specific person has their own faults with their image. Financial success now a days puts pressure on others image. For instance, for women to work at “Twin Peaks,” “Hooters,” “Bone Daddy’s,” “Bombshells,” or any of the other sports bars, you either have to have one of the following, “Boobs, butt, pretty face, or a flat stomach.” If you are hired with one or the other, let’s face it… you will get talked about and or made fun of. As for men, it is pretty much the same. Just as the new “Tallywackers” that opened up in Dallas. People (women mostly) that go into the restaurant, get to choose their server before they sit down. To others that is completely unfair, because their body image depends on their pay that night. With how bad people are getting teased/bullied, changing to the opposite sex, getting plastic surgery and etc. no one seems to have tried to do anything about any of it. It is probably because we have all kinds of different ways with technology to make someone feel beautiful and good about themselves, that it does not need to be fixed. Though in some cases, others do not have money to do what
Body Shaming has been one the most serious Issues we have in this generation.We are forced to judge ourselves,especially by the way we look. Almost like one has to look a certain way to get accepted in this
Her poem, “Barbie Doll,” tells the story of a young girl who was short-lived. She was beaten down by society's expectations of what she should be. The poem was a major eye-opener for many, especially considering the time period it was written in. It helped to put the inappropriate and materialistic standards that women continued to be held up to on full display. It broadcasts the effects of these insane standards with an uncensored, real and raw approach.
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
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...
Shaming has been around since anyone could remember. Body shaming, shaming of other’s skin color, shaming the image of a person. People don’t realize in 2017 body shamming no longer exist. Both men and women take pride in their body and they love every bit of it. However, women have been targeted far more than man when it comes to body-shaming. Women no longer care about how they look like as long as they love themselves. Everyone was born with a different body; every individual has a different definition of beauty. For Jan Shedd to call out Demetria Obilor for being curvy and wearing a size 6 dress publicly on Facebook, was extremely uncalled for. It also demonstrates how society now thinks about body shamming since multiple people, including
A girl scans the sidewalk while walking home after a day of school, hoping no one notices as she hides her face, feeling like an alien in her own skin. Instead of feeling beautiful, she feels hideous because of the words said to her. Body shaming, a term that is becoming an increasingly popular issue because humans are obsessed with appearances. This generation creates these standards and puts pressure on people to live up to and then ridicule those same standards when realizing that the standards are unattainable. Everybody criticizes the way that others look but then began shaming when people began to shame that one's personal appearance. People have separated been into categories based on looks. It’s fat against fit and it is becoming unhealthy. In today's society, body shaming is an ongoing issue. Body Shaming, though active in both genders, is especially harmful to women. Body shaming is pushing women to be insecure, eating disorders, and giving men unrealistic expectations.