
Stereotypes are a social construct developed by humans in order to naturally place others beneath us, and essentially create a social food chain. As in several famous movies and books, it is common to see the basic stereotypes of jocks, nerds, band geeks, mean girls, and others of the sort. These are prevalent in almost any school, and are usually very identifiable, as they fit a certain social standard in their looks and actions. These stereotypes are so common, they are often mocked in literature, but an even more commonly used stereotype tends to be overlooked every day. In today’s day and age, feminism is one of the hottest topics seen all across social media and literature. The stereotype of “the perfect woman” has been so heavily engrained into our minds since birth, that it has become so difficult for our world to look past this. All over social media, in ads, movies, and TV shows, the female has been viewed as a dainty, gentle, perfectly shaped being only useful to serve the needs of men. God forbid she have any ideas or talents of her own, let alone an extra pound of fat on her body. Several writers and poets have pointed out the flaws of this typecast, and done so in a satirical manner. Poet Marge Piercy, with her piece, “Barbie Doll”, and comedic writer Wendy Molyneux’s, “I Am Sorry That I Didn’t Write a Comedy Piece” play on the satirical criticism of our world’s view of female abilities through the highlighting of stereotypical female objects, habits, and physical and emotional expectations through a sarcastic rhetoric.

Female stereotypes are present in everyday life, beginning when we are born, through the rest of our lives. Many objects and habits of women are instilled upon us as children, and very hard to avoid. Marge Piercy highlights this in her piece “Barbie Doll”, by beginning with, “This girl child was born as usual and presented dolls that did pee-pee and miniature GE stoves and irons and wee lipsticks the color of cherry candy” (Piercy 348). Almost every girl is given these toys as a child, and they are hardly ever given to boys to play with. Instead, boys receive action figures with big muscles and heroic duties, but women are stuck to the dainty little dress up dolls. Girls are born and raised to believe that their only duty in life is to serve men by cooking and cleaning, looking pretty, and birthing and raising their children. Research has been done on this matter, in introducing kids to sexually type casted toys, and several pieces have been written about this issue. Linda Oliver of The Elementary School Journal writes, “The narrow stereotypes impose a severe limitation and an unnecessary constraint on the goals and the aspirations of girls as well as boys at a most critical and impressionable period of their lives” (Oliver 254). By imposing these gender related regulations on children’s lives, it prevents children from becoming who they truly want to be. There are so many other stereotypes forced upon women, whether they be typical objects and toys, or a particular habit that they follow. In Wendy Molyneux’s piece, she explains, “I had cooked, baked, cried, sewn a blanket…then stayed up all night trying on all my clothes and shoes again, I finally felt ready to write my comedy piece” (Molyneux 522). The author is joking about all these tasks that she completed, in order to sound like she is fitting the female standard, when in reality, she is doing something that is virtually shunned for women – and that is working. She is becoming a successful comedian in writing a comedic response to an article claiming women are not funny. She adds to this concept with, “I assume that I have no sense of humor because all of the funny things that are made especially for women like me, such as Sex and the City, 27 Dresses, and yogurt commercials don’t even make me laugh” (Molyneux 552). This list that Molyneux describes just adds to the long list of other things that our world deems unsuitable for men. The authors both do a great job in mocking the reality of female stereotypes, and in doing this, are pushing towards a change of feminist views.

The physical and emotional expectations of women fit a very small bill. In society’s twisted eyes, women are supposed to have slim bodies, with the perfect curvature that appeals to a male’s testosterone. In “Barbie Doll”, the girl is described as anything but the looks of a Barbie doll. Piercy tells the reader, “…a classmate said: You have a great big nose and fat legs” (Piercy 348). Criticism over the female body is ridiculous. Would these words be said to a man with the same nose or legs? Perhaps this girl was an athlete who worked hard each day to become great at her sport, and happened to gain a bit of muscle in her thighs. Of course, these traits are unacceptable for a graceful little woman to exhibit, so the author continues this idea by stating, “She was advised to play coy, exhorted to come on hearty, exercise, diet, smile and wheedle” (Piercy 349). Along with the physical expectations put upon women, emotionally, women are expected to be fragile and reserved, but are often mocked for crying too much and being emotionally unstable. The gender stereotypes of women are being reinforced in this writing, and according to the Journal of Business Ethics, “Gender stereotypes are general beliefs about sex linked traits and roles, psychological characteristics, and behaviors describing women and men” (Plakoyiannaki 102). The psychological and emotional weaknesses that society claims are in all women are commonly made fun of, so Wendy Molyneux connects this idea into her writing as well, sarcastically telling the reader, “I happened to see a lady walking down the street with a baby of her very own. So then I started crying again because I don’t have a baby. I cried big rolling tears that fell down onto my ‘Mrs. Stamos’ T-shirt” (Molyneux 521). Not only is the author mocking the idea that women cry at everything, but also playing with the fact that women are expected to have children. She explains that she balled her eyes out over seeing a baby and not having one herself, but really she is joking, and may not actually want children at this point in her life. But, since she is a woman, she must fit the conformity, so she says that every woman must have a child, and every woman must cry. She exaggerates this again by saying, “I tried on all my clothes, and I felt better until I tried on one pair of pants that didn’t fit me anymore. And then I totally started to cry again, because I am so fat” (Molyneux 522). This again mocks both the physical and emotional expecations of women. If a woman ever gains an extra pound and feels she cannot fit into her jeans, she is automatically deemed fat. And of course, since this would upset her, she must cry, because based on female stereotypes, all a woman is capable of being is weak.

