Poem Analysis: Barbie Doll By Marge Piercy

Prager worms her way into the reader’s emotions by using pathos. Barbie’s are apart of almost every average American girl’s life, with each one owning up to at least ten of the dolls by the time they reach eleven years of age (Mirror-Mirror). The reader’s emotions are unlocked by the author through the use of one simple word: Barbie. Just bringing up the subject of Barbie in an article will make a woman’s ears perk up and cause one to want to see what is being said about the precious childhood toy. Merely mentioning the doll brings many back to the simpler days of childhood and provides the reader with a sense of nostalgia. Prager puts the reader into the mindset of remembering what it was like to play with Barbie and her counterpart Ken, thus allowing the audience to also regain access to questions they may have had whilst playing with the dolls during their childhood as well. Sharing some of her own questions, Prager reveals that even as a ten year old she found Ken’s lack of genitals “ominous” in comparison to Barbie’s voluptuous figure (Prager 355). As aforementioned, the author mentions early on in the article that a man designed Barbie. The author correlates this as the reason why Barbie is portrayed so voluptuously whereas Ken is not. Prager begins to move beyond our emotions, and into the ethics surrounding the making of

Piercy portrays Barbie Doll as a symbol of perfection and what society expects from women. Even though the Barbie Doll isn’t mention throughout the poem, the symbolism is found in the title itself. The imagery used to describe the young girl “in a casket displayed on satin with the undertaker’s cosmetics painted on” creates the same image of a Barbie Doll in a display box with cosmetic makeup on with a “putty nose” (Mays 725). Growing up young girls dream of living a life like Barbie, they desire the perfect body, perfect smile, perfect clothes, the perfect life of the Barbie Doll. But as the same young girls grow up into becoming young adults they realize that’s its impossible to have the life of a Barbie Doll because no human

In contrast, Marge Piercy's tone in “Barbie Doll” is sarcastic. The tone appears sarcastic because of the absurdity of a world in which a doll indoctrinates a 'girlchild' to a society's idea of what female beauty or perfection should be. Even in 2015, Barbie's core demographic is 3 to 6 year old’s. (“Barbie Doll Statistics”) Girls continue to be socialized at a young age when 'presented dolls' and accessories of ovens for cooking, irons for laundry and/or hair and lipstick. (Piercy 2). In Piercy's poem when the 'girlchild' experiences the

The ideal that society thrives on creating expected images for women is constantly argued against. Many disagree with the idea that society can place expectations for what is beautiful, now saying things such as ‘chunky is hunky’ or that ‘men love curves’. In reality, the standards are still set. For example, with American magazines audiences are infatuated by the image of perfect beauty and female sexuality (Hanjani 310). In Marge Piercy’s “Barbie Doll”, Piercy exemplifies the effects of society’s standards on a growing adolescent girl.

Society has a way of placing unrealistic expectations on women. By using television, magazines, billboards, and even toys we see a mold of what women are supposed to look like. In other words the perfect woman should look like a Barbie Doll. In Marge Piercy’s, “Barbie Doll,” we find a girl child growing up through the adolescence stage characterized by appearances and barbarity. Piercy uses lots of imagery to describe the struggles the girl experiences during her teenage years and the effects that can happen.

Looking Like a Barbie Doll; The True Definition of Beauty or Just a Fluke? Marge Piercy writes about the harsh reality of what society says a girl should be and reality of what can happen when she is pushed to transform herself into something she is not. The first thing one may notice is the title of the poem, Barbie Doll. The name of the poem came from the society has filled peoples heads with the idea that one must look like a Barbie doll.

