When analyzing the texts "Barbie Doll" by Marge Piercy and "I Am Sorry That I Didn't Write a Comedy Piece" by Wendy Molyneux, readers were introduced to the theme of stereotypes society provides for women. The first text "Barbie Doll", is about a girl who grew up with a big nose and thighs and never found a life for herself because she could not find a husband and in the end, dies. The girl in "I Am Sorry That I Didn't Write a Comedy Piece" is actually the author writing about herself satirically because a man on the internet claimed women are not funny and should try to write more comedy pieces. She felt like she was up for the challenge but was distracted along the writing process from doing "girly things" such as crying, eating chocolate, and watching chick flicks. The most obvious difference in the two texts is that the mood of the first piece is dark and depressing whereas the second piece is comical. While "Barbie Doll" was written in 1974 and "I Am Sorry That I Didn't Write a Comedy Piece" was written in 2007, the difference in time allows readers to see how women's reactions to these stereotypes has evolved over time as seen in the mood of the texts. With the main stereotypes of women incorporated in the texts revolving around playing house, feminine upkeep, and living for men, "Barbie Doll" uses the stereotypes to show how women follow these stereotypes in a "conform or die" manner and "I Am Sorry That I Didn't Write a Comedy Piece" is written satirically to use the stereotypes as a basis for the biting jokes seen in the writing. The comparison of these two pieces allows for a revelation that stereotypes will be taken less and less seriously as time progresses, and will empower more and more women to stop conforming and live their lives in a way that is meaningful to themselves.  

The first stereotype of women depicted in the two texts is women playing house in order to practice for when the become housewives Throughout time, young women have always been directed to play in toy kitchens and to play with toy cleaning supplies as the proper thing to do, in order to prepare themselves for their "duties" when they become a housewife. In "Barbie Doll", Piercy writes "this girl child was born as usual and presented with dolls that did pee-pee and miniature GE stoves and irons" (Piercy). This statement, by saying "as usual", exemplifies how playing house was natural and what was expected of young women and, therefor, it was what young girls did regardless of their individual play preferences. In contrast, in "I Am Sorry That I Didn't Write a Comedy Piece" the author is unmarried so her version of playing house is cooking and knitting. Wendy Molyneux writes "I sat down in my bay window (filled with pillows that I knitted myself)" (Molyneux) and also the passage:

"But then I remembered I hadn't made anything for dinner. Every night, I like to make

an elaborate dinner. Then, I set it on the table and open up all the windows. My fondest

hope is that wafting smells of a home cooked meal will lure men who are passing by to

come inside and eat dinner" (Molyneux).

These passages are written so bitingly and sarcastically that is shows this woman is going through the motions of playing house, but only following the set routines to mock the stereotype of women. When comparing the play of the girl in "Barbie Doll" and the girl in "I'm Sorry I Didn't Write a Comedy Piece", it is obvious the girl in "Barbie Doll" is following routine in order to find her husband because that is the proper thing to do, whereas the girl in "I'm Sorry" is going through the motions to make a mockery of the provided stereotypes. The contrast proves that time is what allowed for the stereotypes of women to be taken less seriously because in 1973 a girl who contradicts the preset standard of women would be deemed unrespectable and unsuitable for marriage whereas in 2007, if a girl were to wait her life out for a husband, it would be worthy of a joke the Molyneux could later right about in order to write her "Comedy Piece"

