Veiled Vs Barbie Doll

Veiled vs Barbie Doll

Although women have come a long way in gaining equal rights, there is still a lot of ground to cover to treat women as equally as men. They have gained voting rights, an equally opportunity at employment, but there are still places out there that don't give women these privileges. Even in places where women have these rights, they are still being judged, forced to fit an image. There has been so much judgment on how woman should look that the true meaning beauty has been lost.

In the poem Barbie Doll, it tells the story of a girl growing up but never feeling pretty enough. She was teased in school made to feel like she wasn't good looking enough. This eventually leads her to get plastic surgery done to make herself feel more beautiful. The author describes this moment with an interesting comparison, "In the casket displayed on satin she lay / with the undertaker's cosmetics painted on." This line as well as the final one, "To every woman a happy ending.", puts a very somber feel on the poem in general. It hints at her not truly being alive after getting the surgery, that she's just hiding behind a lie. It's unfortunate that women these days feel that they need to live up to this fantasy-like standard.

The second poem Veiled, women are oppressed as well, but it is a lot more blunt to the point where the women don't have a choice to act on it. The women here are forced to wear burqas "that shroud/Even the eyes, Heavy, dark, like storm clouds." It seems that women here are treated more like objects than actual people. The last line of the poem "Heavy, dark like storm clouds?", repeats those words, describing how hard it is to live under these conditions. As much as these women would like to be expressive and free, it is illegal for anything like that in their local.

While both women are oppressed, the ways that they are, are very different. The women in Barbie Doll have a choice to fall under the pressure of society's criticism and change who they really are. The women in Veiled have no choice at all, and will be punished if they try and express themselves in anyway. It's sad that women don't take for granted how free they are to express themselves and the abuse the privilege by changing themselves to please society. The women in veiled would be happy to just be seen as a real person instead of an object.

These two poems share a common theme, but the types of oppression they speak of are different. Where in Barbie doll, it is not as easy to spot, and is a self-choice, and in Veiled, it is forced upon the women to where they don't have the choice otherwise. One day I can see that all women will have these rights, but the choices to change oneself to fit in will remain as long as people stay judgmental.