The authors of the two feminist pieces use a great deal of sarcasm in their writing in order to portray their emotions and feminist views. In “I Am Sorry That I Didn’t Write a Comedy piece”, Wendy Molyneux very jokingly describes what she is doing in a way that mocks the social expectations of women. At one point she writes, “Every night, I like to make an elaborate dinner… My fondest hope is that the wafting smells of a home-cooked meal will lure men who are passing by to come inside and eat dinner… After, I hope they’ll eat something else. If you know what I mean. Get it? ... I mean dessert” (Molyneaux 522). Not all women like to cook, though society expects women to be good at doing so. Obviously, women don’t cook just for the sake of men, so the author plays off of this by claiming she uses food to lure them in. She then uses an innuendo to exaggerate the fact that women are objectified for the needs of men, in this case not only for food, but for sex. After making the reader think that she is referring to sex, she then claims that she meant dessert. This could also be taken as a satire on the fact that women are supposed to be obedient and submissive and even sweet, like a dessert. After making several sarcastic feminists comments toward the matter, Molyneaux ends her piece by saying, “Well, would you look at that? I’ve totally run out of time, and now instead of writing a comedy piece, I have to go report to my regular day job knitting tampon cozies and being best friends with everybody. Oh well, I probably would have been terrible at [writing] it anyway” (Molyneaux 523). The irony here, is that as she mocked the expectations of women for the length of an entire story, she had actually written a very funny, sarcastic response to the claim that women are not funny. She adds the last ridiculous task of knitting tampon cozies, which helps the reader discover the sarcasm in her tone of voice. Because this is something that women simply do not actually do, her sarcasm and irony allow Molyneaux to have successfully written a comedic piece, all while poking fun at herself and the construct of women. The sarcasm in “Barbie Doll” is a lot darker than that of the comedic piece, but still describes the author’s disdain toward the subject. The character in this poem actually became so fed up with conforming to society’s portrayal of women, that she cut off her body parts that were not good enough for those who made fun of her. Piercy writes, “So she cut off her nose and her legs and offered them up. In the casket displayed on satin she lay” (Piercy 349). Since she could not fit in with society’s demands, she decided to take her own life. This is an issue that several people face when stereotypes become so demanding, that they no longer have the will to live, and can only feel at piece when the bullying is over. Since women spend their whole lives being evaluated on every move they make or which way their body curves, some may not receive any positive recognition until they are lying in a casket for people to pay respects. Piercy continues this idea by adding, “Doesn’t she look pretty? everyone said. Consummation at last. To every woman a happy ending” (Piercy 349). This poem’s sarcasm is joking about the fact that a woman will never be perfect until she is dead. Not necessarily dead in a physical sense, but if trying to conform to social demands, she will lose who she really is. Practically anything a woman does is critiqued, so she could spend her whole life trying to be perfect, but may never achieve this until she no longer exists. The author’s sarcasm is pointing out that no woman ever wants to die over something as minor as her looks. This idea also symbolizes that the further our society pushes this cookie cutter format for women, the further we are preventing any change towards feminism. We are essentially killing the ability for women to be who they want to be.

Marge Piercy’s “Barbie Doll”, and Wendy Molyneux’s, “I Am Sorry That I Didn’t Write a Comedy Piece” both toy with the criticism of society’s view on female abilities. Both pieces of writing satirically discuss the stereotypes, expectations, and habits of women through a great deal of sarcasm. By writing about these gender conformity issues in a lighthearted way, the reader can be entertained while becoming more aware to these problems that are waiting for a change. As the world becomes more aware of its placement of women in society, the world can work towards a change in the belittlement of women in today’s world. Women are just as capable as men at succeeding in the work field, displaying physical strength, and demonstrating emotional stability. I have always been a big proponent of proving this stereotype wrong and doing what I want to do regardless of what society believes. In middle school, I played in a boys football league, and was able to compete with plenty of my opponents, regardless of my size. I believe that stereotypes should not matter, and that people should not be forced into the shape that society places them in. Children should not be forced to play with toys or play sports that they do not wish to, and instead, they should be available to all options of these important aspects of childhood. The female stereotype is one of the most restrictive masks that the world places upon us at birth. With writers like Piercy and Molyneux, a greater awareness of the ridiculousness of this conformity will come to a greater light, and perhaps a greater change will be made in the advancement of women.
