A Sad Child

In Margaret Atwood's poem, "A Sad Child," Atwood contributes to the theme that society influences emotion. Throughout the first two stanzas, excuses are made as to why a child is sad, and how to "cure" the sadness. This leads into panic, but eventually resolve.
In the first two stanzas, extensive catalogging of excuses is seen in explanation of a young girl's sadness. The list includes: "you're sad because you're sad. It's psychic. It's the age. It's chemical." Even though these excuses (as said to the girl by another) are meant to comfort the girl through her sadness, they only increase her sadness by suggesting something is wrong with her, and that she needs to do something about it. Here are listed "cures" to her sadness: "hug your sadness, get over it, count your blessings, go shopping, dance." Among these "cures" many stand out, specifically ones stereotyping females. Suggestions like hugging dolls, shopping, and dancing are generally viewed as feminine. The basic message here is : "Don't cry, we don't like seeing a sad young lady. Try doing something girly to get over it."
In stanza three, we are given insight into what has caused the girl's sadness. Throughout this stanza, and the following two stanzas, it is hinted at that the girl has had her first period through words like; "flushed, bathroom, and red flame seeping out of you." This contributes to what seems to be a panicked feeling in the girl. Not only this, but we discover she feels meaningless due to her belief that she's not the favorite child. The ending of the poem gives the only encouraging words of the piece, to sum up: "We're either all the favorite child or none of us are."
In conclusion, the girl in the poem must be in a very confused stage of her life, and Atwood emphasizes this through her enhancement on what "they" are telling us to do to feel better.