
Marge Piercy’s “Barbie Doll” is an eye-opening piece on beauty and gender standards that society placed on women in the 1970’s and still continues to do today. In this time, women were confined to certain gender roles, supposed to be a certain body type, and not taken seriously in regards to their mental and emotional health.  In order to understand “Barbie Doll” we have to understand the second wave feminist movement that arose from all of the sexism that was prevalent at the time.

First, the gender roles that women were expected to conform to caused them to rise up against that establishment. In “Barbie Doll”, the GE stoves, irons, dolls that did pee-pee all represent the roles that girls and women were expected to serve in that society. Unfortunately, these standards are often times still placed on girls and women today. In Sara Bilken’s piece Experiencing Second Wave Feminism in the USA, she identifies some of the ways that Second Wave Feminism helped create more equal opportunity for women in the USA. Thing such as the “glass-ceiling”, Title IX, and Roe v. Wade (Pg. 451) helped stop the discrimination that women had been living with in their lives. Bilken also argues that, “if women were elected to public office because they were more peaceful and nurturing,” (Pg. 451). This helps develop the societal standard that women were supposed to be a motherly figure and help others by being kind, instead of allowing them to be naturally tough and strong. The “dolls that did pee-pee” (Pg. 348) are representative of the women’s place as a motherly figure to others in “Barbie Doll”. Women also struggled to advance in their careers. For example, women were often expected to be receptionists and secretary’s. In the 1970’s there were zero female Chief Executive Officers of Fortune 500 companies. When women did have more powerful positions, they often struggled to gain the respect of their male counterparts. Sara Bilken speaks on the sexual harassment that she felt in her work at an educational institution. (Pg. 453). This is a sad reality of women faced everyday while trying to climb the corporate or educational ladder.

Next, the fight back of women against being confined to certain body types helped to push towards Second Wave Feminism. In “Barbie Doll” the subject is seen for “abundant sexual drive and manual dexterity” (Pg. 348). This is how women were perceived to be useful in the lead up to the movement. However, “Everyone saw a fat nose on think legs.”, making her much less attractive in the eyes of society.  In Jennifer Scalon’s work “Sexy From the Start” she says “These women see dressing sexy as their right as both women and feminists.” (Pg. 132). Here she is saying that models and women of that time wanted to rid themselves of the idea that they had to modestly dressed in order to be a proper lady. Their goal was to promote body positivity and encourage women to be free spirit. If the subject in “Barbie Doll” had had a chance to understand that she could attractive no matter her body type, she might not have gone to the drastic measures that she did. It can be believed that through many years of women struggling with their inner ideas of beauty, the Second Wave Feminist movement became a necessary way for these marginalized women to express their frustration with how they were treated and viewed in their society. However, often times women had to tone down their “beauty” in order to fit in with the male office culture. In Scanlon’s piece she says “women had to downplay their femininity in order to fit in to the male worlds they increasingly inhabited.” (Pg. 133). Although they were continuing to have more of the traditional office jobs, they were not able to look or act in a way that made them happy.

Additionally, the subject in “Barbie Doll” was made to feel like a lesser person. Piercy writes “She went to and fro apologizing.”, (Pg. 348). Unfortunately, because she was a woman people demeaned her so much that she started to feel guilty about how she was perceived, feeling as if it was something that she had done wrong and need to be sorry for. Scanlon says “You can be a feminist, but you don’t have to look like everybody died,” (Pg.135). Instead of feeling sad and remorseful women could break free and be a positive image and supporter of their movement and equality in general. If the subject in “Barbie Doll” had been given an option to live on the optimistic side of life, it is fairly obvious that she could have turned her life around and been happy. 

Additionally, the Second Wave Feminist movement was brought on by the lack of respect for women. The feeling of having “a great big nose and fat legs.”, is a tough thing for anyone to be told, especially a young girl who is still trying to find and understand herself. Women at the time felt discouraged by the little care and appreciation that received from society and felt that it was necessary to do something to change that attitude. By starting this, women have been able to gain some of that respect from society, although they are still fighting today.

Lastly, mental health, especially for women, was severely undervalued in the lead up to the Second Wave Feminist movement. It can be inferred that the subject in “Barbie Doll” had mental health and self-esteem issues. Instead of receiving support, “she was advised to play coy” (Pg. 349). This kind of lack of care can likely be seen as something that could be very frustrating to her as she is trying to be positive with the appearance of her body. Also, people may not understand that she may have tried to exercise and diet, but to no avail. In Sara Bilken’s work she says she had “just confusion, fear, and anger, as I saw how the culture of policy, administration, and men-protecting-other-men left me no credible voice of protest. She felt like her voice was not heard by other people and that she was being marginalized simply because she was a woman. Our subject most likely felt that way, as she did what could be the most drastic thing possible. It is also very sad to think that people saying “Doesn’t she look pretty?” (Pg. 349) about a dead person is fulfilling although no one ever told her that while she was alive. Also, the thought that death could be happy is a terrifying mental image. When she is dead Piercy writes, “To every woman a happy ending” (Pg. 349). This is a very sad but real reminder that these mental health and body image ideals that women experience every day are very real and can be extremely harmful to those women. To think that our subject was likely not the only person who thought that way is a real eye opener to us as readers that we need to take mental health issues seriously. Also, when Piercy says “Consummation at last” (Pg. 349), it is a sad reminder of the reality of suicide. The meaning of something being complete or final with consummation is a a stark reminder that in the all earthly problems are temporary and that suicide is never the answer in the long term. By feeling so lost and unwanted on earth, the subject felt that the only to feel that wholeness was by taking her own life. This kind of attitude created a necessity for people to change the system and how it treated women.

It can be assumed that if the subject in “Barbie Doll” had lived in the time of Second-Wave feminism, she likely would not have felt so downtrodden about her gender role, body image, or mental health state. She likely would have been able to fight through her pain and live a happy and productive life. We must remember to support in whatever struggle they are going through, especially as we know the long term effects of things like this. The context of this poem is still relevant today, as a reminder to us to be aware of how we act and what we say about other people.

By understanding the ways that women were being marginalized in society, we as readers of “Barbie Doll” can understand the lead up to the Second-Wave Feminism movement, as well as how it has transformed gender roles in society, beauty standards, and the perception of mental health, especially in women. We can and must Piercy’s work to change our attitude and perception of how we treat women in our society, in hopes of truly gaining equality and liberty for everyone.
