The objectification of women remains a common occurrence. Women survive in a society with high standards. Criticized with every imperfection, constantly taught to strive for excellence. Women go to great lengths to change their physical appearance in order to reach these standards. Marge Piercy speaks to this in her poem “Barbie Doll,” a poem that depicts the struggles a young girl faces when she was only seen as a “fat nose” and “thick legs” (Piercy 11). This image drove the girl to such insanity that eventually she cut off her nose and legs to be “‘more beautiful.’” This poor young girl had an image in her head of how she needed to look. Unless she met the standards, the girl could never attain perfection. She would not feel like the “Barbie Doll” she strived for. She shrinks herself in order to fit the image.  Carol Ann Duffy also reaches out to readers to try and challenge these irrationally high standards. In “Mrs Faust”, Duffy tests the gender relationships that so often show men as authority figures and women as their objects. She uses her poetry to show readers the flaws in these ideologies of women and their physical appearance. In her poem “Mrs Faust” Duffy demonstrates how Mrs Faust lives her life as someone’s object. Forced to alter herself in order to feel valid in her husband’s life. 

Influenced by men, women habitually shrink themselves physically, but also emotionally as well. Women act a certain way, modifying the way they think based on these ideals. Women always told to think before they speak, while men speak at will, blurting out any idea that comes to mind. Lily Myers speaks to this in her spoken word poem “Shrinking Women.” Myers explains the observations she has made growing up in her family when it comes to the relationship dynamic and actions of men and women. Myers speaks on how women tend to shrink themselves in order to make room for the men in their life, to accommodate them. Unknown to them, their mindset revolves around the idea of the Barbie Doll. Lisa Simpson also touches on this problem in the episode of The Simpsons “Lisa vs. Malibu Stacy.” Lisa, disheartened when she hears the phrases that programmed into Malibu Stacy, disagrees with the company’s portrayal of women. Lisa didn’t understand why the doll’s creators were diminished Malibu Stacy’s intellect. Women often shrink themselves to make space for them men in their lives. They don’t say what they think and they don’t do as they please. The objectification of women remains a problem in society, which stems from the idea of how women should strive for a certain body type, while monitoring their behavior 

Women mold to society’s definition of what of the acceptable body, and an appropriate way to act. Women, trained to accept our differences, not voice our opinion and force change. Women keep to themselves in an effort to keep those around them happy. This however, affects not one, but all demographics of women. Lorde states, “It is learning how to take our differences and make them strengths” (Lorde 2). In addition, Lorde strives for a community of women who “recognize difference as a crucial strength.” “Without this community,” Lorde emphasizes, “there is no liberation”(Lorde 2). No one woman, or even a small group of women can change the standards by themselves. Working together strengthens our fight. All women have to break down the barrier together, as one. Lorde strives to educate men “to our existence and our needs” (Lorde 3).  She wants her readers to realize that as much as men put women down, they can’t use it against us in the long term. We can use our knowledge to bridge the widespread ignorance of women’s role in society. 

 In society the word objectification holds many different implications especially when used in relation to women. The word holds a remarkable amount of power when used in the context of the female body. While objectification does not have a concrete definition, Martha Nussbaum roughly defines that objectification “entails making into a think, treating as a thing, something that is not really a thing. ” Nussbaum takes it further, when stating, “we need to ask what is involved in the idea of treating as an object” (Nussbaum 257).  She splits this idea into seven notions, most of which holds pieces to the puzzle of objectification.  Using the object as tool for your purposes, or treating the object as something whose feelings and experiences don’t matter, both common attributes when objectifying women. Making them lesser and almost insignificant. To the on objectifying, women serve a purpose, never to achieving anything higher. Everything a woman does stands to please the one who makes her their object. Women look their best in order to please others while maintaining a clam demeanor. 

Once objectified, women tend to shrink themselves not only physically, in order to fit the “Barbie Doll” mold, but also intellectually. Women keep to themselves not voicing their opinions.  The Barbie Doll, released 1959, has been a cultural phenomenon in the lives of young girls for decades, acting as model for them.  Since its release, “America’s most famous doll,” Barbie has been a staple in girl’s lives, and more specifically their childhood. However, the Barbie Doll has rather surprising story. The popular doll, inspired by a “saucy high end call girl named Lilli,” who was sold in tobacco shops and bars, “Men got Lilli dolls as gag gifts at bachelor parties, put them on their car dashboard, dangled them from the rearview mirror, or gave them to girlfriends as a suggestive keepsake.” While the American Barbie Doll did not serve the exact same purpose, creator Ruth Handler, said, “Every little girl needed a doll through which to project herself into her dream of her future”(Handler). The Barbie serves as a representation of what young girls, and teenagers should strive for. Handler strategically picked to portray the Barbie Doll in a certain way. She thought it “was a little stupid to play with a doll that had a flat chest. So I gave it beautiful breasts”(Handler). Handler states that little girls would not want play with a doll unless it had “beautiful breasts” (Handler). She uses the doll to show girls what they can become, drawing more girls to strive for the Barbie Doll image. How girls should strive for the perfect body, and act as the perfect housewife the Barbie Doll portrays. 

