A Work Of Artifice By Marge Piercy's Barbie Doll

In Sandra Cisnero’s short story ‘’Barbie-Q,” a Barbie doll is used to portray the author’s inner struggle to achieve perfection, and how her young age and innocence clouds her identity. Throughout the text it is very clear that the author, a young girl, had come from an underprivileged family and faced the issues many families of lower socioeconomic background typically face. In the short story it is also evident that her gender plays a massive role in damaging her self-esteem and confidence, as both the media and the author’s social background have continuously portrayed women as weak, powerless figures. Similarly, in “The Story of an Hour” by Annie Chopin, the protagonist, once again a female figure represented the life of domesticity a woman is expected to hold by society. Although Chopin’s story was written in the late 1800s and “Barbie-Q” is a very modern story, both depict the protagonist females as very helpless, incapable figures that trail after the overpowering men.

“Barbie Doll” by Marge Piercy is about a girl who is a normal child growing up; playing with dolls, miniature kitchen items and pretend make-up. It quickly takes an interesting turn when a pubescent child makes fun of her nose and legs and she was advised to exercise and diet despite the fact that she was intelligent and healthy. The poem continues on by the girl cutting her legs and nose and a bizarre visual of her laying in a casket with an ending that states “to every woman a happy ending”( Piercy 791). This poem was written by Piercy in 1969 a year in which many women liberation groups were forming and the breaking of womanly roles was taking place. The poem “Barbie Doll” by Marge Piercy,

Negative self-image among women has been a struggle in society for a long period of time. Social media, magazines, and the pressures of society has caused many young girls to feel bad about themselves because they do not look like the clothing model on the runway or the bathing suit model on the front of a magazine. Females grow up with the pressures of having to be in shape, wearing the best clothes, and putting on a full face of makeup for a male to find them attractive. Society has deemed that only "fit" women are beautiful, and that idea has caused women to harm themselves, develop anorexia, and feel insecure of themselves daily. Two works of literature that discuss the struggles women face from society is Marge Piercy's poem "Barbie Doll"

The Inimical Effects of Expectations Marge Piercy in the poem, “Barbie Doll”, confronts society’s unrealistic expectations of a “perfect” woman and the harmful effects it produces on women. This girlchild and the hazardous trend of her environment progress her unfulfilling life and tragic death. With the use of exceptional symbolism, sarcastic/ironic language, and third-person omniscient point of view, Piercy unfolds the inclusive meaning of the poem: the expectations society drowns women in need to halt because of the evident, awful ending the girl is compelled to. To begin with, Piercy’s evocative symbolism shape the appalling presumptions thrown on women all around.

“Barbie Doll” is written by Marge Piercy in 1973, which owes its title to the famous Barbie toy line. This doll was notable for its unrealistic appearances and standards, with its extremely thin limbs and a focus on outer beauty. Piercy, a poet notable for her feminist approaches in her literature, has written this poem to criticise the strict gender norms that are placed upon women. Especially during the 1970s, when women were still facing large amounts of discrimination and were thought of as housewives, this poem demonstrates the struggles a young girl must go through in a patriarchal society. These struggles have often been linked with women being objectified and having to meet standards they could never reach, and has only led to creating

What is the ideal body for a woman? In the poem “Barbie Doll” by Marge Piercy the expectation for a woman is compared to a barbie doll. A barbie doll has unobtainable body goals, which can be internalized by young girls. This follows up with girls own body hate and shame in their body type. Whereas, these dolls are given to girls from their earliest moments when their body is developing.

In the poem “Barbie Doll,” we see the main character try and try to change who she is so that she can be accepted by society. “Exercise, diet, smile and wheedle/ Her good nature wore out”(14-15), all the things she did to become skinnier, did not make her happy. They made her depressed because of no matter how hard she tried or what she did, she was never good enough. She soon lost the hope and drive to become like everyone else, and she gave up. Never give up, because when you give up, just like the girl in “Barbie Doll” did, that is when society wins. We all have a choice to make in our own lives, do we live the way society wants us to live, or do we live a life that we want to live.

Marge Percy “Barbie Doll” is a social commentary about the demanding pressures that the mass media produces about how women should look like and what type of body they should have. Women in the 1970s faced high standards and these standards still go on to this day. These high demands lead women to go above and beyond to meet standards that society has placed upon them. Some of these drastic measures can lead to consequences. In “Barbie Doll” the main character decided to undergo plastic surgery to fix her “big nose” and “fat legs”. Unfortunately she ended up dying in her struggle to meet the standard that the media has placed on her at an exceptionally young age. Her untimely death is a symbol and the theme of the poem that these women will work themselves to death to meet societies demands and most of the time it is all for nothing. All this women wanted was people to accept the way she looked and not critique her looks and it was not until her funeral day, when it no longer mattered, that she finally got that acceptance.

The poem, "Barbie Doll," written by Marge Piercy tells the story of a young girl growing up through the adolescence stage characterized by appearances and barbarity. The author uses imagery and fluctuating tone to describe the struggles the girl is experiencing during her teenage years, and the affects that can happen. The title of this poem is a good description of how most societies expect others, especially girls to look. Constantly, people are mocked for their appearance and expected to represent a "barbie-doll"-like figure. Few are "blessed" with this description. The female gender is positioned into the stereotype that women should be thin and beautiful. With this girl, the effects were detrimental. The first stanza describes the

Being perfect is the main theme that most of the women strive for it. Everyone today watches and buys the movies, magazines, news, advertisements and we see celebrities with the “perfect” bodies. It is not our fault. Media sometimes it manipulates women through the technology by using Photoshop and makes women look with perfect body and mark these false creations as flawless and inspirational. For instance, making a female to look ideal is tricking the society into thinking that we must have to be like that. We live and exist and it doesn’t mean that we suck just because we are not perfect as others who pretend to be with perfect bodies. Our society wants us to look perfect and actually we are wasting our time of trying to reach that because it is something that we can’t do it and it is impossible. No one can be or are perfect.

From the time they are born, girls are influenced by society as to who they should be, how they should look, and how they should act. Americans believe that women should be to a certain standard; pretty, feminine, and especially, thin. The pressures derive from family, media, and friends. Marge Piercy’s poem, “Barbie Doll” depicts a girl who was never recognized for her character and spent her life trying to be accepted for who she was, rather than how she looked.

“ideals are developmentally ingrained in children and adolescents”( Englis 1). The idea of beauty and ideal looks are engraved into people at a young age. The little girl being given a Barbie doll shows this in the poem. The idea of beauty and how a woman should act are represented in the Barbie doll. The primary take away is beauty is not everything.