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Marge Piercy reads from The Cost of Lunch etc

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Marge Piercy reads from The Cost of Lunch etc

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Marge Piercy reads from The Cost of Lunch etc

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Marge Piercy reads from The Cost of Lunch, Etc. Marge Piercy's debut collection of short stories, The Cost of Lunch, Etc., brings us glimpses into the lives of everyday women moving through and making sense of their daily internal and external worlds.

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New York Times ‘Writers On Writing’ series essay

December 20, 1999
WRITERS ON WRITING
Life of Prose and Poetry — An Inspiring Combination
By MARGE PIERCY
"Whenever I face an audience with at least minimal familiarity with my work, there are two questions always asked: “Why do you write both fiction and poetry?” “What’s the difference between writing poetry and fiction?” I have various glib answers I whip out of my failing brain. I mention that while it may be rarer for men to cross genre lines, some, like Richard Price, who produces fiction and film scripts, do. However, many women work in more than one genre, and then I rattle off a list: Margaret Atwood, Erica Jong, Adrienne Rich, Alice Walker, Rita Dove, Colleen McElroy, Nikki Giovanni, Joan Didion, Lillian Hellman, Linda Hogan; and that’s without trying hard."
http://margepiercy.com/about-marge/interviews/new-york-times-writers-on-writing-series-essay/

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MARGE PIERCY b. 1936

by Sara R. Horowitz
"From an early age, Piercy grappled with issues of identity. In race-torn Detroit, her Jewishness set her apart, eliciting antisemitic bullying. At home, her discomfited father “told me I wasn’t Jewish and ... mother ... would wait till he went to work and tell me of course I was.”
https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/piercy-marge

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Marge Piercy: Writer, Feminist, Activist: An Exhibit
by: Kathryn Beam
" Experiences in Detroit and Ann Arbor, and later in the urban centers of Chicago, Gary, Indiana, San Francisco, and New York have constituted a steady influence on both her poetry and prose."
https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/120262/marge_piercy_04.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

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expectations

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She talks about many different topics in each of her writings such as abortion, violence, and even divorce. When asked why she discusses those topics in her writings she states, "I'm alive. I follow many sources of news on the Internet and my phone daily. How could I not respond to what's happening in the society I live in and the planet I live on?"
http://www.triviavoices.com/marge-piercy-on-feminism-politics-and-writing.html#.WQealYWcGhc

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In February of 1970 an amendment talking about equality for woman in the work force.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5D8OlMF_ni0

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In the year 1971, the court case Reed v. Reed took place as the first U.S. Supreme court case to discuss sex discrimination of the 14th amendment. In the Idaho's law, there was a major problem with unequal treatment between men and women. The Idaho's code section explains that if someone passes away and they have property of some sort then it needs to be given to someone in the family. If there is more than one person entitled to the property then the men are more preferred to take over that property. After the case they started to determine on who is more qualified for the estate.
https://www.thoughtco.com/reed-v-reed-3529467

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Marge grew up as Jewish even though her parents weren't Jewish at all.

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The Story of the Jews...The Indiana Story: Jewish Traditions

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From the Sabbath to the Seder, the Jewish faith and culture is rooted in tradition. The religion has countless rituals, customs, holidays and festivals. In Indianapolis, local Jews know the importance of teaching children the traditions. "My favorite part now is watching my daughters sing the blessings and know what's going on," says a Jewish mother during Shabbat dinner.

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Valeria Lukyanova and Anastasiya Shpagina

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After attending public schools in Detroit, Piercy won a scholarship to the University of Michigan. The first person in her family to attend college, she was awarded her Bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan in 1957. While there, she won major and minor Hopwood Awards in poetry and fiction. Piercy remembers the academic side of college coming easily to her; more difficult was the social sphere since she did not conform to the ideals for women expected at that time and place. She continued her schooling with a fellowship at Northwestern University, receiving an M.A. in 1958.
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/s/sclead/umich-scl-piercy?view=text

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Nina Henry
https://padlet.com/nh214004/fflhyumgjubj
and Ally Holschen
https://padlet.com/allybailey1998/s3j0yywj2w71

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Overview of "Barbie Doll"
By: Alice Van Wart
"The view she expresses in the poem is a feminist one, consistent with the political views she expresses in her numerous poetry collections, novels, and essays, particularly those views that condemn society's attitudes towards women.

