Negative Self-Image In 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.

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

A little girl’s world begins as such a wonderful place. Makeup, dresses, tea parties and prince charming are what little girls dream of. Marge Piercy uses a variety of poetic devises to convey the theme of stereotypes and the struggle girls face is brought to attention in this free verse twenty-five-line, open-form narrative poem titled “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.

Like Georgiana in “The Birthmark”, women often find themselves striving to reach society’s expectation of beauty and perfection. In Marge Piercy’s poem “Barbie Doll”, a young girl is finally able to reach society’s version of beauty but she must die to do so. Piercy criticizes the ways “women are socialized into stereotypical feminine behavior” (“Overview: “Barbie Doll”, para. 1) in this poem and suggests that the pressure put on women to meet certain standards of beauty and behavior is destructive. The poem opens with the birth of a “girlchild” and all the “typical toys” that go along with it. When the girl hits puberty, her classmates begin to make fun of her big nose and fat legs. The girl is intelligent and healthy, but the other children only see the imperfections in her appearance. She is told she should behave “coy” and always wear a smile, but the teasing takes its’ toll. She cuts off her nose and legs and offers them up

Today’s society raises young women to conform to archaic practices with total disregard towards a child self-progression. In Barbie Doll poem by Marge Piercy it is portrayed a young girl who was attacked by society because of having unruly features on her appearance and body. To make clear, Piercy uses the title “Barbie Doll” in her poem to symbolize the cultural American traditions of making young girls live in a fairy tale world; where everything they see or do is perfect. The girl in this poem played with Barbie toys since she was little, but when she reached her puberty people started to criticize her of having imperfections on her face and body; which made her commit a really wrong decision for herself. In today’s society there are a large number of women having plastic surgery, because they do not feel comfortable or confident with their own appearances. Women are not just beauty queens and home makers; they should retreat from female stereotypes at a young age so they do not confront society pressure.

The girl was told to diet, exercise, and use flattery to get what she wants (Piercy, 867). She tried to conform and be everything that is expected, but eventually her good nature wore down. Being told what and how to be from a young age will take its toll on any person especially an impressionable teenager. Being that I have experienced these pressures, although not to the same extent as the girl in Piercy’s poem, I can safely say that young adolescents tend to be quite multifaceted and sensitive which explains why criticism about one’s appearance can damage their morale. This girl no longer had the will to battle the burdens she was feeling and the lines “So she cut off her nose and legs and offered them up” make reference to the fact that she committed suicide (Piercy, 867). I get the feeling in the last stanza that the girl may have had some physically altering surgery sometime before she took her life. Ironically, it is only when the young woman is lying dead in a casket that people begin to acknowledge her beauty. The last line is a very powerful one “To every woman a happy ending” (Piercy, 867). I disagree that the subject of the poem truly had a happy ending, but I do not feel the author meant it literally either. It seems the author means to deject the people in the girl’s life who only saw her flaws and not her true beauty and intelligence.

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 society today, the world view of women has changed drastically. From plump, voluptuous figures of the Roman Empire, to today’s goddesses who wear eating disorders and insecurities as a badge of honor. Society and mass media have played a key role in changing the history of women today. Marge Piercy has beautifully depicted what it is like to be a young woman on the other side of society’s pressure on women for perfection. Marge Piercy’s “Barbie Doll” presents the act of preparing future house wives, constraining the natural woman, and the ultimate sacrifice of the divine feminine to show how impossible societal standards of beauty are.

As the girl continues on to grow up she is continually facing challenges with her confidence and thus affecting her emotionally and physically. For instance, one of the line states that “ she went to

Why when we are alone do we think about flaws or other characteristics about ourselves that are not “good enough? “Barbie Doll” by Marge Piercy gives the readers a new outlook on the standards people uphold for young girls. When you see what is expected you begin to realize how unrealistic these expectations are. Throughout the poem Marge Piercy talked about things that were often expected from young girls such as appearances, hobbies, and even characteristics. The theme of this poem is” people set unrealistic expectations on young girls that can cause an affect on their self-esteem. ” was mentioned and as we went deeper into poem the pain she was truly going through was revealed. She believed the only way it would all be over is if she killed herself, which was the impact the author wanted you to feel. This is shown by the attitudes of the poem and the figurative language.

The poem starts off just saying how the main character was “born as usual”. There is nothing wrong with the main character and she is just a normal girl that played with Barbie dolls. It is not until the fifth line that “the magic of puberty” finally hits the author. Sadly, it is during this time when the human mind is so fragile, that the high standards of the mass media on how a women should look start to bear down, crash, and take over a lot