Barbie Doll Analysis

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.

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

My junior is when my obsession with my body spiraled out of control. I was constantly counting calories and setting new weight goals. All I thought about at this time was what size I could fit into and how little I would look next to other people. I knew this was not healthy. I noticed a change in every aspect of my personality. I changed from my bubbly, extroverted personality to an anti-social, nobody. People started telling me I was too skinny, or I needed to eat something. I immediately became offended. After all my hard work and stress of reaching a weight, people wanted me to change. I was instantly confused by my life. I did not understand why all of a sudden everyone’s opinion mattered to me.

Just from looking at the title of the poem, we can see that the author believes society's expectations of women are unrealistic. A barbie doll is supposed to be a figure of a “perfect” woman that is tall, skinny, and flawless. This look is obviously unachievable for a human being to accomplish. Barbie dolls are also only given to young girls. They are shown at a young age what they are supposed to look like and how they are supposed to act. This is where girls are first introduced to their female roles in society. A doll is fake and made of plastic, incapable of being intelligent and having a mind of its own. These are the issues that Piercy addresses throughout her poem “Barbie Doll.”

The Poem “Barbie Doll (1969)” by Marge Piercy describes the life of a young girl who fell victim to society’s idea of beauty. Marge Piercy was a known social activist and uses this poem to bring attention to serious issues facing young females in society. “Barbie Doll” by Marge Piercy is a narrative poem; the poem is written in free verse. The author selects a free form of poetry and other devices to help get her point across.

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.

The poem “Barbie Doll” represents the struggles of young girl who wants to fit into the ideas of feminine beauty that sets by the society. The poem begins “This girlchild was born as usual” (Piercy Line 1). The author depicts a normal young girl who is healthy, brilliant and plays with doll. In the poem the girl was being bullied by her classmate and told her that that she has a “big nose and fat legs” (Line 6).Then she was advised to go on a diet and exercise .The girl struggles to become what the others want her to be .She feels being unaccepted because of her imperfections. Just like the speaker in the poem “Suicide Note” who struggles to meet her parent’s expectations .Both women can’t handle the pressures sets by others and commit suicide.

“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,

The poem “Barbie Doll” lays out words that support traditional gender roles while also giving the reader a sense of irony by using harsher language to describe events of the woman's life. Certain statements within the text use tender descriptions and stereotypes of females that come into this world, who are naturally expected to wear "cherry candy" colored lipstick and play with "dolls that did pee-pee." These stereotypes extend into womanhood, wherein she is expected to look a certain way, with skinny legs and a small nose. Despite all of the woman's other quality attributes that additionally mold her into who she is, such as her intelligence or strength, she is cast out because she does not fit the mold that of a female, as she is just seen as "a fat nose on thick legs.

This poem dramatizes the conflict between society’s perspective on normal and what is actually normal when it comes to appearances. The name of the poem “Barbie Doll” is an allusion to barbies. The speaker of this piece began by stating “the girlchild was born as usual” meaning the child that was born was the image of normal. The speaker states that a girlchild was born and was a normal little girl that played with barbies by saying “as usual” (line 1). A classmate of the child informed her that she had a “great big nose and fat legs” (6).

I have 29 items of vintage Barbie clothing items for sale. I counted a pair of shoes as 1 item.

Marge Percy “Barbie Doll” is a social commentary about the demanding pressures that the mass media produces about how women should look like and what type of body they should have. Women in the 1970s faced high standards and these standards still go on to this day. These high demands lead women to go above and beyond to meet standards that society has placed upon them. Some of these drastic measures can lead to consequences. In “Barbie Doll” the main character decided to undergo plastic surgery to fix her “big nose” and “fat legs”. Unfortunately she ended up dying in her struggle to meet the standard that the media has placed on her at an exceptionally young age. Her untimely death is a symbol and the theme of the poem that these women will work themselves to death to meet societies demands and most of the time it is all for nothing. All this women wanted was people to accept the way she looked and not critique her looks and it was not until her funeral day, when it no longer mattered, that she finally got that acceptance.