Comparision of “Barbie Doll” by Marge Piercy and “Suicide Note” by Janice Mirikitani Essay Example

to me because she possesses many of life’s more important qualities and it is a shame that she was unable to comprehend that.

By my standards intelligence is a more prestigious quality to possess over beauty. The image that she owns is not incorrect in an empirical sense, but it is one that America does not accept as being the definition of the perfect woman. The girl’s human influences advised her to be modest and shy, while presenting herself to be stimulated and cheerful (Piercy, 867). The girl was told to diet, exercise, and use flattery to get what she wants (Piercy, 867). She tried to conform and be everything that is expected, but eventually her good nature wore down.

Being told what and how to be from a young age will take its toll on any person especially an impressionable teenager. Being that I have experienced these pressures, although not to the same extent as the girl in Piercy’s poem, I can safely say that young adolescents tend to be quite multifaceted and sensitive which explains why criticism about one’s appearance can damage their morale. This girl no longer had the will to battle the burdens she was feeling and the lines “So she cut off her nose and legs and offered them up” make reference to the fact that she committed suicide (Piercy, 867).

I get the feeling in the last stanza that the girl may have had some physically altering surgery sometime before she took her life. Ironically, it is only when the young woman is lying dead in a casket that people begin to acknowledge her beauty. The last line is a very powerful

one “To every woman a happy ending” (Piercy, 867). I disagree that the subject of the poem truly had a happy ending, but I do not feel the author meant it literally either. It seems the author means to deject the people in the girl’s life who only saw her flaws and not her true beauty and intelligence.

The title “Barbie Doll” is appropriate because society metaphorically compares women to the look of Barbie dolls. The description of the “perfect” girl in our culture is one who is beautiful on the outside as well as skinny, which is exactly how Barbie looks. I found an interesting article about the effect the media has girls from an early age. Barbie dolls have been partially blamed for body-image problems because “Not only do these dolls have fictionally proportioned, small body sizes, but they lean towards escalating the belief that materialistic possessions, beauty and thinness equate happiness” (Eating, 1).

Adults need to be especially cautious of the messages that they send to their children as well use caution when exposing them to the media. Barbie dolls are surely not solely responsible for self-image problems, but since these dolls are targeted at an age group which is very impressionable it is necessary to emphasize the fact that the dolls are pretend (Eating, 1). Television is one of the main sources of poison for the minds of young children. It is hard for kids to obtain any confidence when much of television tells them to buy products to make themselves, skinnier, and prettier which will supposedly make people like you more (Eating, 1).

The article goes on to say that supermodel’s faces being

plastered all over magazines is another reason that adolescents grow up with self-image issues. These models get thinner and thinner and statistics show that super models on average weight 25 percent less than the average woman and typically hold weights that are 15 to 20 percent below what is healthy for their weight and age (Eating, 1). This is the sick message our society sends to young people, which make its nearly impossible for them to see their self-worth.

The poem “Suicide Note” has a very different tone and message than “Barbie Doll”, but the two share the same essential theme. Both poems portray young people who cannot deal with constant criticism and subsequently take their own lives. This poem maintains a dreary tone and unlike “Barbie Doll” is written in first person form. Mirikitani also uses several similes as well as powerful imagery throughout the writing. In a caption before the poem, the audience is informed that the poem is actually a suicide note written by an Asian-American student to her parents apologizing for being less than perfect academically (Mirikitani, 1209).

A young woman with an obvious lack of self-worth says she not good enough, not pretty enough, and not strong enough multiple times throughout the poem (Mirikitani, 1209). The young lady expresses how if she had been a male it would have been easier to please her parents (Mirikitani, 1209). She feels being a man would have made her more worthy. The poem is deeply saddening because I am fairly certain that her parent’s criticized her not because they did not love and were not proud, but because they wanted her to be prosperous and

happy.

Ironically though, this is what caused the wreckage of her self-esteem and the sorrow that ended of her life. The young woman describes her struggles in school and speaks of the feelings of failure she felt when her work was not perfect (Mirikitani, 1210). Imagery takes on a strong form when she speaks of being like a bird as she stands on the ledge preparing for death. She compares herself to a sparrow that will be unable to fly in the miserable weather (Mirikitani, 1209). She imagines that when her body is found, her bird bones will be buried beneath a sturdy pine (Mirikitani, 1210).

Her perceived imperfections are simply distortions in her mental outlook, which was evidently the result of harsh parenting. She opts for the easy way out as an alternative to articulating her failures to her parents. It is a shame that this girl was stressed so much by her parents, and that she felt the need to kill herself. Every young person needs acceptance from their elders and forlornly she was not given the approval she desperately needed. She could not have conceivably been told that she looked pretty, was smart, or that she was good enough no matter what.

This would explain why she felt being a boy would have made her parents proud. She imagines being perfect if she had broad shoulders and could weather any challenges (Mirikitani, 1209). I wish the woman in both poems could have understood their self-worth and lived only to please themselves and not everyone around them. These two deeply depressing poems can give anyone a more humble outlook on life. The girls in these writings

would have done anything to feel accepted, even die to sense that acceptance. The themes are the same although the girls lead dissimilar lives the lack of approval they received triggered them to die in vain.

Society is too harsh with their expectations on bodily image. Being perfect is an unattainable goal, but no young person can see that unless they are encouraged to believe so. Conforming to society’s expectations will only cause a lifetime of unhappiness and coming to the awareness that what others think does not matter, will help one gain a positive self-image. "Eating Disorders and the Media | Media Influence on Eating Disorders | Anorexia | Bulimia | Eating Disorders | Compulsive Overeating | The Something Fishy Website on Eating Disorders. Eating Disorders | Anorexia | Bulimia | Binge Eating Disorder | Compulsive Overeating | The Something Fishy Website on Eating Disorders. Web. 03 Dec. 2011. <http://www. something-fishy. org/cultural/themedia. php>. Mirikitani, Janice. ""Suicide Note"" Literature The Human Experience. 10th ed. Boston, New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2010. 1209-210. Print. Piercy, Marge. ""Barbie Doll"" Literature The Human Experience. 10th ed. Boston, New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2010. 687. Print.