Not only do we have a direct definition of objectification, but we also can see how it affects women on a daily basis. Lorde gives advice for how women can use their tools in order to build a front against our oppressors that mold us into objects for their personal gain. As people start to challenge the idea of the Barbie Doll, they realize extent of the dimensions to the “socially acceptable” women. More than actions, more than looks women now begin to break the mold. Lisa Simpson questions why the Barbie Doll she loves so much makes her feel like so little. Mrs Faust in Duffy’s poem changes her body, not for her self, but for her husband, and she eventually realized that it didn’t make her happy. Lily Myers talks about how she has watched her mom shrink in order to make room for the men in her life. Margy Piercy tells the depressing story of a young girl who obsesses over the acceptable body, and how to fit the frame. Women band together, creating push back, conditions Lorde deemed necessary in order to change the societal image. All of this slowly transforms the Barbie Doll image.  Sonia Singh from Tasmania transforms this Barbie Doll image as well. She has reimagined the Barbie Doll that we have come to know by giving them “make-unders” (Singh). Singh gives a positive image for young girls to look up too. Pushing for natural beauty as opposed to the over indulged Barbie Doll that we so often see in stores. 

When young girl never quite “fits in,” literally and figuratively, she goes to great lengths to try and alter her image. To start like most, the girl “was born as usual/ and presented with dolls that did pee-pee/ and a miniature GE stove and irons” (Piercy 1-3). Given this, the girl struggled with her own body image. As she got older, “everyone saw a fat nose on thick legs”(Piercy 11).  Perpetuated by the toys given to her as a child, the girl felt she needed to live up to those standards. The GE stove created the idea of a good housewife. However, in everyone else’s eyes, she never fit the description. She tried everything, from diet to exercise, but eventually, “her good nature wore out/ like a fan belt,” causing her to “offer up” her body parts (Piercy 15-16). Ultimately, she developed a state of insanity in order to attain an unattainable goal. In the end, the girl got her wish when “ in the casket displayed on satin she lay… Doesn’t she look pretty? Everyone said” (Piercy 19, 23). In her world, she got “every women’s happy ending” (Piercy 25). The girl got her “happy ending,” but at the cost of her life. In or world today, this story still rings true. Girls everywhere, while they don’t cut off their limbs, still restrict themselves in order to fit the “Barbie Doll” image. The scary part of this poems relation to our society remains that the young girl battle ends in death. Putting in perspective just the detrimental Barbie Doll image. 

Not only young girls struggle with body image and self worth. We can see how adult women also struggle with these principles in Carol Ann Duffy’s “Mrs Faust”. As well as a poor relationship with Faust, Mrs Faust faces constant dissatisfaction with herself. Because she feels like nothing more than an object to her husband, and in turn goes to great lengths to become an object of his affection. The lifestyle The Faust’s chose caused Mrs Faust to lose her self, magnifying her objectivity. She has become detached from feelings and has ultimately let go of her soul in order to fit the lifestyle that she lives. Mrs Faust goes on to change her physical appearance: “Had a facelift, /had my breasts enlarged, /my buttocks tightened” (Duffy 76-78).  Mrs Faust alters her body moving towards the “perfect human” that so many women strive for. Nonetheless, in doing so she feels like nothing more than a material object that needs refurbishing. The changes however, do not stop there. Mrs Faust “Went blonde, /redhead, brunette, /went native, ape, /berserk, bananas”(Duffy 84-87). These four lines depict not only physical, but emotional change. The words chosen by Duffy allude to an interesting point. The words “berserk” and “bananas” do not have the best connotation. When thinking of why Duffy elected to use this particular, one can’t help but wonder if she tries to communicate something to the reader. That all Mrs Faust has been through, plastic surgeries to hair color changes, has had a deeper impact on Mrs Faust, eventually turning crazy because of the constant need to be better. 

