The Unfairness of Life “Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it,” are words from one of the most influential Chinese philosophers during the Zhou Dynasty, Confucius (qtd. in “Confucius Quotes”). Allowing oneself to slow down and recognize the beauty that is surrounding them which will help in realizing that it in comes in all shapes and forms. The painting “Girl at the Mirror” is simple but yet a meaningful piece by Norman Rockwell, it consists of small details that lead up to the bigger picture. The viewer is first met by a young girl posing In front of a mirror with a magazine on her lap, followed by her unsettled disgruntled expression. The reason for this could possibly be the sudden urge to become beautiful by becoming more mature, ultimately helping in conveying Rockwell’s intended message of how society is pressuring children into becoming this perfect image. …show more content…
Childhood is a time in life where there is no concern and worrying does not exist, all that matters is playing and having fun.
However it’s the complete opposite in this case, the binary of the doll symbolizing youth, whereas the magazine representing maturity. The doll is seen thrown to the side of the mirror with a sense of abandonment with no immediate sense of being cared for. Everything that is of importance is dropped, showing that her priorities have changed to focus on something more important. It is due the fact of pressured viewing the magazine, questioning if she actually beautiful enough or not after seeing the glamourous woman in the picture. Causing her to dress up in a magnificent white dress, along with her hair and makeup, dressing up herself rather than her doll, however the look on her face comes across as still being unsatisfied of the way even after the matter, The transition from the doll to the magazine suggests her attempt to move from the childhood stage to become this more mature woman, by utilizing the magazine, trying to the be
beautiful. Not only does the binary of the two become part of an important factor, furthermore the role of the magazine plays a bigger part in how the repetition of her reflection mirrors gives the her to power to change the way girls two faces, the reflection on the mirror that lets her use her imagination of what that perfect mature looking woman look likes and then of course the view of the little girls back in present time. The mirror is her personal palate which allows her to modify the ways she looks, when using the magazine she can become the perfect looking woman. Not only does the mirror allow her to change the way she looks but it allows her to see past the point of her youth into the mature side of her of what is to come of being a mature woman, worrying about her future as a woman in general, the more mirror more than an object that allows her to express herself, but it allows her to The mirror lets her see two sides of herself, the one that’s young and innocent and the one that wants to be this mature and beautiful woman.
When the narrator first compares her Barbies, she thinks that she needs perfect and new Barbies to fit in with everybody else. The narrator does understand that her family does not have money, but she simply works around it. Although, she wants more Barbies it was unlikely for them to get them. The narrator says, “Because we don’t have money for a stupid-looking boy doll when we’d both rather ask for a new Barbie outfit next christmas. (14-15)” The narrator has to make do with what she has. She can not have a boy Barbie because it is not in her parents budget. This affects her and it makes her lose confidence in herself because she does not have what everybody else has. After the narrator receives her partially messed up Barbies, she says, “And if the prettiest doll, Barbie’s MOD’ern cousin Francie with real eyelashes, eyelash brush included, has a left that that’s melted a little-so? If you dress her in her new ‘Prom Pinks’ outfit, satin splendor with matching coat, gold belt, clutch, and hair bow included, so long as you don’t lift her dress, right?-who’s to know. (16)” Even though the Barbie has a melted left foot, the narrator moves past this. She will just cover it up with a dress. The narrator wanted new and perfect Barbie’s in the beginning, but she realized that these Barbie’s are not everything and she can make them her own. She is not defined by her Barbies. Sandra Cisneros used symbolism and characterization to describe how the narrator had a hard time coming into her own identity and finding
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.
The concept of beauty is a subject society speaks on through many channels. Social media plays a tremendous role in how society measures beauty and how to achieve these impossible standards. People from all walks of life have become obsessed with the idea of beauty and achieving the highest level it. In many cases, those who do not meet societal views of what is “beautiful” can become very resentful to these predisposed notions of beauty. David Akst in his writing “What Meets the Eye”, is bitter toward women and their ongoing obsession with beauty.
She uses third person diction to construct an image of what the male and female consider regarding a situation that is not declared. Just like every other girl, it is implied that the daughter in the situation wishes to conform to society by having a Barbie Doll. An ironic situation arises as a result because the father doesn’t want his daughter to be influenced by the doll. He is concerned with how she may perceive beauty as a consequence of it. He states, “It's not just the pointy plastic tits, it's the wardrobes. The wardrobes and that stupid male doll, what's his name, the one with the underwear glued on?” (Atwood 491). The situation is ironic because throughout this vignette, women are characterized as being “fake” or “plastic”. Although the father’s concerns are valid, he doesn’t realize that his daughter would otherwise spend the rest of her time wishing to have the doll. Eventually, she would become just like that doll. Atwood summarizes this by saying “repression breeds sublimation.” (Atwood 491)
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...
