"GI Joe"

The same way young girls are traditionally expected to strive for physical beauty and grace, young boys are expected to strive to be strong, to be able to go out and provide for a family, to repress any emotions or fears. They need to control their surroundings in a way that is advantageous to themselves with little regard for others. In a poem with this theme, images of toy guns and GI Joe dolls would represent the need to be strong, approach life as if it is a war for survival. A Matchbox Porsche car representing the need to strive for expensive material items to impress females as well as neighbors. Characters like “Batman” and “Spiderman” that implant a yearning to strive to be somebody they can never be and possess abilities that are impossible. An active and violent diction would be an effective tone for this poem. Words like “fight”, “win”, “power”. An open and abrupt writing style might give the reader a sense of violence. The speaker might tell how the young boy showed a tendency to express his emotions, the lack of desire to dominate in sports, and interest in art and poetry that might gain the disapproval of his peers. In appearance it would be a very contrasting poem to “Barbie Doll”, yet the theme would remain identical.