Societies Expectations Exposed In Marge Piercy's Barbie Doll

In Marge Piercy’s, “Barbie Doll” she reveals a trend that is rampant in today’s society. In this poem she allows the reader to have insight to how societies expectations demolish self-worth by comparing oneself to unrealistic expectations. She creates a sense many young women, especially at the coming of age experience: the feeling of not fitting in. In the poem, Piercy implements the use of diction, imagery/symbolism and tone, which exposes the destructive nature of societies expectations placed upon young women. Piercy uses diction to allows the reader to understand that even at a young age the girl is put into a sort of ‘group’. In the first stanza the author begins the first stanza with “this girlchild was born as usual and presented with

Sarcastically said in the poem, Piercy writes, “Then in the magic of puberty, a classmate said: you have a really great big nose and fat legs “ this line is critical in the poem because it is a line that many girls have heard before and allow the reader to relate because there is no ‘ideal’ shape or size. This line is the indicator that the simplicity that was once was in childhood is now diminished and now the girl is under the critical eyes of society. The “dolls” and “lipstick the color of candy red” the girls used to play with now are the image she is supposed to impose on herself because that is what society expects. Piercy’s further word choice allows the reader to know that the ‘ideal’ woman that society expects her to be is contradicting: “she was advised to play coy, exhorted to come on hearty…” (line 12-13) The two words coy and hearty have two different meanings. According to the Oxford Dictionary, “coy” means making pretence of shyness or modesty, which is intended to be alluring; while “hearty” means loudly vigorous and cheerful. These two words, “coy” and “hearty” further indicate that the girl is confused and societies expectation is nearly impossible to reach because for one to come off as both coy and hearty at the same time is unmanageable. The choice of diction further allows the reader to understand the feelings of the girl and her struggle to

Once the girl has taken her life because of the pressure of society she is described as “ she lay with the undertaker’s cosmetics painted on, a turned-up putty nose, dressed in a pink and white nightie…”(line 20-23) the words describe an image of a Barbie doll. These are powerful lines because now once the girl has taken her own life because of the harsh expectations of society she is now dressed like a Barbie doll and is now accepted into society. The title symbolizes what society expects of a young girl to have perfect hair, skinny body along with “cherry candy” lipstick. “Consummation at last. To every woman a happy ending.” In these two lines Piercy encapsulates how society affects and controls a young girls life. In conclusion, Piercy creates a story of a woman that grew up constantly scorned by society for looking different than the ideal and eventually give into the expectations of society by ultimately gives into them by taking her own