The subject of Piercy’s poem “Barbie Doll” is one of heavy criticism toward a perfectly normal girl that ends up pushing her to her limits. This cruel and unnecessary criticism from society drives the girl to take her own life. In the first two stanzas, Piercy takes great care in emphasizing how the girl “was born as usual” and that she had nothing wrong with her physically or mentally (1). However, her appearance was not up to society’s standards of perfection, thus she people teased her about her big nose and chubby legs. The title of the poem itself “Barbie Doll” has connotations to perfection because an actual Barbie doll has perfect, plastic, wrinkle-free, tan skin, blonde hair, and a thin figure. Barbie can also do whatever it is she wants like be a doctor or an astronaut. It is not surprising that this young girl from Piercy’s poem aspires to attain this ideal of perfection all while society is pressuring her to do so. Conversely, the subject in Robinson’s poem “Richard Cory” is about a

The poem I have chosen is “Barbie Doll”, composed by Marge Piercy. The reasoning behind my decision is the message conveyed throughout the text and the form in which it was displayed. The author created a phenomenal work, by incorporating literary and sound devices such as rhyming couplets, assonances, free verses, imagery and symbolism. The poem presented the superficial expectations of society and the pressure of young female children to attain that certain perfection. The poem begins as a fairytale with the lines, “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” (Piercy 1-4).

The Barbie doll has long been the staple toy for little girls across America; however, it has also been known for stirring up controversy for the message that it sends to girls about body image and its enforcement of the female stereotype. With her poem, “Barbie Doll,” Marge Piercy criticizes society’s expectations for females during the 70’s feminist movement. The poem follows a young girl who grows up to be a healthy, intelligent young woman but is constantly criticized for her appearance, until she finally cracks and disfigures herself. Using irony, youthful imagery, and sarcastic tone, Piercy satirizes society’s overwhelming interest on a woman’s image over her character. Starting with the first stanza, the speaker narrates one girl’s childhood and adolescence.

74% of girls say they are under pressure to please everyone. 98% of girls feel there is an immense amount of pressure from society to look a certain way. 92% of young girls would like to change something about the way they look. 53% of American girls age thirteen are unhappy with their bodies which ends up growing to 78% by the time girls reach the age of seventeen. (CITE) The pressure towards young girls that comes from society to act and look a certain way can become overwhelming which in turn creates deep emotional issues. Today there are too many instances where young girls are bullied due to these unattainable standards. In the poem by Marge Piercy titled “Barbie Doll” she shows how a young girl who is

“Barbie Doll” by Marge Piercy, the girl was “Healthy, tested intelligent, possessed strong arms and back.”(7-8) this indicates that she was a normal girl, she was good, but she had a “Big nose and fat legs.”(6) and that aspect made her imperfect. All the good things she had weren’t important, only the imperfections were pointed out. As well as “A work of Artifice,” Marge Piercy gives an image of women as someone weak. The author states that “The crippled brain, the hair in curlers.” In this quote is evident the stereotype of a woman, a woman without a brain who needs to depend on someone else in order to think; she also needs to be pretty, and spend her time doing her hair to look gorgeous. Both of the poems were written in different time of period, “Barbie Doll” was written in 1971 and shows a clear idea that society doesn’t think about how a comment can affect someone and when that person is dead, all their flaws go away. This can be seen when the author said, “With the undertaker’s cosmetics painted on, a turned-up putty nose...doesn’t she look pretty? Everyone said.” When the character is laying down, death, everyone thinks she looks pretty, they don’t find her any imperfection. Lastly, society's perspective hardly changed because “A work of Artifice” by Marge Piercy was written in 1999 and the theme is the same. The treatment of women throughout history is the

“Barbie Doll” is written by Marge Piercy in 1973, which owes its title to the famous Barbie toy line. This doll was notable for its unrealistic appearances and standards, with its extremely thin limbs and a focus on outer beauty. Piercy, a poet notable for her feminist approaches in her literature, has written this poem to criticise the strict gender norms that are placed upon women. Especially during the 1970s, when women were still facing large amounts of discrimination and were thought of as housewives, this poem demonstrates the struggles a young girl must go through in a patriarchal society. These struggles have often been linked with women being objectified and having to meet standards they could never reach, and has only led to creating

The first poem that stood out to me is titled "Barbie Doll" and is written by Marge Piercy. The focus of this poem is on a young girl who lets her insecurities and the opinions of others convince her into conforming herself into what societies defines as beautiful. People are cruel, and will point out every flaw they see in a person. I personally was bullied for having a small chest and for being short. Neither of those things matter, but unfortunately that does not stop a person from voicing their opinion. One thing that most girls do daily is our makeup. Some people mock it saying we do it for men which is not the case at all. Makeup is like an hobby. It is a way for women to feel more confident in their own skin, but it has some downsides.