"People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within. (Kubler-Ross).

In Marge Piercy's poem "Barbie Doll", the main character, anonymous girl, is born into an average, American family. The girl is said to be "healthy ... intelligent ... strong ... " and also has adequate motor skills (Piercy).  She has a major problem though: she allows herself to be influenced by other's opinions of her beauty. 

Upon entering puberty, classmates pointed out the girl's flaws: "her great big nose and fat legs"; in return, she began apologizing for her "deformities".  She is told to diet and take better care of herself. She is told to smile and pretend to be happy. She is told to disappear. She could pretend to be pretty no more. She committed suicide. (Piercy). "In the casket displayed on satin, she lay with the undertaker's cosmetics painted on [and] a turned- up putty nose" (Piercy). Even in death, she is forced to conform. Despite, her cosmetic plastic surgery, the undertaker paints her face to make her acceptable. Only while lying in her grave, does the girl achieve that acceptance: "Doesn't she look pretty". (Piercy).

The message of this poem is that people, specifically women, go to great lengths to be deemed as "beautiful"; however, the poem is a fictional literary creation concocted by a hippie in the 70's. The readers are allowed to displace themselves because of the "uncomfortable" reality that real people really do put their lives on the line to satisfy society's hunger for physical acceptance. In order to strip away the reader's option of displacement, one must look into real-world applications: foot binding, waist cinching, and the human "Ken" doll.

Foot binding has been a beauty practice for Chinese women for centuries. This practice results in smaller, more desirable feet and ankles. "The operation is begun by placing the end of a long narrow bandage on the inside of the instep, carrying it around over the four smaller toes and taking them under the foot. After several turns with this object, the bandage is turned so as to compress the foot longitudinally. At the end of a month the bandage is opened, and one or more toes is often lost. The shaping of the foot by the bandage requires from two to three years ...  The suffering at first is very severe". (Foot-binding). These women endure great trauma to conform to their culture's idea of beauty.

The idea of "waist cinching" as a fashion trend began in France in the early 1900's. Her peoples had small waists due to malnourishment. Such fashion icons as Coco Chanel and Christian Dior used this malnourishment effect in their fashions. (Gibson). Even today, this "cinched waist" is still desirable; however, it is now unachievable. Women began to wear custom corsets to achieve unrealistically small waists. In order to achieve this look, overtime, the corsets displace the major organs. There is another option: the surgical removal of ribs. Waist cinching can be seen in today's culture on many scales. Fashion icon and reality-star Kim Kardashian has been known to wear a less rigid form of a waist cincher. Even actress Sandra Bullock promotes waist-cinching products. The most popularized modern form of waist cincher, though nothing compared to its French ancestors, are Spanx products.

The Human Ken Doll, Brazilian model Celso Santebanes, much like the girl in Marge Piercy's poem, was consumed by other people's opinions of him. He died in June 2015 at only twenty years old. Celso began his modeling career at age 15 and was conventionally "beautiful"; however, several comments made on his social media suggested that he looks similar to the Ken doll. He became obsessed with this similarity and underwent much plastic surgery to achieve an absolute likeness. He spent close to sixty thousand dollars to achieve his look. (news.com). Santebanes was diagnosed with Leukemia and still risked his health for beauty. Leukemia is a disease that weakens the immune system and makes the diseased more prone to infection. He died at age twenty from pneumonia. He died striving for beauty. "His father, Celia Borges, told reporters: 'When he was starting to fulfill his dreams, he discovered his illness and his dreams were interrupted. He had plans but God had others'". (news.com).

The girl in the poem is a mere glimmer, a fictional shadow created by her lust and need for acceptance. 

