In the 1960s the image of women was changing. Through “Barbie Doll”, we learn the stereotypical things that little girls are “supposed” to be doing or playing with. Often when children are growing up someone will say something about their appearance.  When something is said to children they might take it to heart and try to change the things that are “wrong” with them. Often it is much harder than that. Through “Barbie Doll” by Marge Piercy it is important to understand images of women.

Children growing up during the 1960s and today are expected to act a certain way. Boys are meant to play with toys like cars and trucks, if they fall they are expected to just up and “man up”. While girls on the other hand are usually raised to wear dresses, play with dolls, and not play in the dirt. Many things contribute to this ideology for the generations growing up. With this there are also certain ways that children believe that they are supposed to look. One thing that contributes to the way that girls believe they should look are Barbies.  

When little girls play with Barbies they see the shape of their body. The shape that Barbie has is unattainable. If Barbie was an actual person, she would display problems such as anorexia. So, if she displayed these problems as a human, the little girls that want to grow up to look just like her have the same problems that she would have as an actual person. Because Barbie is not an actual person, children do not see the problem with wanting to become her. They cannot physically see the problems that she would have as a person. If she were a person, I believe that she would not like the body that she was in. She is much different than most women of the time. 

Barbies are not the only things that create problems for women on body image. Advertisements also create problems like this. The women that they put in the advertisements are beyond what any women can look like. They are behind special lights and the product is displayed in a way that is not normal. Often sellers do this so the consumer will buy more of the product because if they have/use more it will work better. This often happens with the age of women also. A product will be used on a younger woman and the older generation that wants to use that product also feels in a way that they are not good enough to use the product. As they do no look the same way as the younger people who are in the advertisements.

In the 1960s, women’s body image became a bigger thing. This is because of the rise of second wave feminism. Second wave feminism was the wave of feminism that occurred in the 1960s. Through the feminist movement feminist were aiming for equality between men and women. Often during this time men and women were not treated fairly. They were not paid the same and seen as not the same, there were many roles that women were not allowed to have. Ideals like this gave women ideas that they were not good enough. If they were not good enough to be in the community do things they believed they were not good enough for themselves. They wanted to change the way that they looked. Often when you think of women of any time-period there is a stereotypical person that you think of. That person is usually the person that most people are trying to become.  

Feminist believed that everyone, men and women, should be treated fairly. It did not mater their background or what they looked like. Feminist wanted women to be comfortable with who they were, what they were doing and how they looked. Through understanding body image of women and second wave feminism, the reader should be able to understand “Barbie Doll” by Marge Piercy.
