Both Maya Angelou's "Phenomenal Woman" and Marge Piercy's "Barbie Doll" were published in the mid to late 1970's.  During this time period, many women were experiencing the second wave of feminism.  Focus had been redirected to social and cultural barriers for women instead of the legal barriers.  Angelou takes the perspective that she is above the expectations put on women and that she is "phenomenal" just the way she is (Angelou).  Piercy takes the more drastic route in "Barbie Doll".  She depicts a girl growing up, being steered toward the girly toys as a child.  As the "magic of puberty" hits, a classmate tells her that essentially, her appearance is not good enough (Piercy).  "Barbie Doll" takes the role of girls at their adolescent stage and exemplifies the harsh criticism most girls receive.  Both poems show different ways to approach outsiders' thoughts on a woman; Angelou takes the higher ground for herself and proclaims her beauty all around, while the girl in Piercy's poem takes her life because of the thoughts.  The poems bring across the point of high expectations for women to look the part at all times and to not have any imperfections to them.  If they do have those imperfections, they will be criticized by society.  Women are always told "exercise, diet, smile" (Piercy), yet we need to be telling the women of the world that their bodies "ought to make you proud" (Angelou).  

Angelou and Piercy's poems tackled the different ways women reacted to the sometimes-ridiculous standards society sets for them.  Piercy's character receives the ridicule in the puberty stage, where it usually begins for young women.  She is accused of having a "great big nose and fat legs" (Piercy).  The character is essentially told to suck it up, and even began apologizing for having simple body features that she has no control over.  She decides to cut off her nose and legs, to get rid of the problems people see with her body.  Her drastic measure takes her life.  No one sees the character as beautiful until the "cosmetics are painted on" at her funeral (Piercy).  That is the moment someone comments on her being pretty.  Piercy exemplifies the harmful measures that some young women will take to please society.  Angelou shows how a woman can take the higher ground and embrace how all her parts make her a "phenomenal woman" no matter what people say about her (Angelou).  Angelou provides examples of what makes her unique and a real woman.  She knows she does not have a "fashion model's size", and that does not affect the way she sees herself (Angelou).    Angelou's diction makes it seem as if she is bragging about herself, but in reality she is just showing people how her body is not wrong, but just a body.  Angelou also understands that many women feel ashamed to feel confident in their bodies, as she expresses when she knows people are wondering why her "head's not bowed" (Angelou).  Piercy and Angelou both understand that women are being put into categories and standards that are just not attainable, and they show the differences that women may take to fix themselves.

The tones of both of these poems reflect a different perspective on the issue of women's social standards.  Piercy's poem begins in a normal, standard way of upbringing for a little girl, and then escalades when the girl who is now a young woman is accused of not being pretty enough to look at.  The poem becomes very negative in tone when the girl gives up trying to impress society and fix what is supposedly wrong with her.  Her "good nature wore out like a fan belt" after she gave up and eventually killed herself (Piercy).  The tone of Piercy's poem shows the negative effects that societal standards can have on a woman, no matter the intention.  Angelou's poem brings to light how a woman can come above the comments and expectations and believe that they are a "phenomenal woman" (Angelou).  She uses more upbeat diction to express her tone of positivity towards a woman's body image.  In the poem, she describes different parts of her that make her the phenomenal person she is.  Angelou says the "sun of my smile" and the "need for my care" are some of the characteristics that make her unique (Angelou).  She accomplishes her tone of positivity towards a woman's body and ignoring societal expectations with her expressive language towards the different parts of herself.  Piercy and Angelou take on different actions a woman can take about her body image and mental standards of a woman in society with their different tones that they express in their poems.

Both of these poems deal with tackling the problem of stereotypical ideals for a woman that society sets on them.  In Angelou's "Phenomenal Woman", she tackles the problem of what other women think of her and why they question how she is so confident about herself.  In Piercy's "Barbie Doll", the young girl is accused of not looking good enough and she spirals down towards suicide.  The poems have a sense of urgency to them, for they both have a problem that needs to be solved.  The problem that both of these poems dive into is the standards that society puts on women of all ages and the stereotypes that they usually fall into.  The girl in Piercy's poem is given "miniature GE stoves" as a little girl (Piercy).  This present places an expectation on the girl that is unknown to her at the time.  The stove implies that she must get exposed to kitchen work at an early age, which was a typical job expected for women to do in their homes.  She was also given "wee lipsticks" at a young age as well (Piercy).  The lipstick toy brings the idea to the girl that she must be good at makeup to look pretty.   The toys that were given to the girl to play with at a young age show how society wastes no time setting the social norms on little girls.  Angelou faces the problem in the beginning of her poem, when she sees women who question how she is that confident about herself.  The women "wonder where" Angelou's "secret lies" when she walks past them (Angelou).  They don't understand how Angelou could be so comfortable in her own body that isn't up to the standards of society.  When Angelou begins to explain to them she is confident just because of her body, the women think she's "telling lies" (Angelou).  This conversation she has with the women shows that society has completely taken over some women's way of thinking.  They cannot look at another woman and believe that she can be that confident in a body that is not to society's standards.  The poems read deeper into society's stereotypes and ideals for women and how they can affect a woman.  The outcome can be more confidence than ever, or can take a deep turn and lead to suicide in the worst case.

These two poems were written just years apart from each other, when the second wave of feminism was becoming stronger.  Second wave feminism really focused on everything from birth control issues to equality in the home and workplace.  One issue that a branch of second wave feminists focused on was clothing and body image.  Many women were beginning to come under scrutiny for how their bodies looked and for what they were wearing.  Women didn't understand why their bodies had to look a certain way for society to accept them.  Marge Piercy was one of those women who understood what striving to be accepted by society could do to a woman.  Maya Angelou was one of those women who understood that you had to rise above and love yourself for you, not what society thought of you.  Both of these writers used their knowledge of the second wave feminist movement to inspire their poems.  Piercy wanted to show the world how society's body image pressure could completely ruin a person in general.  She wanted to show that one simple comment from someone who wasn't thinking could tear down a person and destroy him or her.  Piercy also wanted to show in her poem how cruel society could be, when a bystander finally thought of the character in the poem as pretty when she was given a "turned-up putty nose" at her funeral (Piercy).  Angelou wanted to show the world that a woman could be confident in her own skin, regardless of society's views on a woman's body image and what it should look like.  She exemplified what a proud woman should act like around all people.  Angelou admits, "men themselves have wondered" what they saw in her that was so special because she saw that her body was not what a typical man in society wanted (Angelou).  Piercy and Angelou helped support the wing of second wave feminism that was body image and society views on women with their poems.  These were great examples for both men and women to look at during that time period and even today.

Piercy and Angelou's poems have their similarities and differences as all poems do.  These poems share a main point, to show the affects of society's viewpoints of a woman on young girls and women.  The strong differences of the poems are shown with how each writer approaches those affects.  Piercy shows how just a single comment from society can derail a young woman into a strong will to please, and in the end commit suicide because she just couldn't keep up the act anymore.  Angelou takes the side of confidence and strength from society.  She shows how you can take the negatives and turn them all into positives.  Angelou embraces all parts of herself to show the world how a real woman acts, and that society's ideals are just damaging to women.  By understanding second wave feminism, you can clearly see how these two poems relate to each other based on that feminism.  Angelou and Piercy are both showing support to the branch of second wave feminism that is body image and society ideals of women.  Piercy and Angelou were in their time perfectly, and are still relatable today, as women are still fighting off the stereotypical ideals of society. 

