Barbie Doll By Marge Piercy

From the time they are born, girls are influenced by society as to who they should be, how they should look, and how they should act. Americans believe that women should be to a certain standard; pretty, feminine, and especially, thin. The pressures derive from family, media, and friends. Marge Piercy’s poem, “Barbie Doll” depicts a girl who was never recognized for her character and spent her life trying to be accepted for who she was, rather than how she looked.

Do you ever wonder why teenage girls have low self-confidence and are never satisfied with what they have? As young children, girls are indirectly taught what people think perfection looks like. Barbie portrays that exact image and life. Beginning at a young age girls are influenced by this doll, what they should look like, and what their life should be like. Young girls strive to achieve Barbie’s look which is life threatening to obtain.

The poem, "Barbie Doll," written by Marge Piercy tells the story of a young girl growing up through the adolescence stage characterized by appearances and barbarity. The author uses imagery and fluctuating tone to describe the struggles the girl is experiencing during her teenage years, and the affects that can happen. The title of this poem is a good description of how most societies expect others, especially girls to look. Constantly, people are mocked for their appearance and expected to represent a "barbie-doll"-like figure. Few are "blessed" with this description. The female gender is positioned into the stereotype that women should be thin and beautiful. With this girl, the effects were detrimental. The first stanza describes the

“ideals are developmentally ingrained in children and adolescents”( Englis 1). The idea of beauty and ideal looks are engraved into people at a young age. The little girl being given a Barbie doll shows this in the poem. The idea of beauty and how a woman should act are represented in the Barbie doll. The primary take away is beauty is not everything.

Negative self-image among women has been a struggle in society for a long period of time. Social media, magazines, and the pressures of society has caused many young girls to feel bad about themselves because they do not look like the clothing model on the runway or the bathing suit model on the front of a magazine. Females grow up with the pressures of having to be in shape, wearing the best clothes, and putting on a full face of makeup for a male to find them attractive. Society has deemed that only "fit" women are beautiful, and that idea has caused women to harm themselves, develop anorexia, and feel insecure of themselves daily. Two works of literature that discuss the struggles women face from society is Marge Piercy's poem "Barbie Doll"

In Marge Piercy's "Barbie Doll" a young girl is troubled by the classification of what it takes to become a beautiful woman. "Barbie Doll" details the image that society projects upon women. From an early age young women struggle to conform to the standards that society has defined for them. Beautiful dolls such as Barbie are frequently the first source of association that young girls have with the image that society has placed upon them.

In Sandra Cisnero’s short story ‘’Barbie-Q,” a Barbie doll is used to portray the author’s inner struggle to achieve perfection, and how her young age and innocence clouds her identity. Throughout the text it is very clear that the author, a young girl, had come from an underprivileged family and faced the issues many families of lower socioeconomic background typically face. In the short story it is also evident that her gender plays a massive role in damaging her self-esteem and confidence, as both the media and the author’s social background have continuously portrayed women as weak, powerless figures. Similarly, in “The Story of an Hour” by Annie Chopin, the protagonist, once again a female figure represented the life of domesticity a woman is expected to hold by society. Although Chopin’s story was written in the late 1800s and “Barbie-Q” is a very modern story, both depict the protagonist females as very helpless, incapable figures that trail after the overpowering men.

“Barbie Doll” by Marge Piercy is about a girl who is a normal child growing up; playing with dolls, miniature kitchen items and pretend make-up. It quickly takes an interesting turn when a pubescent child makes fun of her nose and legs and she was advised to exercise and diet despite the fact that she was intelligent and healthy. The poem continues on by the girl cutting her legs and nose and a bizarre visual of her laying in a casket with an ending that states “to every woman a happy ending”( Piercy 791). This poem was written by Piercy in 1969 a year in which many women liberation groups were forming and the breaking of womanly roles was taking place. The poem “Barbie Doll” by Marge Piercy,

In the poem entitled “Barbie Doll” by Marge Piercy, a feminist, wrote this poem in 1973, which is around the time of the Feminist Movement. The poem has a total of four stanzas and no rhyme scheme, so it would be considered a free or blank verse poem. There are two main themes. The first theme is the overwhelming need to be attractive and be perfect in the eyes of society and the want to live up to or exceed the expectations of others and the second is that the poem is basically an imitation of social acceptance.

In the story “barbie doll” by Marge Piercy it’s about a young normal girl growing up playing with dolls and pretend make up. It takes a shocking turn when she is made fun of during her youth adulthood, for have a big nose and fat legs. Futher into the poem she cut off her legs and nose and a very unusual illustration of her laying in a casket with an conclusion that express “to every woman a happy ending”. Within society a women desire to be flawless when it comes to looks. There’s so much pressure and eagerness when it comes to a female fulfilling that image of looking like barbie.There is proof to this statement with the poet’s use of irony, imagery and the impact of words having a bad outcome on the self-esteem of females.

Marge Piercy’s Barbie Doll is a poem about a young woman who lived only to please others with her physicality. She felt content with herself until the words of a child her age made her believe she should not be. The young lady tried and tried repeatedly to please others until finally she passed and was only seen pretty in her death. This poem resonates with a lot of women in society today. Women today feel like they need to meet the social standards of beauty and therefore go to extreme measures to achieve this.

“Barbie Doll”, is a poem by Marge Piercy that published in 1971, during the second-wave of feminism. Piercy writes poetry related to personal struggle as well as social and feminist rights. Feminism is defined as the advocacy women take to have equal rights. According to Marge Piercy she explains how her writing can be useful to women stating, “To find ourselves spoken for in art gives dignity to our pain, our anger, our lust our losses” (560). This is a poem that gives Piercy’s view on how society believes a woman is supposed to look. The title is the perfect touch to how we compare an average woman to the slender, blonde, classic beauty of a Barbie doll.