Sandra Cisneros Barbie-Q

Sandra Cisneros’ short prose poem “Barbie-Q” follows a narrator as she discusses her and her companion's enthusiasm for Barbie dolls. Cisneros infers, through the narrator’s account, that the characters are both young ladies, both of whom possess only one Barbie. On a Sunday, the young girls are at a market and spot a cheap new Barbie lying on a table. Glancing around, they notice there are numerous dolls and outfits, including a "'Career Gal'" outfit (291). Evidently, a close-by toy factory burned to the ground, thus these dolls are marked down despite the fact that they escaped with minor harms. The narrator brings up that nobody will see these things if the girls dress the dolls in their lovely new outfits. The central idea in Cisneros’ story surrounds the limiting effects of poverty, self-empowerment, and societies influence over human imperfection. In “Barbie-Q,” the time period is never strictly specified, creating a generalized setting in the short prose poem. This setting creates a familiar and pertinent story for the reader, without confining it to a certain era. Using a particular day like “Sunday” and distinct locations like “Maxwell Street” and the “big toy warehouse on Halstead Street,” the author clearly paints a world in which …show more content…
Instead of buying their dolls or their doll's clothing at a toy store, the young girls must beg for them at a market until an unspecified “them” says “okay” (291). Later on, the narrator and her companion stumble upon a multitude of barbies that had been damaged in a fire, “the smoke still rising and drifting across the Dan Ryan expressway.” Completely disregarding the damage the fire did to the dolls the girls buy and play with them anyway. Cisneros uses the setting of the story to push the idea that although a woman may have imperfections, they can still be beautiful, valued, and above all,