“Barbie-q” by Sandra Cisneros & “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker

Sandra Cisneros argues with the symbol of clothing that beauty isn’t skin deep, and Alice Walker argues that fancy clothes can warp ones inner beauty

Sandra Cisneros develops the idea that the beauty is not skin deep and she uses the symbol of clothing to prove her point. She refers to the description of two girls and their attitude to their look and the look of their Barbie dolls to show that they have the inner beauty and the clothing “This and a dress invented from an old sock when we cut holes here and here, the cuff rolled over for the glamorous, fancy free, off-the-shoulder look” (Cisneros 184). The girls make modifications easily that reveals the fact that the beauty is not grounded on some standards but on the imagination of a person. Girls can make a beautiful and trendy doll from anything they have at hand: “Barbie’s MOD’ern cousin Francie with real eyelashes, eyelash brush included, has a left foot that’s melted a little-so? If you dress her in hew new ‘Prom Pink’ outfit, satin splendor with matching coat, gold belt, clutch, and hair bow included, so long as you don’t lift her dress right?-who’s to know”(Cisneros 184). In such a way, they create beauty with their hand and they do not need much to make their dolls look beautiful. In such a way, the author uses the symbol of clothing girls use for their dolls to show that girls like their dolls can be beautiful, regardless of their clothing and their clothing does not determine their beauty. Instead, it is their imagination and innate, natural beauty that makes them really beautiful, while they just add a little bit of imagination to make their clothing better and to emphasize their beauty, which they may create.

At the same time, Alice Walker argues that fancy clothes can warp ones inner beauty. In her Everyday Use she shows that clothes can hide the inner beauty of the main characters. At this point, it is possible to refer to the scene with quilts, which Mama promised to Maggie but Dee asks Mama to give them to her. Dee is actually the only one, who is really aware of the value of the quilts and their significance as the family heritage. Dee is selfish in her desire to possess quilts and she has a way haughty attitude to her sister, whom she characterizes as follows: “Have you ever seen a lame animal, perhaps a dog run over by some careless person rich enough to own a car, sidle up to someone who is ignorant enough to be kind to him? This is the way my Maggie walks. . . . She knows she is not bright. Like good looks and money, quickness passes her by” (Waller 198).  Dee looks fashionable in her way, while Maggie seems to be enclosed in her isolation caused by her disfigurement. When Dee grows persistent to take the quilts, Maggie uncovers her inner beauty which is absolutely unseen under her clothing. She gives quilts to Dee as the act to prevent the quarrel and conflict in the family. She does not care much about herself but she cares about her mother and sister and about her family as a family, where members live happily and love each other. In such a way, the author reveals how nice clothing covers ugly selfishness of Dee and how casual and unattractive clothing hides the inner beauty of Maggie. Hence, the author reveals that clothing is not always able to reveal the beauty of the person, who wears it.

Works Cited:

Cisneros, Sandra. Barbie-q. New York: Routledge, 2013.

Walker, Alice. Everyday Use. New York: Random House, 2012.

The terms offer and acceptance. (2016, May 17). Retrieved from

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016.

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]

freeessays.club (2016) The terms offer and acceptance [Online].
Available at:

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]
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