“Girl” & Barbie Doll Essay Example

affect our society, and though measures have been taken to overthrow them, they are still dominant. The Barbie doll, popularly revered as an ideal image of femininity, presents an idealized body image that is unrealistic with long, slender legs, a small waist and full chest. Society tends to view this image as the ideal body type, with a preference for tall and slender women over shorter and heavier ones.

The negative influence of the Barbie doll on young girls is due to its promotion of a stereotypical body image that they feel pressured to imitate. Girls aspire to achieve Barbie's flawless complexion, silky hair, and made-up face as they believe it represents an ideal woman look. Besides body image, Barbie portrays an idealized feminine figure through her clothing which typically consists of dresses or skirts and pink color theme. These gender norms are not shared by Ken, contributing to a restricted understanding of femininity.

Women are negatively affected by societal views on femininity, which promote unrealistic beauty standards and gender roles. This creates feelings of inferiority compared to men, especially in young girls who are pressured to conform to the idealized Barbie doll image. The accessories sold with these dolls reinforce traditional gender roles that limit women's work to domestic tasks.

The Kitchen Barbie doll is a versatile toy that offers a wide range of kitchen equipment such as cooking utensils, pots, oven mitts, apron, and baked goods. Additionally, it features a mini-kitchen complete with an oven, sink and refrigerator. This doll encourages young girls to view working in the kitchen as enjoyable and may inspire them to pursue it as a future career option. On the other

hand, the accessories that come with Babysitter Barbie suggest that women should work as domestic servants.

The doll comes with several accessories such as a TV, DVD, stuffed animal, and Kelly. Barbie is responsible for taking care of Kelly which reinforces the idea that women should be housewives and mothers, influencing young girls to pursue similar roles. This suggests that the Barbie doll may serve as a tool for patriarchy, as it perpetuates traditional gender roles. Despite efforts to challenge these values, women are still surrounded by patriarchal ideologies from a young age and cannot fully escape them.

Creating Doctor and Sporty Barbie dolls was an attempt to free women from stereotypical gender roles. Doctor Barbie aimed to challenge the idealized image of domesticity by sporting a lab coat, stethoscope, and clipboard, but her pink lab coat and baby accessories still tied her to the domestic realm. This reinforces the notion that women are defined by domesticity, despite her “liberating” profession as a doctor. Sporty Barbie was created to challenge traditional ideas of femininity by showcasing sports, which are typically associated with men as being highly active, competitive and aggressive.

Although Sporty Barbie may promote the idea of women being able to participate in sports, the sport represented by the doll is actually yoga - an exercise typically associated with femininity. This reinforces gender stereotypes and suggests that women should still be defined by traditional expectations of femininity and domesticity. Despite being seen as a tool for patriarchy, Kincaid critiques patriarchy in her work "Girl," arguing that it confines women to prescribed gender roles and perpetuates feelings of inferiority. She adopts a condescending tone to suggest that young

girls are being forcefully pressured into conforming to patriarchal norms, including emulating Barbie's body image.

The negative impact on young girls’ self-esteem is a result of language that pressures them to conform to societal gender norms. The use of words like “don’t,” “always,” “this is how you should…,” and “make sure to…” communicates an expectation for girls to fit into an idealized version of femininity, which limits their ability to challenge these norms (485-86). Additionally, the older woman in the text uses language that commands the girl to be ladylike and criticizes her for acting like a “slut” (485). This pressure from both men and women ultimately creates feelings of inferiority and a condescending tone directed at the young girl, trapping them under patriarchal ideals.

The idea of ideal womanhood is imposed on young girls from a very early age, as they are instructed in how to prepare for various occasions and cook certain dishes. Kincaid critiques this patriarchal norm, pointing out that girls are pressured to conform to these ideals. Kincaid employs images of femininity and domesticity to underscore the criticism of stereotypical gender roles that force women and girls to be domestic workers. While Barbie may subtly reinforce the idealized image of womanhood, Kincaid's critique highlights the negative effects of such idealization.

Kincaid critiques the societal expectations imposed on women to conform to domesticity, as exemplified by detailed rules such as washing specific colored clothes on different days of the week and how to perform daily household chores (485-486). These instructions encompass cooking, table setting, sewing, ironing, laundry, gardening, and medicinal practices, all perpetuating stereotypes of female gender roles. Additionally, Kincaid points out that

women are expected to maintain a hygenic and feminine appearance according to social norms.

The pressure to conform to societal expectations of idealized womanhood is conveyed through messages like "don't walk barehead in the sun," "always eat your food in such a way that it won't turn someone else's stomach," "on Sundays try to walk like a lady," and "be sure to wash every day, even if it is with your own spit" (485-86). These expectations emphasize the importance of maintaining a feminine outer appearance, including personal hygiene. The use of washing oneself with spit highlights the extreme measures women may resort to in order to meet these expectations. Unfortunately, women have little choice but to conform, as patriarchy remains deeply ingrained in society, limiting their power and influence.

Despite being designed to defy gender stereotypes, Doctor Barbie and Sporty Barbie are still influenced by patriarchal norms, as evidenced by the strict rules and expectations for women depicted in Kincaid's writing. The justified paragraph structure reinforces the constricting nature of these norms, while the block-like appearance of the text suggests that patriarchy cannot be fully eradicated. Additionally, Kincaid's use of a single long sentence for the entire story further emphasizes this message by conveying a sense of containment and limitation.

In regard to the definition of a sentence, there are two interpretations: one refers to a collection of words communicating an autonomous idea while the other alludes to penalizing someone. Kincaid's position on the restrictive influence that patriarchy has on females is relevant to the latter explanation. She scrutinizes this system and argues that it reprimands women by limiting their capacity to break away from feminine cliches

and representing them as inferior in comparison with males. The emphasized phrases within the narrative offer supplementary evidence regarding how the framework reinforces the concept that women are confined within patriarchy.

The girl in the story expresses her overwhelming feeling towards the rules and expectations that are imposed upon her. Her italicized phrases demonstrate this, such as when she responds to being instructed not to sing benna on Sundays or in Sunday school with "but I don't sing benna on Sundays at all and never in Sunday school" (485). In a similar manner, when told to always squeeze bread for freshness, she questions "but what if the baker won't let me feel the bread?" (486). These limited reactions suggest a lack of power to express herself which leads her feeling confused and uncertain about demands placed upon her. The confinement of women under patriarchy is highlighted by these stereotypical gender roles where submission is expected ultimately causing them to feel inferior compared to men.

The Barbie doll and "Girl" both reinforce the presence of patriarchy in our lives from a young age. Kincaid critiques the ways in which women are limited by patriarchy and challenges prescribed notions of womanhood in dominant culture. Despite liberation efforts, women still face difficulty escaping stereotypical gender roles due to the deeply ingrained nature of patriarchy in social systems and cultural history.

Despite knowing the idealized concepts of womanhood surrounding them, why do women continue to conform to these standards? The absence of a patriarchal model for living leaves both genders uncertain. Women consciously subscribing to patriarchal traditions while under the influence of dominant cultural norms makes it difficult to break free from

patriarchy. Kincaid, Jamaica. “Girl.” Dimensions of Culture 3: Imagination. Ed. Nancy Gilson, Cristin McVey, and Abraham Shragge.

The University Readers published the text in San Diego in 2007 and it can be found on pages 485-486. This information is enclosed in a HTML paragraph tag.