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.
The girls feel that people need to mask their imperfections and true selves to uphold the image of how they are supposed to be. These dolls were found in a less than desirable place, such as “Lying on the street next to some tool bits ,and platform shoes with the heels all squashed, and a florescent green wicker wastebasket, and aluminum foil, and hubcaps, and a pink shag rug, and windshield wiper blades, and dusty mason jars, and a coffee can full of rusty nails”. They find another Barbie with heals in the depths of junk. They cover up the physical flaws of the burnt barbies with pretty outfits such as the “Prom Pinks” dress. One of the girls state “as long as you don't lift her dress, right? - who’s to know.” This attempt to cover up where the dolls came from and their imperfections seem to parallel their feelings about themselves and where they come from. The girls have an image of how their dolls would be if they were new. This could be the role society plays on the image of how women are supposed to be and look
For this assignment I have chosen to analyze the theme of Marge Piercy’s poem “Barbie Doll” found on page 533 in the Norton textbook. In the poem, the speaker describes a young child, a girl, who was born and raised “as usual” with “dolls that did pee-pee and miniature GE stoves and irons and wee lipsticks the color of cotton candy”. The speaker then goes on to describe the girls downfall in adolescence possessing “a great big nose and fat legs” that over shadowed her better qualities and ostracized her. The girl then grows bitter to the world, with the speaker expressing that “her good nature wore out like a fan belt” until the girl “cut off her nose and her legs and offered them up” mutilating herself and ending her own life. The speaker
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.
He describes beauty as delicate and rare, unable to be established. He focuses on the lightheartedness of young girls, how they are caught up in beauty, and he warns them to be conscientious of the fact that their beauty will fade and that they cannot put all their hope on their beauty. At the same time, he encourages them to "practice" their beauty until it is gone, and he promises to celebrate that beauty as best he can, with all its value and frailty.
There is a proverb that states that beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder. This means that there cannot be a universal definition of beauty. What is perceived by one individual as beautiful may be considered visually unpleasant by a different individual. Though such different opinions exist about the definition of beauty, most people share a definite opinion on whether something is beautiful or not. When a typical woman thinks back on her childhood, three things quickly come to mind: SpagettiO’s, crayons, and a Barbie Doll. The Barbie is more than just a doll, to an innocent child; it often becomes part of a girl’s life. Barbie is a friend, a stylist, a mentor, and even a role model for young children. Many Americans can easily reminisce
...e ability to achieve anything in life. Hopefully, readers would learn from this novel that beauty is not the most important aspect in life. Society today emphasizes the beauty of one's outer facade. The external appearance of a person is the first thing that is noticed. People should look for a person's inner beauty and love the person for the beauty inside. Beauty, a powerful aspect of life, can draw attention but at the same time it can hide things that one does not want disclosed. Beauty can be used in a variety of ways to affect one's status in culture, politics, and society. Beauty most certainly should not be used to excuse punishment for bad deeds. Beauty is associated with goodness, but that it is not always the case. This story describes how the external attractiveness of a person can influence people's behavior and can corrupt their inner beauty.
It is said that when we look in the mirror, we see our reflection; but what is it that we really see? Some people look through the glass and see a totally different person. All across the world identity is an issue that many women have. Woman today must be skinny, tall, thick, fair skinned and have long hair in order to be considered beautiful. Maya Angelou feels otherwise, as she gives women another way to look at themselves through her poem "Phenomenal Woman".
Nevertheless, while we as humans might be somewhat prone to look for beauty in our surroundings, the modern standards have become out of hand and are completely unacceptable. As Confucius said, “Everything has its beauty, but not everyone sees it”. True beauty is not what is on the outside, but what is on the inside. America’s youth needs to learn to differentiate between the two, and they will never learn how until something is changed in the daily messages thrown out at them.
This quote portrays the picture of inner beauty and how it's more imperative and significant rather than external or superficial beauty and how being unpleasant or horrid looking should not be offensive, some individuals contemplate or perceive that being unpleasant looking is a bad or undervalued place in this society but, "The beauty of a woman is not in a facial mole, but true beauty in a Woman is reflected in her soul. It is the caring that she lovingly gives, the passion that she knows."(1969, Hepburn). What states or expresses one is not one's corporeal or substantial beauty but, their internal beauty is what defines one as a person and that's what makes it a special thing.