
Marge Piercy’s poem “Barbie Doll” contains an important controversial topic of stereotyping with females in society today. Today’s society has a very peculiar way of accepting things, such as personalities, roles of genders, and how we treat the people of other races and genders. Everywhere today there is a problem with people wanting to emulate others that are being advertised in the media, such as “flawless” movie stars or the super models that everyone drools over. Being a teen today comes with all of the trials of attempting to look flawless and trying to fit in. If you do not achieve the high standards that society puts on your shoulders, then you are simply an outcast to the people around you. This creates issues for teenagers because it causes unrealistic goals, ultimately leaving the teen disappointed and with the attitude of a failure when they cannot meet those goals.

“Barbie Doll” contains a story in which a girl at a young age is introduced to all of the things that a child has, such as Barbie dolls and makeup. This is problem because it is a very iconic thing to be somewhat “perfect” and sadly the poem ends with the girl ending up cutting her nose off and her legs because she could not meet that expectation. That reaction is an extreme because the in the girl’s environment bullied and degraded her about her body since she did not look as perfect as the Barbie dolls that they had grown up with. It is known that children tend follow along with whatever is shown to them at a young age, which is why young girls have no problem playing with Barbie’s while young boys play with things like footballs and G.I. Joe’s. This is called assimilation; when children are raised in a certain environment they tend to shape their lives in a matter of their interests as well as how they react in certain situations. So, because young girls grow up playing with Barbie dolls and makeup, they are exposed to the “perfect image” of how they should look and act at a very young age. Because of this, when the girl in the poem is told that she has a “great big nose and fat legs” she begins to think that she could not be wanted or accepted since she could not meet the standards of a Barbie doll. This led to the outcome of her making a decision that would ultimately end her life.

Today the expectations of females are that they should be almost flawless, looking like princesses or in this case, Barbie dolls. Most young children love playing with Barbie dolls, as well as dressing like them, and throughout their lifetimes it also becomes ideal as women get older to look like these Barbie’s, whether that requires a certain diet, makeup, or even plastic surgery to achieve that result. Women of today are supposed to be perceived as beautiful beings and society outcasts them if they are not so, which sometimes leads women to do the unimaginable things. “She was advised to play coy, exhorted to come on hearty, exercise, diet, smile and wheedle” (Piercy 348). 

Second wave feminism was brought about for women who wanted to be treated equal to men. “During the 1960s and 1970s organizations were formed that changed the way women viewed themselves and each other but the major victories of the Second Wave came in the form of legislation designed to give women more equal opportunities on par with men, and gave women (at least on paper) autonomy over their own bodies” (Feministactivist). In the poem “Barbie Doll”, the girl is first mentioned by the name of “girlchild”. This shows how women are looked at with a lower standard. Later in the poem it is stated that “She was healthy, tested intelligent, possessed strong arms and back, abundant sexual drive and manual dexterity” (Piercy 348), showing that the girl actually has the compatibilities to be able to do great things if she is not limited or does not limit herself. These lines show that the girl was not only strong, but how the girl was striving to be great. The young girl in this poem was never able to experience who she really was due to everyone else trying to tell her exactly what she should be. 

In the last stanza of the poem it is stated that “In the casket displayed on satin she lay with the undertaker's cosmetics painted on, a turned-up putty nose, dressed in a pink and white nightie. Doesn't she look pretty? everyone said. Consummation at last. To every woman a happy ending” (Piercy 348). These lines show how everyone saw the girl in the open casket, which was beautiful. The young girl was beautiful after she was dead because she had a fake nose and nice clothes on. But what had changed her from before? The girl was degraded and put down like others are in the world, she changes in everyone else’s opinion because it was what society had told her to do to be beautiful. Then it says everyone stated “Consummation at last.” Thus meaning that it is finished, and ending with “to every woman a happy ending.” (Piercy 349) The words “to every woman a happy ending” can be interpreted in a couple of ways, one of which being a possible warning. Society can be cruel if you let it tell you who you should be or how you dress based on what they think is best, it can ruin a person such as the woman in this poem. Another possible meaning being the foreshadowing of all of the hard work that the feminist movement had been going through and meaning that every woman will have a happy ending when all of the hard work to achieve their goal is finished. 

Second wave feminism is a very important thing because even today women are seen as unequal to men or not as important because they seem weaker or not as capable for the job.

Females today are held to a standard that is somewhat unreachable, but this shouldn’t be the case. Society makes it very difficult for women to be happy with themselves, expecting them to be flawless and perfect in their appearances and attitudes, but not expecting them to meet the levels of success that a man does. Women should have the same rights and privileges as men so therefore there should be no discrimination for women due to gender roles. So I say to all “to every woman a happy ending.”(Piercy 349)
