Marge Piercy's Barbie Doll
A Woman’s Place in Society In Marge Piercy’s poem, “Barbie Doll,” the title carries a lot of meaning because a Barbie doll has long been an icon in society. Although it is a children’s toy, a Barbie doll exemplifies a woman with a perfect body exonerating beauty. This poem portrays a summary of a life since birth to the end of life at a funeral. The protagonist never had a chance to live her life to the fullest because she was always trying to please others and wanted to be accepted. She never got the chance to be herself which led her to a life of unhappiness. In the poem “Barbie Doll,” Marge Piercy uses repetition, simile and irony to show the expectation of society on women. First, the repetition of peer’s judgments of the
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protagonist 's physical appearance shows the expectations of society. A classmate said in the beginning, “You have a great big nose and fat legs” (6). These are the ending lines for the first two stanzas. Both stanzas come back to the point that physically, she does not fit the perfect Barbie doll image. She starts to question her physical appearance ever since. This is also when her low self-esteem begins. Women with low self-esteem always remember these words and begin to believe them as true. This statement also shows how society normally does not see what is on the inside of a women and what her abilities are but instead focuses on appearance. Also, Piercy uses simile to show the reader how society is expecting a young women to be. In the third stanza, Piercy writes, “Her good nature wore out / like a fan belt" (15-16). The protagonist 's breaking of strength is compared to the breaking of something inhuman and automatic. Her life has been not alive, but simply present, working to please others, but never being able to please either them or herself. Once a machine loses its meaning or function, it breaks, as does the protagonist. She can no longer take the strain of living without acceptance. She decides to do something drastic because she was tired of trying to fit in. This also leads the girl to commit suicide, “So she cut off her nose and her legs / and offered them up” (17-18). She cut off what society did not like about her and stopped her misery, she decided to go to a place where nobody could judge her. The last stanza of the poem, Piercy uses full irony to show the reader the expectations of society on her death.
She is adorned with, “the undertaker’s cosmetics painted on/a turned-up putty nose/ dressed in a pink and white nightie” (20 -22). All of these things symbolize society’s views of a “perfect woman”. Piercy writes with ironic and sarcastic, “Doesn’t she look pretty? Everyone said / consummation at last / To every woman a happy ending” (23-25). For once in the young woman’s life she is viewed as pretty by everyone who symbolizes society. Even though the young woman is dead, society views her as pretty because she finally has a new acceptable nose. Her entire life, the subject of the poem has been ridiculed, leaving her without self-acceptance. After trying to fix her only "flaws" by cutting them off, she ends her life. Only when she is lying in her casket during her funeral, with plastic surgery that has created a false but acceptable nose, do people compliment her looks? In fact, the reason a person looks pretty in their casket is because they are “made-up” to look their best. Reader is lead to believe that the entire group of people at the funeral thinks she is pretty now that she is lying so serenely in her casket, like an image of a
doll. In conclusion, this girl started out normal but soon changed her ways to become "pretty" according to society. Women have to stop being themselves and become somebody else in order to fit in the society’s expectations. Society tells people how to dress and act, having people be and look a certain way to be accepted. This creates a lot of pressure on young women to reach the expectations of everyone else. The excessive dieting and exercise and the need to be skinny are huge factors in today 's world. The pressures of society are extremely hurtful and cause so much stress, especially on women.
Work Cited
Piercy, Marge. “Barbie Doll,” Literature and the Writing Process. Ed. Elizabeth Mcmaham, Susan X Day, Robert Funk, and Linda Coleman. 7th ed. Upper Saddle River : Prentice, 2005. 643. Print.
protagonist 's physical appearance shows the expectations of society. A classmate said in the beginning, “You have a great big nose and fat legs” (6). These are the ending lines for the first two stanzas. Both stanzas come back to the point that physically, she does not fit the perfect Barbie doll image. She starts to question her physical appearance ever since. This is also when her low self-esteem begins. Women with low self-esteem always remember these words and begin to believe them as true. This statement also shows how society normally does not see what is on the inside of a women and what her abilities are but instead focuses on appearance. Also, Piercy uses simile to show the reader how society is expecting a young women to be. In the third stanza, Piercy writes, “Her good nature wore out / like a fan belt" (15-16). The protagonist 's breaking of strength is compared to the breaking of something inhuman and automatic. Her life has been not alive, but simply present, working to please others, but never being able to please either them or herself. Once a machine loses its meaning or function, it breaks, as does the protagonist. She can no longer take the strain of living without acceptance. She decides to do something drastic because she was tired of trying to fit in. This also leads the girl to commit suicide, “So she cut off her nose and her legs / and offered them up” (17-18). She cut off what society did not like about her and stopped her misery, she decided to go to a place where nobody could judge her. The last stanza of the poem, Piercy uses full irony to show the reader the expectations of society on her death.
She is adorned with, “the undertaker’s cosmetics painted on/a turned-up putty nose/ dressed in a pink and white nightie” (20 -22). All of these things symbolize society’s views of a “perfect woman”. Piercy writes with ironic and sarcastic, “Doesn’t she look pretty? Everyone said / consummation at last / To every woman a happy ending” (23-25). For once in the young woman’s life she is viewed as pretty by everyone who symbolizes society. Even though the young woman is dead, society views her as pretty because she finally has a new acceptable nose. Her entire life, the subject of the poem has been ridiculed, leaving her without self-acceptance. After trying to fix her only "flaws" by cutting them off, she ends her life. Only when she is lying in her casket during her funeral, with plastic surgery that has created a false but acceptable nose, do people compliment her looks? In fact, the reason a person looks pretty in their casket is because they are “made-up” to look their best. Reader is lead to believe that the entire group of people at the funeral thinks she is pretty now that she is lying so serenely in her casket, like an image of a
doll. In conclusion, this girl started out normal but soon changed her ways to become "pretty" according to society. Women have to stop being themselves and become somebody else in order to fit in the society’s expectations. Society tells people how to dress and act, having people be and look a certain way to be accepted. This creates a lot of pressure on young women to reach the expectations of everyone else. The excessive dieting and exercise and the need to be skinny are huge factors in today 's world. The pressures of society are extremely hurtful and cause so much stress, especially on women.
Work Cited
Piercy, Marge. “Barbie Doll,” Literature and the Writing Process. Ed. Elizabeth Mcmaham, Susan X Day, Robert Funk, and Linda Coleman. 7th ed. Upper Saddle River : Prentice, 2005. 643. Print.