"Barbie Doll" tells the story of a girl who grows up to find out she does not look quite as she should. Because she wants the approval of others she attempts to compensate for her imperfections in other areas. She soon grows tired of her efforts and in desperation chops off the offending parts of her body taking her own life. In the hands of the undertaker, however, she finally achieves what she could not in life: perfection and hence approval.

The apt title given to the poem points to the central and controlling device of irony and the symbolic associations between the doll and the women in the poem. The Barbie Doll, more than being a favorite with adolescent girls, is a cultural icon of femininity that carries with it complex associations of ideal beauty and desirability. Piercy wishes to expose the destructiveness behind such ideals by showing the extent to which many women will go to achieve them."
go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GLS&sw=w&u=sain32367&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CH1420031026&it=r&asid=d859e8704df980a1f47e151336667958

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Overview of "Barbie Doll"
By: Chris Semansky
"Socialization is the process through which human beings learn how to be in the world. They internalize rules--some spoken, some unspoken--and these rules come to form a part of the image we develop about ourselves. "Barbie Doll" addresses the various stages of socialization: childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. The girlchild is presented with toys--presumably by her family--which help to set expectations for what her interests and behavior should be. Dolls, stoves, irons, and lipstick are all conventional things that little girls, especially in the West, are given to clue them in to societal expectations. This is not an intentional or necessarily coercive process but one which adults themselves have gone through and have come to believe is "natural." That is, they believe that little girls will enjoy pretending to be a homemaker or a Barbie doll because these are desires with which little girls are born."
go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GLS&sw=w&u=sain32367&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CH1420031025&it=r&asid=0f63411e21f3d6cfa742957379a1f126

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Masterplots II: Poetry, Revised Edition
By: Louise A. DeSantis Deutsch
"This is Piercy belief on what society expects of women and how the outcome is going to end up either killing the victim or scar them mentally into a brain wash they can’t come out of.

Contemporary poet Marge Piercy published a twenty-five line, open-form narrative poem titled “Barbie Doll.” Four stanzas provide the reader with a brief tale of a nameless “girlchild” whose life, markedly influenced by others’ opinions, comes to a sad and premature end.

“This girlchild was born as usual,” the poem begins. The little girl receives ostensibly appropriate gifts: dolls, miniature home appliances, some makeup. Later, “in the magic of puberty,” a schoolmate comments unflatteringly on her appearance, noting her “great big nose and fat legs.”

From the second stanza the reader learns about the young adolescent’s intelligence, physical prowess, and sexual drive. She appears to be healthy, strong, and capable, but she ignores these attributes, instead going “to and fro apologizing.” “Everyone” sees her as only “a fat nose on thick legs.”

As she matures, she receives counsel from others. The third stanza lists behaviors aimed at promoting her happiness and success. In time, her natural goodness breaks down like a worn-out automobile part. Finally, as an adult, she permanently rids herself of her perceived inadequacies by means of a sacrificial offering."
ezproxy.stchas.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=mjh&AN=103331POE11400351000027&site=ehost-live&scope=site.

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She traveled to France with her first husband, French Jew, was a physicist. They didn't last long as she dumped him because of his expectations of sex roles and wasn't supportive in her writings.
http://margepiercy.com/about-marge/biography/

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In the 1970s, women across the nation united to demand gender equality, and their fight achieved many victories throughout the decade.

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Marge Piercy was born on March 31, 1936 in Detriot and family was affected by the Depression. Parents were named Bert Bernice Burnin, mother, was born in Philly. She had one brother that was 14 years older than her from her mother's previous marriage. Her maternal grandfather was a union organizer murdered while organizing bakery workers. Marge was also raised as a Jew.
https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/piercy-marge

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This girlchild 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.
Then in the magic of puberty, a classmate said:
You have a great big nose and fat legs.

She was healthy, tested intelligent,
possessed strong arms and back,
abundant sexual drive and manual dexterity.
She went to and fro apologizing.
Everyone saw a fat nose on thick legs.

She was advised to play coy,
exhorted to come on hearty,
exercise, diet, smile and wheedle.
Her good nature wore out
like a fan belt.
So she cut off her nose and her legs
and offered them up.

In the casket displayed on satin she lay
with the undertaker's cosmetics painted on,
a turned-up putty nose,
dressed in a pink and white nightie.
Doesn't she look pretty? everyone said.
Consummation at last.
To every woman a happy ending.
https://www.poemhunter.com/poem/barbie-doll/