...Literature” Ann Rasmussen April 23, 2009 Barbie Doll The poem begins in a fairy-tale vein, the archaic term “girl-child” being used to underscore the mythic quality of the story. The dolls, stove, iron and lipstick are all traditional play things for young girls, but they are also markers of an identity in the making, the things that young girls grow to identify with their own social roles. The doll presents an idealized image of the body, and stove and irons tell them what kind of work is expected of them as adults. The lipstick perhaps is the most sexualized cosmetic for women, signals to young girls that they will be valued for their physical appearance. The “magic of puberty” introduces the theme of growth. It is a magical time because the body changes rapidly. She also refers to the pain that comes with puberty. When girls are growing older they are really cruel to each other. The “girl child” is told she has “a great big nose and fat legs” even though she is smart, healthy and strong. The girl was made to feel guilty for who she was, for her intelligence and abilities, and also for not being slim and “beautiful.” She apologized to everyone for not being the person they wanted her to be, but all they could see was her body and how it did not match their idea of what a woman should look like. They tried to help her be more of an idealized woman by suggesting how to compensate for her unfeminine qualities. “girl-child” is “every-girl,” not some poetic character with...
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...off her nose and her legs/ and offered them up.” This quote from “Barbie Doll”, by Marge Piercy, refers to a young girl who wishes to change her character and her appearance in order to live up to society’s expectations. In fact, instead of being complimented or admired for whom she truly is, people would rather criticize and condemn her for whom she isn’t. As a result of endlessly trying to alter her portrait, the “girlchild” eventually “wore herself out”. This poem suggests that unrealistic societal demands are destructive for a woman’s self-esteem and well-being. When comparing oneself to an idealistic notion of female beauty and behaviour, one can only expect to feel demoralized, discouraged and devalued. Indeed, "Barbie Doll," the title of the poem, symbolizes society’s view of a perfect woman; the way society expects every woman to be. In fact, by using “Barbie Doll” as the title to her poem, Marge Piercy wants the reader to compare and contrast the adolescent’s appearance to that of a Barbie doll. Stereotypically, Mattel’s Barbie dolls have tall, thin yet curvy bodies, with symmetrical, perfect facial features, blonde hair and blue eyes. This, in turn, leads to the protagonist’s void of self-confidence. Additionally, living up to such standards - all the while being a housewife who must clean the house, raise the children and please her husband - is very demanding on the female gender. Moreover, the doll is symbolic of the ways that women themselves have been plasticized...
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...pink. When you browse this area more closely, you will recognize the iconic name, Barbie, branded across a wide selection of dolls, houses, clothing, cars, and other accessories. Most likely, you will notice a news anchor and a computer engineer Barbie, representing the new Barbie careers of the 2010s. If you were shopping in any other decade since the late 1950s, you would see Barbie dolls with different costumes and careers. Since its inception in 1959, by creator Ruth Handler, the Barbie doll has taken on more than 100 different career paths and has become the most successful doll ever produced. This iconic and often controversial doll has had a great deal of influence on every decade since the late 1950s. From its very inception, Barbie was an innovative fashion doll, whose desirability and influence among girls quickly skyrocketed. It was the first ever adult-bodied doll, equipped with breasts, long legs, and a small waist. Previously, the only dolls for girls were baby or infant dolls that allowed little girls to play mommy. But with Barbie, little girls were soon able to imagine being much more than just mothers or wives, and could play as any career they wanted. The Barbie doll was not simply a fashionable toy, but a role model for individuality and freedom of choice for all females. It broke through gender barriers by teaching girls they could be anything they dreamed. However, the doll received a great deal of outrage and criticism throughout the decades as well. In...
