American Literature View of Oppressed Women

We know, of course, that for generations women have been called "the weaker sex". We also know that in some Third World countries women have few, if any rights, and must be totally subservient to their husbands or fathers. Women's oppression is not only a subject of (mostly) feminist authors, but has also been politicized for more than a century> Marx, for example, was a very vocal opponent. "While middle class feminists regard the oppression of women as an inherent biological trait of men, Marxism explains that the root of women's oppression lies not in biology, but in social conditions" (Lowell 1).Of course, social conditions play a major role in the three works under discussion.

First of all, in Marge Piercy's Barbie Doll, the social conditions are those of women who are less than the ideal. We, in society today, worship the looks of Barbie dolls- nearly perfect. Beverly Hills plastic surgeons make a fortune trying to right Nature's wrongs. There are now popular TV reality shows, such as "Extreme Makeover" which takes ugly ducklings and, within an hour, turn them into lovely swans. But, this "girlchild" in the poem suffered from a classmate's taunts. "You have a big nose and fat legs" (Piercy line 6). Some women are oppressed by the expressed thoughts of others, by the way they look to others, rather than how they actually feel, or how bright they are. "Oppressed" physically, means that women feel like they don't measure up if they don't look like a model or someone on the swimsuit cover of Sports Illustrated, or have the figure to be a Dallas Cheerleader. After a while, this feeling- this oppression and depression of not measuring up physically to her peers is what destroyed "Barbie". "Her good nature wore out like a fan belt" (Piercy l. 15-16). How often have we heard the cliché "She cut off her nose to spite h34r face"? Well, here it really happened. The tragedy of life is that a mortician's cosmetics make everyone look "pretty". And, as Piercy puts it "Consummation at last. To every woman a happy ending" (Piercy l.24=5).