The poem “Barbie Doll” is a poem concerning a young girl who has let the societal expectations that America puts on young women destroy her. The poem starts out by explaining a small female child who is just like all young girls. She had dolls and miniature ovens and lipsticks for the dolls, but when she hit puberty and her body began changing a classmate called her fat (Piercy, 687). This seems to be the beginning of all of her internal battles and self-esteem issues. The next stanza describes all the wonderful characteristics that this young woman should have been very proud of. She was a healthy intellectual who was also quite strong and skillful with her hands (Piercy, 687). The second stanza is predominantly sad to me because she possesses many of life’s more important qualities and it is a shame that she was unable to comprehend that. By my standards intelligence is a more prestigious quality to possess over beauty. The image that she owns is not incorrect in an empirical sense, but it is one that America does not accept as being the definition of the perfect woman. The girl’s human…
Since March 9th, 1959 the United States has had a very influential piece of plastic, called the Barbie. Barbie was created by Ruth Handler, of Mattel Inc. after discovering a doll in Germany named Bild Lilli. The Barbie doll was named after Ruth Handler’s daughter, Barbara. The Barbie was introduced to the United Sates at a time when the word “teenager” was becoming a popular trend on television and in movies. A teenager is the time between childhood and adult life. Mattel took the opportunity to release Barbie at this ideal time. It was released as a teenage fashion model. Although the Barbie was pricey, many girls loved the idea and the Barbie doll became a very popular toy. With becoming popular Barbie had a huge impact. Barbie has negatively influenced body image, stereotypical female rolls, and enforced commercialism. Although, it has modernized…
I’ll admit it; I absolutely loved playing with Barbie’s as a child! I must have had like twenty of them. She had everything: a dream house, Ken, plenty of friends, and a slender body with all the right curves, everything I dreamed of having when I grew up. “En Garde, Princess!” by Mary Grace Lord, challenges why every girl loves Barbie. Her article appeared in the online magazine Salon under the “Mothers Who Think” department on October 27, 2000, before the launch of a new doll line called the Get Real Girls, which were created by Julz Chavez. In this article Lord uses repetition, ethos, comparison and name calling to convince the reader that Barbie will soon encounter a fierce competitor, a better role model, which may finally dethrone her as the best selling doll of all time, or at least “punch a few holes in her sales” (423).…
The most important thing developing at that age is their imagination. Barbie acts as a gateway to new stories and adventures for young girls. The new clothes, shoes and gadgets provide a change of pace for them. And what little girl did not think of herself as a mother when she was dressing and feeding their Barbie doll; but I mean God forbid 5 year old girls view themselves as anything other than the “modern woman”. Parents are so quick to put their children in a box these days in order to ensure that in the future they are well adjusted to those boxes. And then when the box does not quite fit their children in the way they had hoped they panic and take to their blogs and invent the new parental craze like blaming a toy that their children does not even play with anymore to explain their poor adjusted…
Blonde hair, blue eyes, business woman, rock star, princess and doctor, can you guess who? It’s Barbie. To be beautiful is to possess qualities that give great pleasure or satisfaction, and for most, Barbie is the epitome of beauty. For years Barbie has been a doll that has been living in the hands of girls of all ages. Some girls start getting Barbies as young as three years old and continue to collect these dolls sometimes into early adulthood. But are these dolls a positive influence on young girls? Barbie is harmful because she gives a false perception of beauty that effects the self esteem, health, and ethnic concerns of young girls.…
Barbies are one of the dolls in today’s world that can be seen as both a positive learning tool and a negative way of how girls see themselves. To children, especially young girls Barbies are seen as role model, the Barbie is something that children can look up to. Barbies have a wide range of jobs; including: astronaut, nurse, veterinarian, police officer, chef, surfer, princess, fashion designer, rock star, olympian, and many more. Instead of Barbies only teaching the idea of running a household, the doll has opened up a whole new field of different things that a young girl can aspire…
At this point, Barbie’s clothing puzzled the public. There were some audiences who did not want to purchase Barbie in fear…
The Disney Princess Effect: [Subtitle] The Disney Princess Effect has a negative influence on the lives of young girls changing them into womanhood before they are ready. It gives young girls and women unrealistic views of the world. Media outlets such as the internet, magazines, and television encourage the development the development of dangerous concepts of the world and themselves. Today’s culture teaches girls and young women that their worth is more about beauty and less about their intelligence. The “Princess Effect” has taken a toll on how young girls grow into mature and emotionally developed women.…
