Preview

Emily Prager Our Barbie's Ourselves Summary

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
277 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Emily Prager Our Barbie's Ourselves Summary
Summary of Our Barbie's, Ourselves

In "Our Barbie's, Ourselves" Emily Prager discover that Barbie was created by a man; inventor and designer Jack Ryan (para1). Emily Prager acknowledges that Barbie appeared about the same time during the feminist movement when women fought equality and small breast were king. Prager examines three different reasons why Barbie's anatomy is the way it is. First, she argues that there are millions of women who are subliminally sure that a thirty-nine inch bust and a twenty inch waist are the epitome of lovability, which attributes to the popularity

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    In an article in Interview Magazine, Emily Prager discuses her opinions of Mattel's toy doll Barbie being designed by Jack Ryan, husband to Zsa Zsa Gabor, and designer of military missiles. The concept that a doll for young girls was designed by such a person greatly shocked Prager." Suddenly a lot of things made sense to me" says Prager. The element that Ryan designed Barbie may explain some of the key aspects of the doll itself. Although Barbie was created as a toy for girls, the sexual nature of the doll suggests it was created for the pleasure of men and envy of women. Prager compares the figure of Barbie to the kind of women who would be seen in the Playboy mansion or be a frequent guest on explicit television shows. This is the image of a mans perception of a women and the fantasy there in. The proportions of the doll greatly suggest that Ryan had created either a doll modeled after his wife or merely the fabrication of his fantasy of the ideal women. Millions of women have gone along with this fantasy and have been entranced by the unrealistic standards of appearance and false qualities of life. Sadly, more and more women have accepted these standards as their own and have even resorted to changing who they are to become what they believe to be real. This may be a major contributing factor to the rise of women seeking breast implants and or plastic surgery. Yet there could be a further explanation and meaning behind Barbie. During the time of development and release of Barbie, the feminist movement was in full swing. The concept that Barbie may have been manufactured as a weapon against these feminist groups is plausible as the image of Barbie…

    • 479 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    "Our Barbies, Ourselves", written by Emily Prager, is based on stereotypes set by society and their appearance. Prager starts off by introducing an article she had read in the New York Times awhile ago. According to the article it concerned with the death of one Jack Ryan and his accomplishments. Prager found it an astonishing that one of Jack Ryan's accomplishments dealt with helping design Barbie.…

    • 206 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the poem Barbie Doll, it talks a lot about a woman’s appearance and what she looks like is what is most important in her life. Although it is a children’s toy, a Barbie doll exemplifies a woman with a perfect body exonerating beauty. This poem talks about a life since birth to the end of life at a funeral. The main character in the poem never had a chance to live life to the fullest because she was always trying to be accepted by others. The author talks many times about the main characters nose and legs, and it gets to the point where the girl starts to cut them. This poem was written in 1969 a year in which many women liberation groups were forming and the breaking of womanly roles was taking place. The author used different tones throughout the poem to help readers understand it and show what Marge Piercy was trying to show us.…

    • 679 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    4. In her last paragraph Prager compares and contrasts the ways the toy company depicted the sexuality of Barbie and Ken. What are the differences? What ideas of cause and effect emerge from the comparison?…

    • 359 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Barbie: The Ideal Woman

    • 274 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Society today, has changed people in the way how they act, and dress. The short story Barbie Q explains that a Barbie is the ideal woman. The Barbie is an example of what women believe to be perfect. The quote “So what if we didn’t Get our new bendable legs Barbie in nice clean boxes and had to buy them on Maxwell street all water soaked and sooty”(Cisneros). This quote means that anyone would buy a Barbie for a cheaper price because they didn’t have the money at the time and who would care if the dolls were wet or smoked. For example the barbie with the melted leg putting a dress on the doll would cover the leg. this event talks about women these days where men rate the women from very beautiful to ugly as they show in the story where the…

    • 274 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    “Beauty. At the mention of this word, most girls are inclined to take a quick look into a compact mirror or run a few fingers through their hair, sizing themselves up with the nearest advertisement featuring a flawless bottle blonde” (Katie Atkinson). Women are willing to spend hours in the bathroom to be prepared for the day to look like a model when only traveling to the corner store is a real fascination. Most would not even walk out of the house without makeup on in fear they will be judged by their appearance. The short story, Barbie Q written by Sandra Cisneros, also shows the concept of girls trying to be “perfect.” It shows two girls trying to dress up their dolls to look high class. They spend so much money on clothing, shoes, and accessories, even though they come from a low income family, just to make their dolls look their best. The girls show the true meaning of someone being materialistic. When society focuses on the image of the next Barbie, women aren’t realizing how that’s changing themselves physically and emotionally just to live up to that expectation.…

