The Fragile Bird and the Barbie Doll

The Fragile Bird and the Barbie Doll

  • Submitted By: adcosta
  • Date Submitted: 12/08/2008 8:43 AM
  • Category: English
  • Words: 1469
  • Page: 6
  • Views: 966

The common thread of pressure leading to suicide is what connects Janice Mirikitani's "Suicide Note and Marge Piercy's "Barbie Doll". Both stories will describe two comparisons of two suicides notes about young girls. In "Suicide Note" written by Janice Mirikitani, the young girl feels pressure that she has let down her parents possibly by not having perfect grades and in "Barbie Doll" written by Marge Piercy; the young girl feels pressure from society and peers to look a certain way possibly like a Barbie doll. Both girls in the poems struggle with feelings of guilt, insecurity, self image flaws and confidence issues caused by pressure from peers, parents and society.
In “Barbie Doll”, the main point took out of the text is that this young girl did not feel pretty. The “Barbie Doll” compares a girl to a Barbie doll and she feels not good enough or pretty enough for society, friends and family. In the beginning of the story in "Barbie Doll", the young girl grew up normal and happy until puberty hit and a classmate teased her. Piercy writes, “Then in the magic of puberty, a classmate said: You have a great big nose and fat legs.”(Piercy 991). At that very moment her perception of self image was tainted forever and the young girl no longer felt pretty enough for any one to look at. The American Psychological Association states, “Barbie is so exceptionally thin that her weight and body proportions are not only unattainable but also unhealthy. The ultrathin female beauty ideal she embodies has been linked with extraordinary prevalence of negative body image and unhealthy eating patterns among girls and women.”(Thompson et al. 1). This struggle of self image can cause young girls to try and please people around them. Piercy states, “She went to and fro apologizing, everyone saw a fat nose on thick legs” (Piercy 991). During adolescence, young girls have a tough time dealing with self image, and how others view them. The consequences of a poor self...

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