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Barbie doll marge piercy essay analysis
Barbie doll by marge piercy analysis
Explication essay of barbie doll by marge piercy
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What extremes will a person reach to be accepted, and what are the consequences? In both Marge Piercy’s “Barbie Doll” and Gwendolyn Brooks “We Real Cool” there is an underlying theme of the depth a person will go through for acceptance. In “Barbie Doll” the theme is expressed very well through characterization, while in “We Real Cool” though the theme can be understood it was not portrayed as well. Both poems also have a similar setting when it comes to the character's mind frame. Though they have some similarities the poems differ in style, point of view, and the portrayal of the characters. There are those that may argue that “We Real Cool” even though simpler, has better characterization therefore making the central theme more relatable than “Barbie Doll”. Marge Piercy better executes the overall idea of acceptance and its consequences over Gwendolyn Brooks. …show more content…
The most obvious of the similarities is the central theme of acceptance, who acceptance is being seeked from, what lengths will be reached to be accepted, and what are the consequences. The character of “Barbie Doll” seeks acceptance through her looks, while the pool players of “We Real Cool” seek acceptance through their actions. The mind frame of the characters creates another correlation between the poems, the apparent closeness of their age seems to give them a common idea that they have to change their appearance or act a certain way to be accepted. The last comparison between Piercy and Brooks was how they choose to end their poems, both poems mention death, whether the death is literal or figurative is left up to the audience to
“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.
People who have strived for achieving acceptance or beauty so that society could accept them. This strive though has come at a cost and led people to drastic measures such as depression, self-harm, or serious health issues like starvation or excessive exercising. In the two poems “Hanging Fire” and “Barbie Doll”, the two teenagers struggle with acceptance and both struggle trying to gain them. In a teenager age, they are more vulnerable as they are trying to figure out who they are as a person, leaving them in a fragile state. Throughout their life, they will be peer pressured by friends, classmates, and family who try to point out what is wrong with them and what should be fixed even though normally everything is fine. It is the constant need
“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
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...
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.
makes each poem unique the central idea is identical, they both emphasize the particular bond
Marge Piercy’s “Barbie Doll” is a great representation of how society’s expectations have brainwashed women into trying to look and be something they are not. This poem is important because society needs to start doing things to make women feel better about themselves instead of bringing them down. Girls need to start realizing from a young age that no one is perfect nor can they reach the unrealistic expectation of looking like a Barbie. Stop treating woman like objects and dehumanizing
Marge Peircy's "Barbie Doll" and Sharon Olds' "The Death of Marilyn Monroe" are two poems that deal with society's influence over women. However, the two women describe in the story are completely different on the outside, but the inside is much more similar. The female in "Barbie Doll" has no identity and no name, where as the female in "The Death of Marilyn Monore" is the icon Marilyn Monroe. Although these two women remarkably appear to be opposite, they have one thing in common - their own death- and society's opinions, stereotypes, and expectations murdered these two women.
..., they are somewhat similar in comparison because they both have an inevitable ending, death. Both of the poems also used rhythm to give the reader a better insight and experience. The use of rhythm helps to set the tone right away. The use of symbolism and tone helped to convey an overall theme with both of the poems.
It was very common to have a Barbie doll growing up, and it wasn’t just a toy, it was a representation of a “perfect life”. From dream houses, to boats, cars, a perfect boyfriend to exiting careers, Barbie had the perfect life. Barbie had the perfect lifestyle AND the perfect body, long legs, small waist and a curvy chest. This taught children from a very young age that having a boyfriend, a career, a house and a petite body is very important. (Worldpress 2011). Barbie’s “attention has been generated by the secondary role she plays in popular culture the artifact of female representation” (Wright 2003). Barbie isn’t just a toy, she mimics
In Barbie Doll, the girl chooses to end her life instead of suffering through it with a negative self- image. She “cut off her nose and her legs / and offered them up” (Piercy 17-18). After she mutilates herself in an attempt to make herself look beautiful, others take notice and comment on how pretty her corpse looks laying in the casket. In The Chimney Sweeper, the young chimney sweep finds enough hope in religion to keep him going. In a dream the boy has an “Angel told Tom, if he’d be a good boy, / he’d have God for his father, and never want joy” (Blake 19-20). This gives the boy the motivation that he needs to continue his life and so as he awoke, he “was happy and warm; / [and] if [he did his] duty [he] need not fear harm” (Blake 23-24). The young boy decides to suffer through his brutal everyday life so that one day he can go to heaven, where he will be happy. These two polar- opposite approaches to dealing with the misfortune of the characters is what shapes both the theme and tone of the
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.
In the play, "A Doll House", written by Henrik Ibsen, the plot and themes all suggest that the title implies a metaphor rather than an imaginary toy. The benefits of the reader is an example of how a lovely young woman can go from this flawless, Betty Crocker made life, to having everything turned upside down, not having any resemblance to prior situations. This play models more of a real life situation, not a pre ordained Cinderella fairy tale, and throughout the sequence, the main character, Nora, gets deeper and deeper into trials of tribulation.
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.
When considering the structure of the poems, they are similar in that they are both written loosely in iambic pentameter. Also, they both have a notable structured rhyme scheme.