“Barbie Doll”

 The first few lines of this poem made me think that it would be primarily about the toys, and how gender roles work in them. It was a bit surprising that it shifted so quickly into growing up and body image and sexualization, but not that surprising given how often Barbies are used in arguments about them. The next two stanzas are about how she grew up with a lot of positive traits, but the only thing that anyone seemed to care about were her two supposed flaws, her “fat nose on thick legs” (11). This, again, is not particularly surprising. Having one or two prominent negative traits makes it very easy for everyone to zero in on them to the point where you think that they are much worse than they are because of how often they are pointed out.

It is especially ironic to me that in the last stanza everyone is focusing on her beauty at her funeral, which I suppose is the point. This is emphasized with all of the sexual imagery - she is laying on satin, “with the undertaker’s cosmetics painted on” (19) and “dressed in a pink and white nightie” (22) with her death being described as a consummation. While the satin and makeup are fairly standard, the specific inclusion of them makes it obvious what the author is trying to say, and having her wear a nightgown for her funeral really hammers the point in.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

“Cathedral”

 Reading this story was a bit of an experience because I was cringing at the blatant ableism of the narrator throughout the whole thing. The way that he didn’t seem to think that Robert could have a fulfilling life or that those who cared about him could have fulfilling relationships with him was pretty upsetting. Even the author showed some ableism, with what was meant to be a positive thing, the recounting of Robert touching the narrator’s wife’s face, is pretty offensive to blind people, despite the trope’s popularity.  I appreciated how the narrator’s revelation at the end wasn’t because Robert was actively trying to get through to him. A lot of the time, it seems like the disabled person or person of color or what have you is actively trying to teach the protagonist about what they’re wrong about in this kind of story, which can be its own kind of problematic because it removes the responsibility of learning from the privileged person and puts the responsibility of teaching on the
Read more

“Hills Like White Elephants”

 After I read this piece, I was very reminded of the Theatre of the Absurd, and especially the premise of Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot - I’ve never read or seen the play, but I do know of it. The premise is that two men are sitting and talking while waiting for someone named Godot to arrive, which never actually happens. This piece seems very similar to it - two people are sitting and talking while waiting for a train that never actually arrives. It was also interesting in that works from the Theatre of the Absurd are known for being circular, which “White Elephants” also is - the whole story is talking around the subject of the woman’s pregnancy and potential abortion without actually coming to a resolution about what they would do about it, ending in the same place they began. On the other hand, the feeling that I got about Waiting for Godot  was that nothing that happened actually had any impact, while here they are discussing what is a very real and important issue to them, e
Read more