Women have been striving for change ever since the Women’s Suffrage period. They have been progressing for decades towards equality, including during the Women’s Liberation movement in the 1970s where they fought for equality. The poem, “Barbie Doll” written by Marge Piercy during the 1970s represents how women were treated during that time. Women have been continuously held to a higher expectation than men. This issue only got worse in 1983 when the internet was created. The media is often considered another form of government because of the impact it has on society. Social media as well has a large impact on society. It is a great and easy way to connect with people all around the world. However, it has a larger negative impact than positive impact to women especially. Social media has caused a retrogression in the movement for women’s equality.

The Women’s Liberation Movement became popular in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It was a time where women came together to have their voice heard by society. The goal of the women’s liberation movement is to “establish an adrongynous community in which roles will not be assigned according to gender. (Romer and Secor, 129)” The article, The Time has Come for Women’s Liberation, written by Karen T. Romer and Cynthia Secor explains the issues regarding equality for women in the 1970s. As stated in the beginning of the article, “The women’s liberation movement examines the ways in which women’s options and patterns of behavior are limited by the sex-role stereotypes imposed on them through socialization. (Romer and Secor, 129)” This quote shows how much of an affect gender roles has on women and society. 

The poem, “Barbie Doll” by Marge Piercy, published in 1971, is about a little girl who was affected by gender norms as she grew older. The young girl in this poem is happy with herself and does not have any expectations of what she should look like until society tells her differently. The minds of young children are so innocent but are quickly tarnished by society. Gender roles are very prominent in this poem. Women are expected to be focused on their look and the superficial parts of themselves (Miller). Whereas men are expected to focus on their success (Miller). At the end of this poem, the girl is laying in a casket and the author mentions her looks. She uses the words “turned-up putty nose” and “cosmetics painted on” to emphasize gender and the superficiality of women.

The article, How the World Changed Social Media by Daniel Miller, argues that gender relations, gender norms, and gender identities are influenced by social media and technology. Social media such as large public online spaces like Facebook is said to have an active role in reinforcing gender roles. It has caused women to be held to a higher expectation and causes them to be more fixated on things that should be considered trivial. This is because of the constant pressure placed on them by society to fit a certain standard to the people watching what’s happening on their social media. Men are said to show their success on social media and women are said to show their superficial aspects. It references Donna Haraway and her views on the power of technology. This article also talks about before the internet was created and the gender norms at that time, and the differences of gender norms after the internet was created. After the internet was created, and later on when social media became popular, gender norms became extremely different. 

Social media became popular around the 1990s and early 2000s. Where the influence of social media started to have an effect on people’s lives around the world. Popular social media accounts began to have millions of followers on a simple app; giving one person so much power and voice. People began to go to extremes just because of the popular trends on social media. Women became fixated on their looks and how they appeared to others on social media. 

From the women’s suffrage period, to the women’s liberation movement, women have been striving for change. Social media’s negative affect on society has had an especially large effect on women. The article, The Time has Come for Women’s Liberation, written by Karen T. Romer and Cynthia Secor and the poem, “Barbie Doll” by Marge Piercy, show how women have been treated during the 1970s and the struggles they went through to fight for equality. The article, How the World Changed Social Media, by Daniel Miller looks into how social media relates to gender norms, gender relations, and gender identities. The progress has been made for women throughout history has been retrogressing ever since social media became popular.

 