"Inequality is gone?" I don't think so ~ "Barbie Doll"

The Difficulties and Struggles women face in their lives 

This blog post is a continuation of the last post but focuses on how the poem "Barbie Doll" presents the issues I talked about last time, which involves the oppression of women and their struggles with identity or body image/appearance. 

The Poem "Barbie Doll"

In class we read the poem "Barbie Doll" and Payton presented the interesting points the poem made. The poem was written by Marge Piercy in 1971, which was the time period of another wave of feminism. Piercy is a writer and a social activist that wanted to convey the expectations and pressures women have been dealing with in a male centered society. Besides focusing on women, the poem brings up the idea of peer pressuring or forcing someone into specific roles, stereotypes, and ideal images. In addition, Piercy's choice of diction, tone, and imagery makes a powerful statement to readers about her points and what women are going through. Piercy's poem highlights how dangerous society can be, especially when concerning women. Her writing and poem blatantly mention the reality many women are living and going through, unfortunately leading to insanity or sometimes even death.

Lines or words that stood out to me:

- Presented dolls that did pee-pee

- lipsticks the color of cherry candy

- Stove and irons

- Magic of puberty/great big nose and fat legs

- abundant sexual drive

- to and fro apologizing

- play coy

-exercise, diet, smile

-Cut off her nose and her legs

-Doesn't she look pretty? everyone said, consummation at last

My Analysis of these sayings

I wanted to explain my thoughts on the lines I just included. The first line talks about dolls and lipstick, which brings up the two points of stereotypes being presented in toys and beauty products. Starting from gender reveals to children's toys, many things have been subjected to either boy or girl. Although these may be fine in some scenarios, the main problem is when someone is considered to be weird or different if they do something that is expected to "belong" to a certain gender. I remember learning about the pink tax,which is when products that are typically marketed towards women are priced higher than the normal product. (In the image it is the exact same product but one is labeled for women and pink, which is the one that is more expensive by about $2). Sometimes I have wanted something in a pink or magenta color and it is more expensive, which makes me frustrated with the fact that inequality is even in products since I have to pay more for a simple color because of my gender. An issue was also raised about the concern over the expensive prices for tampons and other feminine products. Some women who come from poor families, are single moms, or just on their own have a hard time affording these products which are important to women. All of this ties into the expectations and limitations that are placed on women, sometimes without people even knowing these issues are happening.

I mentioned this in the last blog post but this type of oppression of women has also been heavily present in media such as tv shows, movies, advertisements, social media, and so much more. Although there has been some variation of women's appearances, the media typically presents women as super skinny with a small waist and limbs with bigger busts and butts. Women are expected to be skinny, pretty, acting proper and intelligent (such as the line "play coy"), never be upset (such as the line "to and fro apologizing"), and so many more things. This ties into the line "Stove and irons" which introduces the stereotypical role women have played and continue to play in some cases. This role is the idea that women remaining in the home, do household chores (such as cooking, cleaning, and laundry), and help their husbands. Even though it has become kind of a jokeful stereotype, it is still present in older generations which are setting examples to younger generations. Hopefully in the future we can find a way to keep reducing the inequality and oppression of women, but this will not come easily or quickly.

For the line "cut off her nose and her legs" we discussed in class the possibilities of plastic surgery or self harm. These topics have become even more popular and present in today's society. Although sometimes there are medical or physical reasons for these, a good amount of women feel the need to either change by surgery or hurting themselves to fit into a certain body image or appearance expectation. Beyond these techniques women have been known to starve themselves or throw up their food so they don't gain weight. In the poem the line saying "exercise, diet, smile" makes us think about how women are pressured under these expectations to maintain a skinny and "pretty" body image while at the same time smiling and being happy. Another major topic is sexualizing women in their looks, attitude, and relationships with men. These stereotypes make women seem like objects that are for men to pick and choose from while using them whenever they need. Women are human beings, just like everyone else, but the poem communicates how people were to concerned if a woman had an "abundant sexual drive" rather than focusing on their interests, dreams, and personality. All of this turns to the tragic ending of the poem with the woman being in makeup and a skimpy nightgown, causing people to finally say, "doesn't she look pretty?". This ending statement highlights the importance of stopping the expectations put on women before it is too late. Everyone should be able to live the way they want, including their appearance, personality, and the items they own.