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...Barbie Assignment I remember having trunks full of Barbies and playing with them when I was a little girl. My Barbies had all different careers and were of different races. My mom even convinced my older cousin to give me her MC Hammer doll. Being of mixed race, my mother wanted me to understand diversity through my dolls. The different skin tones that Barbie had, reflected the diversity I saw in my friends growing up. So for that I think Barbie had a pretty good influence on me. When I five years old, I was rewarded for being good at the doctor’s with a new Barbie. I was so excited because all of my friends had one already. I loved playing with my new found friend, but soon wanted more. After two more successful visits to the doctor’s, Ken and several others helped me to start quite a collection. These dolls were not only toys to me, but an extended family. I spent countless hours with them every day for years. They had a permanent home against my bedroom wall that stretched 5ft long. The monstrous house consisted of four beds, complete with linens and pillows that my mother had made. The kitchen was furnished of dishes, pots, pans, and an array of “food”. The living room had a TV that I made from an old cardboard jewelry box that I drew on and mini magazines. When I was seven, for Christmas my grandma bought me a baby blue Barbie Corvette and it still sits up on a shelf in my parent’s garage. One reason why I want them to keep it is because I think it...
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...company's major brands include Barbie, Hot Wheels, Matchbox, Fisher-Price, and American Girl. With headquarters in El Segundo, California, Mattel has offices and facilities in 36 countries and sells its products in more than 150 nations throughout the world. In 1945, Ruth and Elliot Handler and Harold "Matt Matson develop this new company out of their garage workshop located in Southern California. Although the first products they create are simply picture frames, Elliot takes the left over pieces of these frames and put them to use to make dollhouse furniture. These dollhouse furniture pieces were just a side business for Elliot though. Harold Matson soon sells out his partner, and, being confident from the success of the dollhouse furniture, the Handler's decide to turn the companies' emphasis on toys. In the year 1947, the "Uke-A-Doodle is the first, in a line if musical toys. In 1948, Mattel is incorporated in Hawthorne, California. During the year 1955, Mattel becomes involved with "Mickey Mouse Club . This very popular show soon become the major spot of advertising for Mattel, which revolutionized they way the toys were marketed. It also introduced they another great product, the "Burp Gun , and automatic cap gun. During the late 1950's, well, 1959 to be exact, the most sot after doll, "Barbie makes her first appearance. This doll was named after a girl Barbie, short for Barbara, created by her mother Ruth Handler. When Barbie was a young child, Ruth would often...
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... Jordan English 1302.4062 30 March 2012 Essay There are extreme self-esteem issues around the world. From boys to men, girls to women, everyone is affected by their, or someone else’s, comments towards how they look that day. When looking at “Barbie Doll” by Marge Piercy and “Hanging Fire” by Audre Lorde, one must decide whether they take criticism from others, or if they critique themselves to the point of no return. In “Barbie Doll” the girl takes shots from her peers about her “…great big nose and fat legs” up to the point where she cuts her nose and legs off and dies (1. 6). But in “Hanging Fire” the girl puts so much pressure on herself to conform to the sociological norm that she begins to think suicidal thoughts, wondering if she “will live long enough/to grow up” (3. 32-33). The mental aspect of self-esteem can have two categories, bringing others down and one bringing themselves down. When younger, one’s mindset is caring about what others think about to fit in with the “cool group.” But leading up to the teenage years, one starts to care less of what others say and judge themselves, which leads to one feeling uncomfortable in their skin. The criticism from peers and critical thoughts of oneself could lead to suicidal thoughts or worse, death. If one separates self-esteem into two categories of how they affect lives...
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...The poem “Barbie Doll” by Marge Piercy, discusses how people think that beauty is the most important thing. As a child grows up, society brainwashes them into thinking that looks are more important than anything else. Every little girl has had a Barbie doll, and that Barbie is always beautiful with an hour glass figure and this is where it all starts. When a child becomes a teenager, their body starts to change and develop into ways that society may not improve of. Then when adulthood is reached, some spend a lot of money to change their appearance just to feel excepted. Sometimes they make it off of the operation table, sometimes they don’t. The Barbie doll has become the ideal way that girls are supposed to look like when they get older. The title is not about just a toy, it’s more about an image of perfection. In the first stanza of the poem, Piercy gives an example of metonymy by illustrating that “This girlchild was born as usual/ and presented dolls that did pee-pee”( Doherty 1 ). She lets the readers know that the child is being compared to a doll. This also describes that the child was given small toys that seemed like real life. The toys gave her the wrong image of what life really is. In the last two lines of the first stanza, Piercy states “Then in the magic of puberty, a classmate said/ you have a great big nose and fat legs.” In that line of the poem, the child is turning into a teenager and she doesn’t like the ways she looks. Other kids make fun of her because...