Parents see themselves as a protector for their child in particular their daughters. The guardians of the child are over thinking the idea that Barbie is some kind of sex symbol. A parent who allows their child to watch television is more in danger of a bad influence, than a toy named Barbie. Motz exclaims “a girl playing with a Barbie doll can envision herself with a mature body.” And later in the same paragraph “focusing on bodily changes of the female body associated with puberty, of course to the and of puberty girl do not know.” (Motz paragraph 5 pg 17) Girls in this group understand Barbie is a character and is fictional. Real danger of influence runs deep in music artist and television characters. Groups, artists, and television characters such as Hannah Montana currently known as Miley Cyrus, Spice Girls who wore scantly clad clothing in the 1990’s, along with some famous artist like Brittney Spears, and the list of negative influences could go on and on. These are real threats to a developing females mental state. Their real and they are everywhere.…
In the past, women were always considered the subordinate gender that was expected to powder their nose and stay at home to be a homemaker. Even now, despite the movement to liberate women from stereotypical gender roles, women are still seen as the inferior gender that is discriminated against in society. As suggested by the popular Barbie doll created by Mattel, the idealized image of a woman in our patriarchal society is one who takes care of the home and is flawlessly beautiful with perfect skin, long legs, small waist, and slender figure. The Barbie doll is used as a tool for patriarchy in that it reinforces the notion that women should be domestic workers and maintain a feminine outer appearance. Also, patriarchal values affect girls starting at a young age as they unconsciously begin to believe that Barbie is what a woman should look and be like. With the appeal and popularity of this doll for the past several years, it is difficult to alter the notions of womanhood suggested by this doll. This implies that patriarchy is something we can not permanently overthrow because it is so deeply rooted in our society.…
A study was conducted that had preschool-aged girls play with Barbie Dolls™ dressed in uniforms for typically male-stereotyped jobs such as a police officer or firefighter. Before seeing the Barbie Doll ™, the girls were asked if they thought they could do those jobs when they grew up and most of them said no. But after playing with the Barbie Dolls ™, many of the girls completely changed their minds when asked again. One girl even responded saying “Well I’ve never seen a girl do that before, but yeah I think I could do that job when I grow up.” After just a few minutes of playing with these toys, these girls’ opinions of what they were capable of in life were completely altered. Children are incredibly easily influenced, so why not allow them to see all of the opportunities available to them if that is as easy to do as changing Barbie’s outfit of choice from a flight attendant to a firefighter.…
The theme of the poem, “Barbie Doll,” by Marge Piercy is the overwhelming pressure society exerts on females to be stereotypically attractive and the willingness to go to great lengths in order to achieve “perfection.” Many females, especially teenagers, are faced with this feeling every day. Growing up during the age of advanced computer technology and social media only exacerbates this problem. Many adolescent girls can relate to the fear of being bullied because they do not fit into the category of what is considered culturally beautiful. Marge Piercy uses her intense word choice to evoke emotion in readers about feminism, as well as the everyday struggle girls encounter trying to live up to society’s standards of…
Barbie’s success has not come without cost. If you mention her name in group of adults or friends and nearly everyone will offer an opinion about the toy. In the 1950’s Barbie is the debut as the “teenage fashion model” is mirrored the sophisticated glamour of 1950’s stars like Marilyn Monroe, Rita Hayworth and many more. The Barbie doll was seen with high arched brows, pursed red lips, a sassy pony tail with curly bangs. Barbie’s figure was high fashion and model-esque, with pale,…
Hoskins, Stephanie. "The Negative Effects of Barbie on Young Girls an the Long Term Results." Divine Caroline. N.p., 2013. Web. 06 Oct. 2013.…
Boys think they need to have muscle, and girls think they need to be a pretty princess (Sweet). The advertising and packaging of toys creates an "ideal" boy who is tough, rough, rowdy, and dirty. This shows boys that being sensitive is not okay, and gives them low expectations for their performance at school (“Toys”). Children think that boys are academically inferior to girls, and this message comes from the rowdy and rough boy on toy packages. Even at these very young ages, boys' performance on an academic task is affected by messages that suggest that girls will do better than they will (“Negative”). Dressing up can make girls think that they need to be beautiful (“Toys”). Makeup sets for toddlers, 'Top Model' stationery, and princess dresses create an image girls think they need to conform to. These toys make girls think that beauty is more important than ability (“Toys”). Eighty-seven percent of girls think women are judged more on their appearance than on their ability (“Girls’”). Glamour and beauty that is portrayed in toys has young girls worrying about their own looks and beauty (“Why”). When girls play with Barbie, they obtain the idea that that is what they need to look like, even though that body is pretty close to impossible of getting (Graydon). Still, when girls grow up seeing the skinny Barbies and princess they create an image of what they think they're supposed to look like. As they grow older their longing to be skinnier like they're dolls turns into eating disorders, which are in the rise (“Toys”). This constant worry of their appearance takes girls focus away from achieving their goals and learning. Toys with gender stereotypes cause children to conform to stereotypes by developing depression, and changing their personality and…