Social Expectations In Marge Piercy's Barbie Doll

Historically, women been trapped in the web of social expectations that have been set out for them. Lady Mary Wortley Montagu’s 18th century poem “Saturday: The Small Pox,” as well as Marge Percy’s 20th century poem “Barbie Doll” both demonstrate these same social expectations, even though they were written two centuries apart. As a result of the historical social expectations to be thin and beautiful, many women behave irrationally, lose their individuality, and lose their self worth. The desire to fit into the expectations of society has always caused many people to act irrationally. Marge Piercy’s “Barbie Doll” is very clearly an example of irrational behaviour, as at the climax of the poem “she cut[s] off her nose and her legs / and …[offers] them up” (Piercy 17-18), as the other characters only ever told her that she did not conform to their

For instance, Flavia did not have anything of importance in her life except for these suitors and, as a consequence, her beauty. She feels like her life is over, asking to “live in some deserted place” (Montagu 93) as she no longer has anything that she cares for in her life, as she lacks the individuality beyond what she knows that society wishes for her to be: thin and beautiful. On the other hand, this manner of thinking is a direct result of these social expectations; if they did not mean anything to Flavia, or to the girlchild, they would not be taken as expectations. Moreover, the girlchild also has the same disposition, as she is raised in this society that desires nothing more for her than for her to be thin and beautiful, so in the same manner, when she is unable to fulfill these expectations, she has nothing else in her life. She does not know anything else in her life except for the fact that she does not belong in the society as a result of these features, the features of her thick thighs and fat