Lily Myers speaks to this pattern in her poem “Shrinking Women,” emphasizing the connection between the men and women in her family. She notices herself picking up the habits that her mother has inadvertently taught her over the years. Spending so much time picking apart the pieces of each one of her mother’s many expressions has made Myers make the same subconscious decisions when it comes to her life also. She has watched her mom “make space for the entrance of men” in her life.  She remains taught to accommodate, taught to filter and to think before eating and before acting. However only Myers, and other women understand this struggle. My. Her mother exists as a “fugitive stealing calories to which she does not feel entitle to”(Myers). Her brother does not understand their internal battle “as [he] learns from [their] father to emit, to produce,” while Myers has “learned to absorb… [She] took lessons from [her] mother in creating space around [her]”(Myers). Growing up observing this dynamic has forced Myers to think about “how much space she deserves to occupy”(Myers).  As she has watched the inner conflict she, “either mimic[s] or hate[s] her and [she doesn’t] want to either anymore, but the burden of this house has followed [her] across the country”(Myers). Even as she strays from her home, Myers has found herself following the same patterns as her mother. It was a “circular obsession that I never wanted,” said Myers (Myers).  As she had watched her mother filter, and for that matter keep to herself, when she did talk, Myers found herself apologizing to start off every sentence, as if her speaking inconvenienced people. Myers, unsure deserves to ask questions and further her education like the men in her class, gets closer following in the foot steps of her mother in the same situation as her mother is.  With this poem however, Myers challenges that very cycle by allowing herself to speak freely and address a real problem in society. 

The idea of the Barbie Doll perpetuates issues that Myers struggles with. Similarly, Lisa Simpson also struggles with the “Barbie Doll” culture. Lisa choose to play with her dolls differs from most of those around her. Instead of using Malibu Stacy a housewife, or something else of that nature, Lisa imagines Malibu Stacy in front of the General Assembly. Malibu Stacy disappoints Lisa with her sayings such as, “lets bake cookies for the boys,” and “don’t ask me, I’m just a girl”(“Lisa vs. Malibu Stacy”) Distraught by the phrases said by Malibu Stacy, Lisa believed that she would have something relevant to say. Lisa angered by the view claims, “Millions of girls will grow up thinking that this is the right way to act”(“Lisa vs. Malibu Stacy”). Lisa wants herself and others to “ be more than vacuous ninnies whose only job is to look pretty, land a rich husband and spend all day on the phone”(“Lisa vs. Malibu Stacy”). Malibu Stacy and the type of women that she depicts leads young girls to choose to act a certain way; to be vapid, to be a sponge that soaks up the situations around them, but never letting any of their own thoughts out. Most striking however, Lisa’s mother Marge’s response of, “ordinarily I would tell you to stand up in what you believe in, but you’ve been doing that an awful lot lately”(“Lisa vs. Malibu Stacy”). In short, Marge articulates to her daughter to filter what she says as Lisa has been disagreeing with a lot of social norms. The Simpsons get angry with Lisa, as they feel that she has impaired their daily lives with her radical opinions. Homer complains about Lisa’s opposition to ideals, because he feels inconvenienced. Furthermore, when Marge argues that she had a Malibu Stacy doll growing up, and she “turned out just fine,” she then proceeds to say, “let’s forget our troubles with a big bowl of strawberry ice cream”(“Lisa vs. Malibu Stacy”). Lisa then promptly pulls on the string attached to Malibu Stacy, who then repeats the exact phrase as Marge. This shows how Malibu Stacy doll impacted Marge, and continues to really impact the lives of young girls. Marge makes her decisions based on what Malibu Stacy taught her as a child. She tells Lisa to stop disagreeing with the social norms, because she wants Lisa to grow up in the same manner she did.

The ramifications of this lifestyle go far past the life of Mrs Faust. This way of life that Mrs Faust lives, as an object of her husband, acts as a crucial example of the cruelty of the “Barbie Doll” image.  Girls think that they need to fit the standard. Like Mrs Faust, these girls will find that this life does not make them happy. Instead of Mrs Faust being a goal, it should be a warning to the downfalls of the “Barbie Doll” persona.  The girl depicted in “Barbie Doll” also shows the dangers of body image standards. While in real life, most girls do not cut off their limbs in real life; it remains a metaphor for how severe body image issues can be. The girl in the poem ends up dying really young, which can sadly be the case with girls who struggle with the body standards and develop eating disorders because of it.  Moreover Lily Myers speaks to this when she talks about her relationship with food. She emphasizes how her mom has influenced her in how she acts as a woman. Myers notices herself falling into the same habits as her 

Mother. Shrinking herself to make room for men. Not speaking up, or when she chooses to speak up, apologizing trying not to inconvenience others. However, Myers, by preforming this poem, moves towards changings the old habits.  Lastly, Lisa Simpson challenges the heralded “Barbie Doll” image when she creates a doll that empowers women to break the standards rather the reach the standards that restrict them.  When she creates her own doll, Lisa Lionheart, she sets a realistic goal for young girls to strive for, thereby diminishing the “Barbie Doll” image that has wrongly shaped so many lives.
