The Feminist Movement In Marge Piercy's Barbie Doll

Authors such as Marge Piercy and Lucille Clifton reflect the feminist movement in their poems “Barbie Doll” and “homage to my hips.” Both of these poems were published in the 70s and 80s, and they are just as relative in today’s society as when the authors wrote them. Both poems reject of society’s expectations of women to have a slender physical appearance. Each poet condemns the traditional feminine stereotypes of body image and self-esteem; however, Marge Piercy provides a more effective critique of social expectations about body image.
Marge Piercy is a poet who often writes about women’s movements. During the 1960s, she was involved with Students for a Democratic Society, but her interests in the women’s movement became the focus of her writing. This focus is apparent in her poem ‘Barbie Doll’ where she expresses her feminist views of the image society portrays of the perfect woman. Piercy’s description of the girl in ‘Barbie Doll’ is a reflection of herself and her personal experiences with sexism in life. However, unlike the girlchild in “Barbie Doll,” Piercy did not allow herself to be driven by society’s male driven image of what the perfect woman should be. Instead, she used her writing as a platform to speak out against such sexist stereotypes ("Barbie

Doll" 33). ‘Barbie Doll’ provides a look at the negative impact that this stereotype can inflict on a young girl’s self-image.
Like Piercy, Lucille Clifton’s writings are also influenced by feminist ideas and she uses them to speak out on societal stereotypes about the perfect female body. In her poem “homage to my hips,” Clifton celebrates “a part of her body that has traditionally been demeaned” and “In just seventy-eight words, she frees herself from both the dominance of Caucasian ideals of beauty and from masculine notions of femininity” ("Homage to My Hips" 113-14). In her interview with Pate, Clifton said that in today’s culture we want everything big such as large houses and “Hungry Man dinners,” but “then we want little tiny women. I don't like it. I've never liked it. I was born this size” (Pate, par. 31). By writing “homage to my hips,” Clifton expresses that she rejects social expectations for her body, and she is proud of her size. By expressing herself in this way, she frees herself from the stereotype of white society’s ideals of good looks from a male point of view.
Unfortunately, unlike the speaker in “homage to my hips,” the girlchild in “Barbie Doll” is not freed from the male Caucasian ideals of beauty.” Instead, those ideals consume and destroy her. The speaker in Margie Piercy’s “Barbie Doll” is speaking in the third person about a young girl who grows up and finds out that she is unattractive and unfeminine according to cultural expectations. Susan J. Douglas, a columnist for In These Times who writes about The Bachelor, observes that women on the show “calibrate what kind of woman succeeds in a world where appearance and personality still powerfully determine a woman's fate” (par. 8). The bachelorettes criticize each other’s appearance, reinforcing cultural expectations of beauty on TV for society to absorb. Piercy demonstrates a similar set of critical social circumstances in her poem when a classmate of girlchild, likely another girl, tells girlchild that she is unattractive: “Then in the magic of puberty, a classmate said: / You have a great big nose and fat legs“(ln. 5-6). Just like in The Bachelor, in Piercy’s poem, other girls judge the looks of a girl based on an image most women cannot and should not attempt to achieve.
Unlike in Piercy’s poem where a young girl is criticized for her looks, Clifton presents a positive view of the speaker’s body that rejects the standard that girlchild’s peer judged her by. The speaker in the poem “homage to my hips” by Lucille Clifton is speaking in the first person about her personal appearance; however, she speaks for all women with big hips and empowers women like her to be proud of their bodies. In her poem, the speaker states, “these hips are big hips / they need space to / move around in” (ln. 1-3), which is expressing her need for society to accept her body the way it is rather than judging it against impossible standards. When the speaker says that “they don't fit into little / petty places” (ln. 4-5), she says that the size of her hips does not fit in the narrow-minded cultural standard. Even though her hips do not fit in what society views as normal of what the body should look, she says, “these hips /are free hips. / they don't like to be held back” (ln. 5-7), she is saying that the size of her hips do not hold her back from doing the things that she wants simply because society deems them sub-standard. Clifton does not accept society’s view of the “perfect” body of a woman that is perpetuated in the entertainment industry in the shows such as The Bachelor because they do not represent real women, and they try to portray an image of a perfect looking woman that is not reflective of most women.
In contrast with the speaker in “homage to my hips,” who celebrates the fact that her body is not what society wants for her, the girl in the poem “Barbie Doll” depicts the life of a young girl who grows up and becomes a victim of culture’s image of beauty. It did not matter to her peers that girlchild “was healthy, tested intelligent” (ln. 7). All that mattered was that “Everyone saw a fat nose on thick legs” (ln. 11). Poetry for Students says that the poem uses “the iconic image of the Barbie doll as a kind of straw ‘man,’” and that Piercy “criticizes the ways in which women are socialized into stereotypical feminine behavior” ("Barbie Doll" 32). Piercy ends her poem with words “Doesn't she look pretty? everyone said. / Consummation at last. / To every woman a happy ending” (ln. 23-25). Because of sexism and stereotypes, the young female commits suicide, and in death, finally becomes the “Barbie Doll” while looking pretty with a fake nose and makeup.
Many young girls think that their physical appearance is the most important matter when it comes to attention and acceptance from men.

However, the speaker in the Clifton’s poem “homage to my hips” has an attitude that conveys self-confidence and self-praise. Her noble character shows when she says, “these hips are mighty hips. / these hips are magic hips” (ln. 11-12). The poem ends with a speaker demonstrating that what is society sees is a weakness and disadvantage; she sees as a strength and advantage “i have known them / to put a spell on a man and / spin him like a top” (ln. 13-15). In the poem, Clifton carries a powerful message that no one should stop any woman from achieving her

aspirations.
Sadly, in today’s culture, physical appearance is still important for a woman because men still see women as sex symbols. In both “Barbie Doll” and “homage to my hips,” both poets critically judge the traditional notions of beauty and femininity. Popular culture, whether it’s a Barbie doll or reality television show, reinforces this stereotypical image of an ideal woman. Both poems characterize different views of women’s acceptance in society. While Clifton represents a woman, who praises her body by not being concerned that she looks the way she does, Piercy represents the life of a young girl who succumbs to the pressure of her peers and self-destructs. Piercy helps me to gain a better understanding of how the opinions of peers can have a negative impact on a person such as the girl in “Barbie Doll.” Clifton demonstrates to me how to have a better self-image and not to be concerned about others’ unrealistic views of beauty through the words of the speaker in “homage to my hips.” I admire Clifton’s poem for empowering people to be who they are, but the ugly truth is that Piercy’s poem shows the reality of how young women are compared to a “Barbie Doll” and how it negatively influences their self-image through social expectations and peer criticism.