Firstly, here is a picture of me with the author of the poem:
Anyway... I want to look at this poem a little differently than I usually do, I kind of want to break it down stanza by stanza so that I can give my very loaded opinion on this poem.
1]
This girlchild was born as usual
and presented dolls that did pee-pee
and miniature GE stoves and irons
and wee lipsticks the color of cherry candy.
Then in the magic of puberty, a classmate said:
You have a great big nose and fat legs.
I was brought up much like this girlchild - I had a little pretend kitchen set, and I had all the little makeup kits that girls beg their mothers for, so I guess I had a pretty typical little-girl hood? I never had one of those dolls that peed, but that probably would have freaked me out so I don't feel as though I really missed out on much. Of course, I couldn't avoid puberty (as hard as I tried) and little girls are just downright bitches, right from a young age. That is so irritating to me, because there is really no reason that a little girl should ever tell another little girl who is going through the exact same issues that she is fat or has a big nose. Yet, little girls do and it is disgusting. Not to brag, but I never really came across any little bitches telling me I was fat or had a big nose, because I was always very tiny and I boxed for most of my childhood so the other little girls tended to avoid me.. But that lead to a whole different type of torture! I was, as I said, avoided by most other little girls in my grade school and spent most of my time with icky boys and I was totally ok with that. However, I did notice the cruelty happening around me, all the little girls waging their wars against each other for no reason other than to distract everyone from their own flaws.
Moving along...
2]
She was healthy, tested intelligent,
possessed strong arms and back,
abundant sexual drive and manual dexterity.
She went to and fro apologizing.
Everyone saw a fat nose on thick legs.
I agree with what was said in class about this stanza, that the little girl is kind of being sized up much like a horse would be. She is healthy, intelligent, and has all the proper qualities of a fine human being - however, no matter all the great qualities she has the girl was still forced by her peers to apologize for her nose and legs. This is truly heart breaking, especially for someone like me who has never been a beauty queen but is still a generally ok person. Why should this smart, normal girl have to apologize for anything? She should be allowed to be proud of who she is and to be accepted for all of the great qualities she possesses despite the size or her nose or legs! Society is so focused on looks that we tend to lose touch with what is really important, who a person is.
3]
She was advised to play coy,
exhorted to come on hearty,
exercise, diet, smile and wheedle.
Her good nature wore out
like a fan belt.
So she cut off her nose and her legs
and offered them up.
This stanza is particularly distturbing to me, because she feeds into everyone's ridicule. She diets her good nature away, and looses touch with who she is, and eventually gives up completely and conforms to what everyone wants her to be. I would never, ever allow myself to be "barbied" by anyone else, no matter what they say about any of my physical flaws. At the end of the day, what really matters is what is inside, and I can guarantee that those people who are forcing this girl to cut off her nose and legs aren't half the person she is.
4]
In the casket displayed on satin she lay
with the undertaker's cosmetics painted on,
a turned-up putty nose,
dressed in a pink and white nightie.
Doesn't she look pretty? everyone said.
Consummation at last.
To every woman a happy ending.
I hate this stanza with everything in me, especially the line "Consummation at last". To me, this means that she has finally achieved what everyone else wanted for her, she was finally called pretty and was that all she wanted? How empty was her life if all she hoped for was to be told that her looks were pleasing, is that all that matters? Also, the last line makes me vomit a little in my mouth - "To every woman a happy ending". Excuse my language here, but bullshit! Is that all we as women are to look forward to? I couldn't care less what I look like in my casket, as long as my life was exactly what I had hoped for. No amount of makeup or compliments could make up for giving up who I am for everyone else.
So.. that is how I feel about that.. I enjoyed this poem, but do not accept this philosophy of the Barbie doll culture. Let's look at a Barbie doll:
Isn't she lovely? So pretty and petite, long legs and gorgeous platinum blonde hair! Every girl's dream look! Again, I call bullshit, because let us now think about what Barbie would be like as an actual human being. Barbie in real life, according to Jessica Czeck for Visual News, would be about 5'9", weigh about 110 lbs and her body mass index would be so low that she wouldn't be able to menstruate. Chances are if Barbie wanted to maintain this look, she would be riddled with health issues and definitely suffer from one or more eating disorders. Sounds like fun, no? Barbie would miss out on a lot of life to look the way she does, she probably couldn't have kids, in fact her boyfriend would probably break several bones if he even went for a hug! She would also definitely have a hard time participating in physical activity, and would be so sick all the time that she most likely could not achieve all the amazing things Barbie does, like becoming a doctor, going to space, being a tennis star,and don't forget her impressive NASCAR career (which in reality if she so much as slammed on her breaks too hard she would go flying and die on impact). So why is this society's ideal for women? Why should we be compared to this disgrace to womanhood?
Down with Barbie!
xoxo Cat
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