Many children grow up with a role model, whether it is a family member, someone exposed in the media, or maybe something as simple as a toy. In the poem "Barbie Doll" by Marge Piercy, the Barbie doll is the idol for many young children. While some children have no effect from the image of a Barbie doll, others may have the opposite reaction, directly corresponding into a negative effect. This story shows how one views itself before the viewed perfection of a doll and after they learn the perfect image of the doll. The main character is directly affected, in the end changing her entire lifestyle to match accordingly to the doll's life and the image it withheld. In this poem I focused on how role models, such as Barbie dolls can influence the way young children view themselves as well as others. 

The Barbie Doll was originally created in 1959 in Germany. This doll represented women and all that they could be and even more than that. The standards that these women were held to included an unrealistic wealth and perfect physique. Although some thought this was a good view women should have on themselves, others disagreed fully. Those who thought this was a positive outlook for children did not look at the image of the Barbie, but the successfulness of the product as a whole. The successfulness of the product shows by how many Barbie's that were sold as well as how many people were influenced by the doll itself. Those who viewed it negatively really looked at how Barbie's body was designed and viewed as a sexual object. Men viewed the doll as sexy, a form of pornography. Barbie dolls were also used to represent the "ideal body" for women.

The history of the Barbie doll in the 1950's was different then what is said now. The Barbie doll was used to influence children to be very successful women and own the nice expensive things and always be up to date on the fashion. (Wolf, 2014) The negative part of it is the body of the doll. The body shows an unrealistic goal for women. A Barbie is 5'6 and 120lbs, her body fat is so low that she could not even menstruate. The average women's measurements are 41-34-43, Barbie's measurements are 38-18-34. Recently they have looked at Barbie dolls more and more and saw that she could not even stand up with her unproportional body and that it was no where achievable. Other negative effects that the Barbie has on young children are things such as eating disorders. It shows that 90% of eating disorders happens to children 12-25. This starts around the time the children had played with a Barbie doll. Children grow up learning about the world with things that they play with such as, kitchen set, doctors, and the Barbie. This does not go to say that parents should not let their children play with Barbie's but to make sure it does not have a negative influence on the child and make sure the child knows that everyone is different and everyone looks different. (Barbie and Body image, 2014) In this poem it talks about how a "girlchild was born as usual" and it ends up not being enough in the end. (Wolf, 2014)

In "Barbie Doll" the girlchild was born usual. What they mean by that is that she was born just like any other child, not perfect. She had flaws but was still healthy, intelligent, and strong. This means she was not over weight or underweight, just right for her age. She had a bright future ahead of her because she was a very smart girl, and she was strong in the sense that she could do anything she set her mind too. She did not view herself in a negative way until one day a classmate told her she had "a great big nose and fat legs." (Piercy, 195-95) She then realized that she did not mirror the way Barbie looked. She thought that the only way people would think she looked "normal" or "perfect" was to achieve the Barbie-like figure. She wanted to please everyone and begin to try to change her look. She apologized for everything she had such as her health, intelligence, and her strong personality. Although she did nothing wrong with what she had she still thought because she did not look like the perfect women that she had to be sorry for all of her accomplishments this far. She had changed things about herself that did not need changing. This image that was being perceived by the children was that you had to look a certain type of way if you wanted to fit in and be well liked even if you were very happy with the way you were. 

When she realized she was not the ideal woman she tried to become the perfect women. She originally was fine with the way she was and was very happy with how she looked. She had a unique personality, which would have made her a successful young woman. She was told that she had a big nose and fat legs at a very young age, which made it more likely for her to believe it. This is why Barbie had a negative affect because it was toys for young girls. The younger you are the more you naive you are. You tend to think that what everyone says is true even if you are happy with how you are. In this poem the girl works out and diets in hope to achieve the perfect body and become something that everyone expects her to look like. "Her good nature wore out like a fan belt" meaning she slowly lost her unique personality due to all the negative changes she was making to her body in order to look just like Barbie, which is very unrealistic. She had the personality and heart that everyone loved even though she did not have the "ideal body." All that ran out when she was given the comment about her nose and thighs. She eventually undergoes the knife and cuts off her legs and nose. She thinks that since those were the negative things about her, that she would now be more liked and have the perfect body. When she is lying in the casket everyone thought that she had achieved every women's happy ending, a "perfect body." It made the girl do things that were unhealthy and not needed. She changed her whole way of life because of a comment about her nose and legs, but everyone is different.

This poem is labeled Barbie Doll but through the poem it never talks about the doll itself. While reading the poem there are certain lines that make the reader compare it to the title, which is the Barbie Doll. The poem states that she was presented dolls as a child but they never specifically say that is it a Barbie. When reading the text you can pick out certain lines that really describe the Barbie doll such as "miniature GE stoves and irons and wee lipsticks the color of cherry candy." (Piercy, 194) Barbie was always known for her expensive things like her car, house and clothing she wore. This shows that the doll they are trying to explain that she played with was one who had very many accessories and materialistic things such as the cherry candy lipsticks. A lot of things that people have talked about lately is how Barbie has a negative affect on children and this poem describes it perfectly. It says that the girlchild would basically do anything she had to in order to obtain the perfect body, even if that meant cutting off her legs and nose. As long as she died pretty, she had achieved the goal to every woman's happy ending.  

The Barbie doll can be a little girl's favorite toy, but it is the parent's job to make sure that is does not influence them in the wrong way. Although this poem does not directly talk about the Barbie Doll itself, the title of it puts forth that thought in the readers mind. The poem shows that you may find nothing wrong with yourself until you see an image that everyone expects you to be like. It is always a good thing to have role model in your life, but it is important that it is your role model for all the right reasons.

