Barbie Doll Essay

March 9, 1959 was the Barbie Doll debut, and since then she has become one of the largest cultural icons for women that America has ever seen (History). The fashion doll was in the hands of a great deal of young girls, and Barbie was a part of their lives—she soon their idol. Although, with the idolization of Barbie came “fixed gender roles, heterosexual norms and consumerist values to which women must strive” (Toffoletti). The effects of Barbie on women’s culture lasts longer than just…

extinguishes her self-esteem. To close, in Marge Piercy’s poem, “Barbie Doll”, the central character must accommodate her entire life in to fit into society’s view of beauty. Throughout all three of…

After reading Marge Piercy’s Barbie Doll, the girl in the story had killed herself because she felt that others saw her as ugly. Upon further reading, the poem shows that there is more meaning behind it. The poem is not just about a young woman who takes her life for not being perfect. Piercy uses literary techniques and figurative language that describes a society for women. The writing style in this poem includes long, descriptive lines. Having the long lines with the descriptions helps to…

It is not difficult to see why one barbie doll is sold every three seconds. Her perfect hair, stunning body and natural good looks, who wouldn’t want to play with her? Barbie first came out in 1959 and over the course of her fifty - six years, she has impacted the lives of children in many positive but also negative ways. There has been many discussions on Barbies perfected look and whether or not this brainwashes the youth of today. When Barbie came out in 1959 it was shocking to see such an…

especially dolls and action figures. My second focus was how many of these toys are obviously created for one gender over the other. My third thought was to what economic class does Toys “R” Us target. As I walked around and examined toys I was surprised at the lack of diversity in the dolls, figurines, and the pictures of children playing with the products on the box that were available at the store. Barbie Dolls lacked a great deal of ethnic diversity in their aisle; Barbie essentially had…

Modern times call for modern ideology. Everyday there seems to be a growing rate at which gender is categorized in a strict fashion. Author and professor of USC and Notre Dame, Mary Celeste Kearney has a vast amount of research to help break those lines. She wrote Pink Technology: Mediamaking Gear for Girls, an article in which she entails the way society see the way girls should be utilizing things that are geared towards “boys.” Her current role as associate professor of film, television, and…

Girls play with Barbie dolls and boys play with monster trucks. Asians love Korean pop music and all Mexicans know the Taco Bell dog, right? As kids grow up, they are constantly surrounded by social media, television, celebrities, and other authoritative figures such as parents and grandparents. In this day in age, it is almost impossible not to judge a person based on how they look because of how media outlets characterize certain “types” of people. Michael Omi states in his writing, “In Living…

All I saw were the toys, bright colors, and smiles. It was a wonderful place filled with everything I ever wanted, Barbie dolls, toy trucks, Legos and so on. As I continued to walk through, I was so excited that I was playing over in my head what toys I would play with first. The Barbie dolls first, then the playhouse, and build a house with Legos. And there were so many other kids to play along with too. With the amount of toys and having news friends all around me, I felt like I was in a…

Even though they didn’t have fancy machines all the way back then, they still found things to play with, such as rocks, for example. Now, let's go on a quick adventure. Close your eyes. Imagine you’re a kid in the 1960’s and a new Batman movie or Barbie set just came out. You tell your parents to drive you to the store right away to buy a new toy. That was most of the life of the average 1960’s kid. The topic of toys in the 1960’s was very wide, including…

Within the field of Social Psychology, the most agreed upon age at which children form and begin to follow cultural stereotypes is age five (Psychology Today). Mattel Inc., the company that owns Barbie, starts marketing their dolls to children ages three and up. As more than a doll, as a role model and a representation of the ideal woman, Barbie’s form, perceived values, and lack of authenticity create a complicated paradox between celebrating diversity, perpetuating colonialism, and sexualizing…