Another aspect of female stereotypes expressed in both "Barbie Doll" and "I Am Sorry That I Didn't Write a Comedy Piece" is their required upkeep of appearance. While men are accepted "as is" in almost every care, women are expected to be skinny (but not too skinny), keep their hair and makeup polished at all times (but in a natural looking way), and to wear fancy clothes at all times (but not look like they are trying too hard). In "Barbie Doll", Piercy writes about a girl who "was advised to play coy, exhorted to come on hearty, exercise, diet, smile, and wheedle" (Piercy). The girl was also brought up to wear "lipsticks the color of cherry candy" (Piercy). Even after the girl's tragic death, "she lay with the undertaker's cosmetics painted on, a turned up putty nose, dressed in a pink and white nightie" (Piercy). These aspects of the poem evoke a sad, hopeless feel that women will always be expected to be a pretty face, even after they die. In order to fit into what society expected her to be, the girl had to give away the parts of her that made her unique. This is also exemplified in "I'm Sorry That I Didn't Write a Comedy Piece" when Molyneux writes "women love to wear lots of expensive clothes and shoes all the time  I will feel better if I try on all my clothes and shoes" (Molyneux). This statement is sarcastically showing that society believes women should only feel good about themselves when they are dressed up. By reading the two pieces side by side, readers can see that in 1974 women that did not fit the image society determined women were supposed to could not have a life whereas in 2007 women can try on their clothes to mock the stereotype in order to feel better. While some women do enjoy dressing up for their own self-fulfillment, others are most content with their appearance when they are not dressed up. This evolvement of the expected female appearance aids in proving the effect of female stereotypes is diminishing over time. The less and less important a women's appearance becomes, the more the stereotype will have evolved and society will stop killing off girls that live their lives depressed from being deemed unworthy of a life. 

The last stereotype described, and perhaps the most prevalent stereotype, is that women live out their lives waiting on men. In the time "Barbie Doll" was written, and years before that text was published, women were expected to keep their lives on hold until they were married. They could not move out of their parent's house until they had a husband and they especially could not start their own family without a husband. In "Barbie Doll", the girl could not find a husband due to her "big nose and fat legs" (Piercy) so she "cut off her nose and her legs" (Piercy). The poem ends in saying "consummation at last; to every woman a happy ending" (Piercy). When translating this quote, readers can guess the author meant for this to mean the women could not get a husband so her life did not have a purpose, which was why it ended. A women should not have ended her life because she did not have a husband; had this stereotype not been in place, this girl could have had a long, fulfilling life. In comparison, "I Am Sorry That I Didn't Write a Comedy Piece" mentions the girl is "sitting in [her] bay window while waiting by the phone for potential husbands to call" (Molyneux) and "happened to see a lady walking down the street with a baby of her very own" (Molyneux) so she "started crying because [she doesn't] have a baby" (Molyneux). The humor in Molyneux's writing is that she is supposed to be sad over not having a husband and a baby and therefor she should not have a life, but she is obviously intelligent and successful and does in fact have a life because she is writing this piece. The idea of a women waiting her days out until she can have a husband to make her life worth living sounds absurd after reading the two texts and in general. The major difference of the two texts for this stereotype is that one girl ends her life over not having a husband to live for and the other is earning success over mocking her lack of a life from not having a husband. A period of time between 1974 and 2007 allows for an explanation for the declining importance of a woman having a man to live for. 

In reading Marge Piercy's "Barbie Doll" and Wendy Molyneux's "I Am Sorry That I Didn't Write a Comedy Piece", readers become aware of stereotypes of women that are incorporated in both texts: women should play house, women should keep up with their appearance at all times, and women should live their lives waiting for men. These stereotypes are portrayed in two contrasting styles in the first showing the depressing "conform or die" assumption and the latter showing a satirical, raw joke of stereotypes. By contrasting how the two texts it allowed for readers to see how society's and women's (especially) reaction to these stereotypes has evolved. Writings like these of Piercy and Molyneux empower women to embrace these endless stereotypes women are passed down and to follow them in a way that suites their individual lifestyle. In conclusion, people fighting to overcome stereotypes should read the two mentioned texts. With only a 33 year difference, stereotypes worth ending a women's life over has turned into the que line for an article full of satire. So, the importance of comparing these two texts was not to discover stereotypes, as these are obvious to most members of society, but to see how passing years is allowing for change in the connotations associated with these stereotypes. Seeing a mockery of these stereotypes will continue to give women hope that they can still have a life without conformity and will allow society to be more accepting of all people. 

