It is true that women have always been suffering from the burden of being perfect. In fact, the standards for women have always been very high. They are supposed to be beautiful and intelligent. Their manners and behavior should always be perfect. Women should always be ideal wives and ideal mothers. Unfortunately, but some people rarely think about women’s inner state, their emotions and feelings. Such issue is expressed in the poems “Barbie Doll” and “Daystar” written by Marge Piercy and Rita Dove correspondently.
In her poem “Barbie Doll” Marge Piercy describes the way the society treats women. They treat them as dolls that should always be ideal and perfect. However, when they don’t suit this criterion, women are highly criticized. In order to prove it, the poet claims: “Then in the magic of puberty, a classmate said: / You have a great big nose and fat legs” (lines 5-6). Moreover, women are not allowed to accept themselves as they are. They are constantly reminded about the problems they have. People always tell them what to do and how to behave. As Piercy states, “she was advised to pay coy, / exhorted to come on hearty, / exercise, diet, smile and wheedle” (lines 12-14). This example proves that women always feel under pressure. They often suffer from the accepted norms and are forced to lose their individuality. Ironically, but as Piercy claimed, women receive consummation only when they die. Only at this point people would say: “Doesn’t she look pretty?” (line 24). Through her poem Piercy perfectly explained how hard it is for women to receive recognition. They suffer from numerous stresses and have to do a lot in order to be treated well in the public. Piercy clearly shows that the society rarely pays attention to women’s characters and their inner worlds. On the contrary, they care only about women’s appearance and other superficial values. It seems that most people prefer dolls and are not interested in people’s characters. They simply need beautiful cover and nothing else. It is clear that the poet’s main message is to explain the audience that people should stop being superficial and should care about more serious things.
The theme of pressures that women often face is also revealed in Rita Dove’s poem “Daystar”. However, rather than concentrating on the way the society treats women’s appearance, Dove focuses more on the theme of motherhood. As usual, women are not allowed to make mistakes. They should be perfect mothers and should do the things the society wants them to. Mothers never have time for themselves. Thus, Dove while depicting a typical mother’s day claims: “she wanted a little room for thinking: / but she saw diapers steaming / on the line” (lines 1-3). Through this example the poet explains that wives and mothers never have time for themselves. They are focused mainly on the lives of their husbands and kids and seldom have time to take care of themselves. In her poem Dove depicts a day of a woman who takes care of her family. She constantly feels oneself under pressure as she always has to do something or to solve the appearing problems. Of course, it is quite important to be a good wife and a caring mother. However, women need to dedicate at least some time to themselves as well. As Doly writes, in the middle of the day each mother needs the following: “she would open her eyes / and think of the place that was hers / for an hour – where she was nothing, / pure nothing, in the middle of the day” (lines 23-26). Through these lines Doly explains that the society shouldn’t put pressure on women and shouldn’t criticize them. Each woman deserves some time that she could spend on herself.
Works cited
Marge, Piercy. “Barbie Doll”
Rita, Dove. “Daystar”
