Marge Piercy's Barbie Doll

Published in 1971, the poem Barbie Doll was wrote by Marge Piercy during a time of feminist movements. As stated in the journal Womans Values In Society As Reflected In Marge Piercy’s “Barbie doll”, “1960s is the key year of the revival of the feminist movement in America which is known as the second wave of feminism” (Padmanugraha 5). During these times the main concerns for women were over their sexuality, work and family. Elizabeth Boyd, in Romancing feminism: From women’s studies to women’s fiction tackles the topic of feminism expressing:

Feminism itself has been critiqued as one of the discourses that have disciplined femininity, with regard to the false consciousness of women and the consumption of feminine commodities. As Ann Ducille

suggested in her analysis of the much-critiqued Barbie doll: ‘Rather than representing a critical kiss of death, readings that treat Barbie as a real threat to womankind – a harbinger of eating disorders and shopping disorders – actually breathe life into the doll’s plastic form’ (1999: 128). Rather than blow up the doll, I would seek to avoid treating women as if they lack personal agency, as duped victims of false consciousness, foolish consumers of a possibly fatal message (Boyd 6).
Women began to fight for rights within this era, battling to become an equal, to be considered more than just a ditzy, pretty face.

Women aimed to prove they had purpose than just maintaining a figure. This poem’s content covers unrealistic expectations and a patriarchal society. Therefore, the topic of this poem fits perfectly well into social context. The social context of this work is society’s cultural pressure on girls. Our society objectifies women and determines their value based off of appearance, in turn, women are driven by these pressures to take drastic/destructive actions in order to live up to certain

expectations.
First off, to be able to understand the poem, one must know what the poem is representing. The title of this poem may be called Barbie Doll, but there is no actual mention of a barbie doll throughout it. By the doing of this action an ironic tone is created. This creates an image for the reader so they are able to understand the meaning the poem is trying to display. As said by Sepe, “Piercy blends diction, simile, and irony to create a unique tone of lightness that contrasts the reality of the main character, a contrast which is itself a mirror of the girl’s life” (Sepe 2). What Sepe means by this is that the poem is taken lightly, yet the subject of it is a serious matter of a young girls suicide due to her inability to conform to certain beauty standards. In his article Sepe mentions, “The irony of the last two lines, that she achieved completion and happiness only through something sad, suicide, solidifies the poem’s theme of the effects of trying to be the impossible” (Sepe 2). From this the audience gains an understanding of the characters pain and feelings of rejection. One could almost acquire an agonizing mood from this piece of work. The real message of Marge Piercy’s piece of work is how young girls struggle against themselves and their self image due to these impractical ideals. As commended by Thomas Sepe:
Marge Piercy’s poem “Barbie Doll” reveals a hazardous trend that rages in our society. It holds a mirror up to our own vanity and reveals the rampant destruction of self-worth that comes from comparing the normal to the unreal. “Barbie Doll” teaches the reader of the dangers that exist in forcing people, especially women, into restrictive roles and ideals. With the use of diction, simile, irony, and tone, Marge Piercy exposes the destructive nature of impossible ideals and contradictory social expectations” (Sepe 1)
This passage describes the significance the poem attempts to portray and the interpretation behind it. Marge Piercy is striving to exploit the strain/stress adolescent and adult females carry within them trying to adjust to cultural perfection.
To demonstrate the effects of a societies hold on the level of expectations it has for female adolescents let's talk about the actual plastic barbie doll, a simple toy figurine given to young girls. But does this figurine add to an ideal look girls are told to achieve? In a journal of consumer marketing, it did research over the sales of barbie doll and announced, “In fact, in the two years after Mattel allowed its Japanese affiliate to "Japanize" Barbie Doll's features, sales blossomed from near zero to 2 million. Interestingly, Barbie sold well without modification in 60 other countries” (Kolter 2). What we can acknowledge from this information is that each culture has their own style of beauty they expect women to exemplify. So if this is true then why are women expected to reach these standards of beauty when there is no direct example of how someone should look or behave. According to an analysis over the poem one author wrote, “Marge Piercy's feminist poem is taking to task the cultural stereotype of the perfect woman, suggesting that the patterns of behavior and body image touted by society cause little girls to kill themselves when they are unable to measure up to an impossible standard” (Grimes). Grimes makes a point in providing the fact that many girls will go through inadequate stages of abnormal behavior in attempt to form their body into something more “acceptable” to society. Whether this be an eating disorder, physical self harm, depression or even suicide.
Furthermore, the poem starts off with the line, “this girl child was born as usual” (Piercy).

So from the moment of her birth this young girl is already given the gender role she is suspected to fulfill. As revealed in The Perfect Facade, “Piercy uses diction to draw the reader’s attention to how the main character is gendered even from the cradle. She calls the central character a “girl child” (line 1), a compound noun that suggests the ways in which the child’s gender is to become her identity. “[Girl child” also presents an element of allegory, making it possible for all women to relate to the unnamed girl’s experiences and feelings”(Sepe 1). For when children are born, their sex may be assigned to them but their gender is taught to them. When a child is young they are taught who to become by the clothes they wear, toys they play with, and the parenting style they recieve. As this girl continues to mature her body starts the process of puberty, causing certain body parts to change and grow as well. In the last lines of the first stanza piercy wrote, ¨then in the magic of puberty, a classmate said: you have a great big nose and fat legs¨ followed by the lines, ¨She was healthy, tested intelligent, possessed strong arms and back, abundant sexual drive and manual dexterity. She went to and fro apologizing. Everyone saw a fat nose on thick legs¨ (Piercy). From these lines we understand that though this young girl is healthy, smart, and kind she is not deemed worthy enough

because her features are not to societies appeal. The article Self Esteem In The Hands Of Society mentions, ¨Studies have suggested that young men and women have been socialized to believe that appearance is a primary basis for self evaluation and evaluation by others, and low satisfaction with oneself is often related to low self- esteem¨ (Kanouzi 2). From the information provided, it displays adolescents are not born to base someones worth upon physical features but instead taught to value someone upon how they appear physically. As said by Anthony Scimone, “Students are quite adept at recognizing how the seeds of insecurity are sown early in life. That desire to alter who we are to better approximate some artificial notion of beauty or manliness, sensuality or virility, is something most of us experience at some point” (Scimone 2). This excerpt exhibits how students, not only girls but also boys are perceived by their looks. Marge Piercy’s poem describes the women's perspective of societal cultural presumptions but does not mention how pubescent boys are impacted by these issues as well.
Moreover, in the last lines of the poem Piercy wrote, “In the casket displayed on satin she lay with the undertaker's cosmetics painted on, a turned-up putty nose, dressed in a pink and white nightie. Doesn't she look pretty? everyone said. Consummation at last. To every woman a happy ending” (Piercy). Whomever the viewer, can understand from this that it was not till this young girls suicide when she had gained “a new and improved” fake nose and legs was she considered beautiful. It had taken a life to prove to the girls peers that she was afterall an attractive individual with more to display than just looks. A woman should not only have a happy ending, but should find the happiness in herself and within life. Rising above the abstract standards that everyone believes they should meet.
In conclusion, societies culture will impact minds and beliefs, influencing standards to be upheld. For instance, until women and men break free from the mental cage of standards and gender roles there will be struggles with self-esteem, and body image. Overall, Piercy did a thorough job of expressing the impacts and effects the overall stress of these ideals can have on the average human. Through the poem Piercy was able to use a variety of tones all from flat, neutral to sarcastic. She explained the meaning of inner beauty by using bold imagery, and unique tone to send the audience her message.