Sandra Cisneros Barbie-Q Essay

Being a woman is already difficult enough for some of them. There are constant reminders everywhere of how they have to act and what they have to do. Sandra Cisneros’ short story collection Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories discusses the issues that most Chicana women go through in this country. Sandra Cisneros portrays the sense of otherness, fears, battles and worries Chicano women experience in their lives. The two barbies in the story “Barbie-Q” the little girls play with portray the oppression of one culture by the dominant culture. When they play with the dolls, one of the girls tells the other one, “Yours is the one with the mean eyes and ponytail” (Cisneros 14). With this observation, the little girl shows that she has had …show more content…
Often, Caucasian women are portrayed as slim, perfect women who have perfect lives, just as barbies are portrayed. However, these little girls in Cisneros’ story show that they have overcome the value of materialistic value and the image that society has on women. The little girls play with the barbies, and one points to the other, “This and a dress invented from an old sock when we cut holes here and here, the cuff rolled over for the glamorous, fancy tree, off-the-shoulder look” (Cisneros 15). This shows that the little girls can make something useful out of having nothing. Their parents might not have the money to buy them clothes for their barbies, so they just use socks to make their dresses. They conform with what their parents give them though they do not sound so pleased with it. However, it does sound as if they would rather have something than nothing at all. This is an interpretation that these little girls are not growing up having the next “hot” item some women work hard to have. They realize that because of their economic situation, it is impossible to buy items to look prettier as any other woman does, but they conform to what they