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...According to Claire Bates, 15 million people get plastic surgery every year just to fit in and look nice, such as liposuction, facelift, cheek enhancement. Marge Piercy’s poem, “Barbie Doll,” talks about a little girl that grew up with confidence until puberty hit her and her classmates made fun of her. She tried as much as she could to make them like her, but she ended up dead in a casket. The theme of the poem is that the people around you will judge you, but in the end, all that matters is that you accept yourself for what you’ve become. Piercy’s use of figurative language and the shifts portrays the theme of the poem. Marge Piercy elaborates the theme by using figurative language. She uses simile to help point out the meaning of the...
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...In A Barbie World! A culture that is saturated by consumerism can be referred to as a consumer culture. Barbie can be used as a tool for consumer culture because she is perceived to be the perfect woman, an unattainable achievement. Barbie has the perfect man, Ken; she has her dream house, and car, and even a dream closet. There are life size Barbies bouncing around in T.V. and print media ads that personify this image. Barbie produces a systematic reproduction of consistency; she doesn't evolve but rather promotes change around her. Barbie’s face or body structure hasn’t significantly changed since her creation. The different nationalities that Barbie is produced in are careful not to lend themselves to stereotypes too heavily. Most importantly, the concept of Barbie hasn’t changed throughout the years. Ultimately, she is still a toy. Barbie promotes change by attaching herself to current trends and issues, such as Presidential Barbie, Olympic Barbie, and Sponge Bob Barbie. By presenting current trends in Barbie form, Mattel successfully promotes these trends to parents and children. The perception of perfection that surrounds Barbie is unattainable; however, consumers consistently find satisfaction or happiness in reaching for these goals. We have a car that works perfectly fine, but we want a new one. Our house has more then enough space, but we want a bigger one. Those shoes match absolutely nothing in my closet, but they're new and in style, so I just have to have them...
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...Barbie Doll Women have a wrong perspective about beauty. With media and social networking on the rise, the standard of beauty is skewed to what others portray it to be. Women who don’t have supportive people around them to reinforce the true concept of beauty often grow up to be self-destructive and seek validation from all the wrong places. There is too much importance and too much anxiety placed on women to surrender to the image of being or becoming a Barbie doll. In the poem “Barbie Doll,” written by Marge Piercy tells a story of a young girl’s short life. The girl is born and lives a normal life until she is made fun of during puberty which causes her to commit suicide. In this poem we see evidence to this idea in the poet’s use of irony, her attitude on the subjects of both inner and outer beauty, and her attitude on the significance of words interfering with a woman’s self confidence. To begin, the poet’s use of irony is felt most toward the end of the poem. The very thought that people would say a person is pretty only after they are dead and it is too late for them to hear is sad and disturbing. “Doesn’t she look pretty? Everyone said.” In fact, the reason a person looks pretty in their casket is because they are “made-up” to look their best. This is seen more specifically with these lines, “the undertaker’s cosmetics painted on, a turned-up putty nose, and dressed in a pink and white night.” We are lead to believe that the entire group of people at the funeral thinks...
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...restraints and Dee telling her mother she changed her name to Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo to protest being named after the people who have oppressed her, not realizing that her mom named her after her aunt Dicie who was named after grandma Dee. I see that the relationship between Aunt Dicie and Mama is very different from the relationship between Maggie and Dee; these sisters share barely a word the entire visit and they are totally opposite, sharing almost nothing in common. In Barbie Doll she was never satisfied until she became that perfect image and do to her classmates telling her that she has a big nose and fat legs it made her insecure. Girl child was never strong intelligent, or healthy because to me if so then she would have never gave into the insecurities that another person had her believe on herself. As well as Dee, she too was ashamed of her family struggles and was uncertain about herself. They both wanted to make everyone else to approve, like, and what they had become instead of doing what made them comfortable and continuance of...
