
Gender stereotypes play a major role in our society today. Women of all ages have at some point experienced a negative impact from comments that can seem minor, such as “she’s strong for a girl”. In the short story “Barbie Doll” by Marge Piercy, the negative effects of stereotypes on the girl are very clear. In comparison, the column “I am Sorry I Didn’t Write a Comedy Piece” by Wendy Molyneux, she takes the negative stereotypes and turns them into a strong and hilarious piece that females all over the country can relate to. Both stories have many similarities, however, they also include many differences. Therefore, not all negative stereotypes cause women to crumble. 

In the column, “I’m Sorry I Didn’t Write a Comedy Piece”, the author takes a great deal of everyday women stereotypes and puts them in a brilliant piece. Molyneux writes the column to show male comedians that women can in fact be funny and are not just “pink loving, Grey’s Anatomy watching” people that cannot do anything useful. Instead of taking the other comedians negative thoughts and letting them keep her down, she uses them to make herself a stronger and more popular comedian. Molyneux's level of comedy and sarcasm does more than just advance her career, but also shows her intelligence and wittiness that have nothing to do with what she looks like. She instead talks about the skill and diversity of every women. Yes, there are some women that love pink and Greys Anatomy, however, there are other woman that love comedy, cars, and sports. Every woman is unique in her own way and needs to have the confidence in herself to face our society and its stereotypes. 

A gender stereotype can be found harmful when it limits people’s capacity to develop their personal abilities, this can be seen in the story “Barbie Doll”. Over the girl’s lifetime, who is born like others, she finds herself not fitting into the expectations and stereotypes of society. The girl never finds the opportunity to feel content with herself until she puts herself on her own deathbed. Bullying is a large part of many children and young adults lives, however, most of the time it is thought to be a problem with the child’s self-confidence. People that bully others generally look for someone that will react to their hurtful words or actions. Therefore, if the person has self-esteem and confidence the bully will be less likely to pick them as their victim. Self-confidence includes many other benefits as well, including, keeping healthy relationships, staying out of trouble, and staying focused on goals in life. This is what the girl in “Barbie Doll” lacks. From a young age, she had been given toys and items to make herself look prettier and be the “best” kind of women that she can be. Therefore, when the others kids make fun of her because she does not look like the “barbie doll” norm in society, the negative stereotypes take advantage of her life and cause her to fall down the forlorn path of suicide. The gender norms that so many of us are taught to follow can take advantage of our lives and if we do not learn to rise above we can crumble like the girl in “Barbie Doll”. 

Although the stories are very different, they also share many similarities. For example, women all over the world have many distinct personalities that range anywhere in between insecure and confident. Females conform to the things that are being said, which makes us all seem more similar than we actually are. This is what makes it easy for men to place stereotypes on women. Realistically, women should not have to prove themselves, however, we live in a society that we are made to either look and act like a “barbie doll” or be different and stand apart from everyone else. Therefore, both females in the pieces take a stand to be different and prove their points. Molyneux does what is needed to show men that a woman can be funny, while the girl in “Barbie Doll”, kills herself to hopefully make a point that words do hurt and can make a stronger impact than it can seem to be. Both texts supply a bold impact on readers of all genders that provide meaning that hits everyone differently. Whether you are female or male, many of us have experienced being stereotyped into something that we wish we were not, even if it is what we are. 

The idea of empowerment plays a major role in both pieces. Women deserve to feel mastery over their own lives. At the end of the poem, “Barbie Doll” the author writes, “To every woman a happy ending” (Piercy 349). The quote implies empowerment; everyone that surrounds the girl is happy because she is now “pretty”. However, the girl found that the only way she and society could be happy is if she died, this way society could make her seem to be a “Barbie doll”. Empowerment is also shown in the column “I am Sorry I Didn’t Write a Comedy Piece”, Molyneux writes, “Oh well, I probably would have been terrible at it anyway” (Molyneux 523). The authors use sarcasm to end both texts, this can imply the use of empowerment to show how ridiculous negative stereotypes can be. 

Although many do harm women physically and mentally; not all stereotypes cause negative impacts. In many situations, I believe the bully is unaware with what they are doing to a person. Words and phrases can have a much larger impact on a person than can be intended. However, women need to rise above and become more self-confident in themselves or they will crumble and possibly give up on life. Both texts are very eye-opening and have many similarities and differences which can be related to many women in our society today. Not all women fit the stereotypes that are given to us, however, many women do which is why it can be so difficult to remain confident. 

  

