Marge Piercy’s Barbie Doll

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Recommended: Beauty standards and how they affect women

Every woman grows up knowing that they one day want to be beautiful. In Marge Piercy’s “Barbie Doll” she gives an in depth look at what negative effects the concept of beauty can have on an individual. From infancy to a full grown adult woman, beauty has been a way of thinking and lifestyle. As a little girl you are given petite shaped, blonde, blue eyed dolls. While boys are given brawny soldiers and mechanical toys.

What do little girls do with these dolls? They put on fresh makeup, change there fashionable clothing, and style there long luscious hair. This alone is creating a psychological change in a little girls brain, it is instilling that this is what is customary for a girl to do. Rather than fixing things you are to play princess, along with your easy bake oven. For centuries society has quietly driven a complex into the hearts and minds of young girls, that you have to be pretty to succeed. In our time today you rarely see unattractive; politicians, movie stars, musicians, officials or entertainers. Anybody who is somebody these days has attractive physical qualities.

In Marge Piercy’s poem she states “ She was healthy, tested intelligent, possessed strong arms and back, abundant sexual drive and manual dexterity.” If a young lady possesses all of these things then why would she not feel that she was up to par? How could intelligence and capability not be enough for this girl who was obviously a well rounded individual? The idea of what her classmate thought about her appearance caused feelings of inferiority, because in our society everything truly seems to surround physical beauty. When you are beautiful you have more opportunities, you receive more attention, and it is suggested that you live a better life. Thi...

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...lier age. Where can we draw the line, and say your beautiful any way you are. People deal with eating disorders and depression as a result of being out casted, not one of the beautiful people. There have been multiple cases of death due to starvation and malnourishment, these people paid the price of beauty with their lives. There is harm being done daily by the ad’s that you see on television and the people that are said to be “role models” in the entertainment industry. Do we want our children growing up in a world based on insecurities and twisted self perception? I for one believe that beauty is an action, it is a way of attitude and kind nature. There are many ways to be beautiful in this world without the need of a cream, or surgery. There is no need to have the statuesque build of a Barbie to be beautiful, in a world where you can be anything, be yourself.

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