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...being perceived in such a way, the only thing that gives women absolute power over men is their physical appearance, a man goes weak for a beautiful female. The sad thing is that we have let society define the beauty of a women and a major part of this society is the media. Women have always been perceived and portrayed as sex symbols, as if that is what they are only good for. Men and others in society don’t care about a woman’s intelligence if they look good. Our society has let a woman’s looks overshadow everything else that she is. Our society, has constructed itself into a society so image obsessed when it comes to women, in which color, body figure, and every aspect of a woman’s face is the source to why people approve or disapprove of that woman. Media affects the way young girls and adult women all around the world view themselves. This is why our generation of women is so self-conscious about their physical appearance, and this is affecting their health. There are many methods in which the media encourages women to disfigure and damage their bodies. Even celebrities and models, which are the people that represent what women should look like, suffer because of the way the media makes people perceive them. Society and the media are absolutely obsessed with physical female perfection, which prevents many women from...
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...considering beauty is said to be have seen in the eye of the beholder. Unfortunately, in this metaphoric glass fish bowl life style; media, men, art, and fashion are the foremost most important holder. As customs, traditions and American habits expand, so does the true meaning of the word beauty. According to webster dictionary, beauty is defined as the quality or aggregate of qualities in a person or thing that gives pleasure to the senses or pleasurably exalts the mind or spirit. Since when does plastic surgery, sex appeal or an unhealthy size zero make up something that is beautiful. Beauty is no longer just a complement or self assessment, but a necessity tugging at a woman’s true identity. For many years the Miss American organization made a crucial...
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...Failure of the Barbie Doll in the Indian Market Priti Nemani* INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................... 97 I. GLOBALIZATION AND THE MULTINATIONAL ........................................ 99 A. Globalization Defined ................................................................ 99 1. The Key to the Kingdom: The Globalized Brand ............. 100 B. Barbie in the Global Economy ................................................. 102 1. Barbie‘s History................................................................. 102 2. Corporate Philosophy and Marketing Strategies behind Barbie ................................................................................ 105 II. MATTEL‘S BUSINESS VENTURES IN INDIA ......................................... 107 A. The Late 1980s: Barbie’s Tango with the License Raj ............. 107 1. The Licensing System ....................................................... 109 2. Limits on Foreign Direct Investment .................................110 3. Mattel‘s Joint Venture ......................................................... 111 B. India’s Economic Liberalization and Mattel’s Second Chance at Success...................................................................................113 1. India, the IMF, and the World Bank ...................................113 2. Mattel in India from 1993-2010 .........................................115 III. UNDERSTANDING WHY BARBIE FAILED IN INDIA...
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...World in Stitches “Jennifer Lopez”, “Kim Kardashian”, even “Barbie” are some of the people or things that people obsess over to look like, so they get plastic surgery to look like them. Cosmetic Surgery has been a growing fascination for many people over the last couple of decades, even though it has been around for centuries. The public eye has been watching movie stars and rock stars enhance their looks by getting breast implants, nose jobs, lip jobs etc. Shows on TV and images produced by the media will make people do almost anything to fit the world’s standards of the perfect body, perfect face and even the perfect toes. Plastic surgery offers a quick fix to help achieve this goal but no matter how much surgery nothing or no one will be perfect. With cosmetic surgery being made affordable to more people than ever before, more individuals are getting cosmetic surgery to look like the perfect person or the favorite celebrity. But then, there are some people who get plastic surgery not to just look like the famous celebrity but also because of the parents who pressure the child or teenager to get cosmetic surgery due to the child or teenager’s “abnormalities” and “low self-esteem”. Although cosmetic surgery can help with low-self esteem, images, shows produced by the media and even some parents are the problems that many Americans of all ages deal with to want to look like the perfect person or the famous A-list celebrity. From the beginning of time people of every race...
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