Owning a Barbie doll is almost considered a right of passage for a young girl. Even I, someone who despised playing with dolls due to my lack of imagination owned various Barbie dolls, Princess Jasmine Barbie being my favorite. Now, there are countless different Barbies: Malibu Barbie, Superstar Barbie, Fashion Model Barbie, Halloween Barbie. But where is the Aerospace Engineer Barbie? Or Accountant Barbie? And why has Barbie been slowly becoming skinnier and skimpier than when she was originally created in 1959. This toy may be created for the entertainment of little girls but their image is made to please the male eye.
One striking piece of evidence of this can be seen through the vast difference between the original Barbie and the current doll seen today. Barbie has dropped quite a few pounds, especially in her waist and arms, but somehow also managed to grow bigger hips and a larger behind. She also has spiced up her wardrobe by showing a lot more leg and stomach. Why is it necessary for Barbie to wear short shorts and knee high boots for Halloween? Barbie holds a powerful influence over a child as one of her first toys. However, she fails to portray real women in our society that work hard for a living and come in all shapes and sizes,.
This is a good start. You'll need to do some research on what sorts of barbies there are (there was an astronaut barbie in the 80s, I believe) as well as bring in some comparison shots from older/newer barbies for your second point.
ReplyDeleteCouple questions..A) Do I lack direction in my writing so far? I want to be sure I'm emphasizing the point of the male gaze enough...
ReplyDeleteB) How is my attempt to transition from paragraph one and two? What could I do to make it smoother?
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ReplyDeleteA. I think you do a good job of giving examples of the male gaze but you never really make a clear connection between the example and the male gaze.
ReplyDeleteB. I think it's pretty good but I'd advise mentioning the male gaze in the first sentence of the second paragraph in some form or another. That way you'll mention the male gaze in both paragraphs.
1.The author is discussing barbie, a toy usually used by young girls.
2.The main idea is that Barbie, a toy for girls. Holds no relation to the reality of women and has steadily over the years become more and more "sexified" and less realistic.
3.The author does support her main idea but visual elements and real comparisons would be really helpful. I'd also advise perhaps comparing commercials or portrayals of Barbie outside of the doll. Like in actual popular culture.
4.No.
A)Paragraph 1 offers a good example of female gender stereotyping in form of a barbie doll but there is only one line that relates to the male gaze(specifically the last line).Basically the main idea a reader is getting is about stereotypes existing even in the form of toys nothing about the male gaze.But I think thats good as you can build upon that into the male gaze in the subsequent paragraphs
ReplyDeleteB)Transition wise its pretty smooth as Para 2 builds upon ideas laid down in Para 1.If you were though going for portraying the male gaze idea in Para 1 then I'd say revise both paragraphs.
The specific pop culture item the Author talks about is a Barbie Doll and its various forms.
The main idea of the post is how gender stereotypes come into play in pop culture items(like Barbie Dolls in this case)
The author offers convincing suppport for her main idea,and paragraph 2 does a good job of building upon few ideas presented in the first paragraph.
No,maybe the author could place a visual element like various forms of the Barbie doll right next to her first para to offer a more compelling evidence.