Marge Piercy's Barbie Doll

Downfall of Perfections

When looking back on our lives, we remember the joyous memories we shared with the ones we love most, along with the not so impressive moments that we wish we could bury away in our backyards. Some of the most humiliating and trying years of our lives took place during the developmental stages. The times you were left lingering in the foggy valley between childhood and adulthood. Puberty. You would be lying if you said this period did not hit you like a truck. The poem “Barbie Doll” by Marge Piercy embodies the struggles that adolescence girls endeavor throughout this beautiful and natural season of their young lives. Speaking from a female perspective, “blossoming” was not as glamorous as our school nurses and
These names consume her, and eventually she gives in to her stereotype. This is extremely saddening and upsetting simultaneously because this is very common issue many girls all over the globe contest to. Not all of these girls will be able to accept themselves and love themselves when their society is telling them they do not belong or they are not good enough. More of an emphasis needs to be placed on the fact that beauty resides in all shapes and forms, and is deeply rooted from one’s soul as opposed to limited as skin deep. It is frustrating to raise self confident women from young girls because society has it’s own idea of beauty, and if you do not fit that standard, you are automatically considered plain or ugly. If this is the culture norm you have been exposed to all your life, it is completely understandable as to why depression develops, and why even worse, lives are
By writing this poem, Marge challenged society by mirroring it and translating it into these clever lines. It is true that puberty is a time of change and a humiliatingly awkward experience for everyone, however the worst part about it would have to be the longing to fit in and the experience of rejection when you do not for whatever reason. Society does not make this transition for women any smoother, especially when girls are exposed to supermodels and thin and beautiful actresses and starlets everywhere they turn. Society and media depict what is “beautiful”, and leave many people feeling as if they were an outsider. It is time that more positive and influential women are appointed ambassadors for young girls and women to idolize based off of skill and achievements, as opposed to skinny women who are easy on the eyes. It is time to redefine