    • 813 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Barbie dolls were born in the Wisconsin state of American 50 years ago. They are no longer simple dolls, but a symbol of American women, American culture and an ideal embodiment of global female. The following essay will firstly discuss Barbie dolls’ historical and cultural background of the era when they appeared. This part includes three aspects, which are the consumer society of America at that time, the prevailing of hedonism in the consumer society and the enhancement of self-awareness among Americans. Then the essay will illustrate the marketing strategy of Barbie dolls which is emphasized on the fashion. The illustration comprises the explanation of the relationship between consumption and fashion, the description of the figure of Barbie and the fashion culture in Barbie’s world. Finally, on the basis of the discussing above, three arguments about Barbie dolls will be presented. Three main arguments, which are Barbie dolls had made an important contribution to the awakening of female consciousness to a certain extent, too perfect and unrealistic figure of Barbie has no benefit for the growth of children and teenagers, and Barbie is essentially the perfect female body in the dreams of men under the patriarchal society.…

    • 1959 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The History of Barbie

    • 323 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Preview: First, I will discuss the history of Barbie, and how she came to be. Second, I will discuss the types of Barbie Dolls, and how they’ve changed over the years. Third, I will mention some of the controversies she has created due to her popularity. Finally, I will discuss how you can make a profit by buying and/or selling Barbie on ebay or other websites, or by attending Barbie Doll Conventions.…

    • 323 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    After reading "Barbie Doll," I cannot help but agree with the argument in which the author is trying to make. To be a woman in today's day and age means always being told how you should dress and act based on society's standards. There is so much controversy concerning how women should appear, and this is due in part to the media's depiction of how a woman should look. The ideal woman used to have curves, but now women are expected to have a super tiny waist but still have larger breast and a large but; these are standards with which woman have had a nearly impossible time to meet. Between new diet and workout plans, it is easy for a woman to get mixed up with an unhealthy lifestyle of starving herself and exercising too much which leads to…

    • 204 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Icons like Barbie recognized for their popularity and effects on society. Barbie is a subject of obsession all over the world. Collectors, consumers and even some designers become enthralled in the Barbie world. Designers create special designs to fit a specific trend of the high fashion runways. Collectors all over the world collect and spend amazing amounts of money to have the original Barbie in their collection. The consumers have made Barbie a true icon in American culture.…

    • 601 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The author of the article states that she does not believe it is the Babrie doll's fault for young girls developing body image issues. The author of this article is a "Barbie Moderate," meaning that she does not blame just the Barbie doll alone. She feels that Barbie is not the only problem creating these issues and there are many other aspects of our society to blame.…

    • 297 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Our Babies, Ourselves

    • 465 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In Emily Prager's Our Babies, Ourselves, published 1991 in Interview Magazine, she claims that we are all trapped in Barbie's world. "Barbie is not an appropriate role model for girls, because she is a man's ideal."She tells us that she recently saw the obituary for Jack Ryan in the newspaper. The obituary said that Ryan helped create Barbie. Prager then says that Barbie being designed by man suddenly makes a lot of since. Barbie looks like she was a Playboy bunny. She said that Barbie not being created by woman makes her feel sane, but that it doesn't change the fact that woman think a big bust and small waist are the epitome of beauty. She then questions if Ryan created Barbie as a weapon to go against the feminist movement. Prager also says that although Barbie degrades women physically speaking she does not personality wise. Barbie is her own person. She states that before Barbie dolls were modeled after babies and children, they had no breast. She then goes on to talk about Ken. Ken a male doll with no genitals is defiantly wrong. Barbie is here being portrayed as having huge breast, a small waist, and adequate butt, and then there is Ken a doll who has been stripped of his masculinity.…

    • 465 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The appearance of Barbie has always been viewed as perfect. With a tiny waist, big boobs, and long legs, you could say she is the fantasy figure that a male would like a woman to look like, that is if they were dolls. When Barbie is scaled to human size, her waist is the width of her head, her boobs are so massive that she wouldn’t be able to stand up, and her legs are double the size of her torso. Obviously, no woman can ever look like this, unless they have some major plastic surgery. Even if that was possible, I don’t think any woman would want to look like that, I sure don’t.…

    • 826 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Barbie Doll Sociology

    • 647 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The body is vital to identity. It is through the body that people first identify themselves and identify with each other, and Barbie, in most cases, facilitates the ideals of the body. Barbie is one of the most iconic toys portrayed as the conventional and quintessential female body image. I asked a friend to describe his portrayal of the body and the facets of Barbie and his characteristic of the doll included long, blonde hair, blue eyes, white skin, curvaceous, white-pearly smile, long legs, and a “unhuman-like hole in between the legs” or the thigh gap that so many girls strive for. Girls are the targeted groups that from a very young age acclimate to the idea that not having similar attributes to Barbie implicates imperfect. This gives…

    • 647 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A toy can convey both positive and negative messages. This is relevant in Barbie and her character. Barbie intends to serve as a role model for young girls around the world. Conversely, her excessively strong obsession with beauty and wealth has reverse effects on youth. Briefly, Barbie can be viewed in different ways, as she represents positive ideas, yet certain aspects of her appearance and character suggest otherwise.…

    • 633 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays