Every child has their toys. They have teddy bears, balls, action figures, and dolls and these simple "toys" are nothing but fun in the eyes of the children who play with them. After an analysis of the effect that the Barbie doll has on a girl at such an early age, a negative connotation has been associated with Barbie and the way she portrays "the woman". She is thin, tall, blonde, and put together with modern fashion and make-up. Marge Piercy, in her poem "Barbie Doll", takes the analysis of Barbie even further. She explains the life of a girl from her birth to her death. She begins this little girl receiving a Barbie doll and how this "simple" toy sways gender expectations. It also promotes second-wave feminism with it being written in 1973 and the diction and tone change dramatically from the beginning to the end of the poem which represent the changes of a woman's mentality in her lifetime.

Everyone, both male and female, are unique in color, body shapes, and sizes. In Cyborgs and Barbie Dolls: Feminism, Popular Culture, and the Posthuman Body, the author, Kim Toffoletti, questions "If the model of female success and beauty has a tiny waist, long blonde hair and wears couture, then what does that tell us about women in society?"(59). From a very young age with the Barbie doll, women have had the "ideal" image forced into their head at a young age of what it means to successful and beautiful. "By playing with Barbie dolls girls learn that in order to be successful and popular women, just like Barbie, they must look good. Importantly, this fashioning of the self relies on buying clothes, make-up, and material luxuries"(Taffoletti 60). . In "Barbie Doll", Piercy says "She was healthy, tested intelligent"(line 7), and then "Everyone saw a fat nose on thick legs"(line 11). In just a few short lines, the authors does a complete turn around and suddenly, her health and intelligence did not matter in comparison with her looks. For women, outer appearance trumps intelligence in the eyes of everyone, not just men. Girls at a young age believe this because of what they think beautiful is supposed to look like. It is necessary to understand that both men and women are different and each look unique. There is no "correct" way to look and Barbie tries to force that she is the image every little girl needs to be.

Not only was the physical image of a woman persuaded by Barbie but also the duties that a woman is to perform during her lifetime. "This girl child was born as usual and presented dolls that did pee-pee and miniature GE stoves and irons and wee lipsticks the color of cherry candy"(lines 1-4). The poem traces the growth of a girl throughout her life. Early on with her toys, she sees that a woman cooks and cleans and she does this while looking all done up with make-up and couture on. Right off the bat, a toy that submits to stereotypical gender roles oppresses a young girl into thinking that this is what she is supposed to do/be. "...women who 'adjust' as housewives, who grow up wanting to be 'just a housewife', are in as much danger as the millions who walked to their own death in the concentration camps...they are suffering a slow death of mind and spirit"(Friedan 325). The mind must be exercised in order to remain sharp. Women who submit to being the stereotypical housewife subject themselves to be lesser than their potential as an intelligent human being. "Barbie Doll" is an illustration of The Feminine Mystique because the woman in the poem is dealing with the same issues as the women of the time period.

In the time period of second-wave feminism and prior to, a woman was expected to marry, have children, and spend her time as a "housewife". To many women, this was intolerable and needed to be changed and second-wave feminism was a solution to many of the problems that suppressed women. Marge Piercy wrote "Barbie Doll" in 1973 and at this time women were fighting for equality. The feminist movement of the 1960s and 1970s originally focused on workplace inequalities, such as salary inequity and denial of access to better jobs. During this time period, organizations were formed that changed the way women viewed themselves and each other but the major victories of second-wave feminism came in the form of legislation. Some examples of laws passed in result of this movement were JFK's Commission on the Status of Women, the Equal Pay Act, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the 1978 Pregnancy Discrimination Act. These laws were monumental for women. Equality in the workplace now allowed women to be viewed as the intelligent people that they are and not as lesser beings who are to cook and clean for their husband and children. Marge Piercy herself was a social activist and "Barbie Doll" fit right into the time period of second-wave feminism by displaying the struggles women faced in this time period in the hope to change them. She used a young girl developing into a woman, the hardships she faces, and how she has changed in result of them to expose the changes that need to be in made in society regarding women.

The change in diction and tone as the poem progresses represents the change in mentality throughout a woman's life. Children are born a blank mind, a clean slate. They are naïve, carefree, and genuinely happy for they are unaware of the social problems of the society they are born into. The diction in "Barbie Doll" begins as easygoing, light, and almost child-like with Piercy using vocabulary like "pee-pee" and "magic". Then, rather quickly and especially at the conclusion, the diction changes to be scientific with words like "consummation".  The change represents just how the mentality of a woman changes. She is no longer the carefree and light-hearted child she was. She now understands and can interpret the inequalities between genders. She is born a woman and therefore, she was at an automatic disadvantage and understanding that drastically changes her mentality. The tone of the poem represents life itself. Like a child, the poem begins upbeat and cheerful. It ends on a morbid and dark note representing death. Death is usually deemed with a negative connotation but Piercing takes an interesting spin on it saying how a woman is finally happy because she looks the way Barbie does. Women are held to such high expectations in their lifetime that death is no longer is scary and something to be feared but finally as a peace of mind.

Second-wave feminism was monumental and filled with accomplishments for women especially in legislation. While modern day is still not perfect, women have come a long way and the next step is changing the mindset of the people. A woman does not have to look like Barbie in order to be successful nor does a woman have to submit to the "housewife" image and cook, clean, and be lesser than her husband. In "Barbie Doll", Piercy exposes how this toy sways a little girl's mind to thinking that when she grew up, she needed to be like the Barbie doll she played with. Since it was written in 1973, Piercy helped promote the second-wave feminism movement that was occurring at this time by exposing the suppression women were facing in hope that it would help relieve it. Piercy's use of the dramatic change of diction and tone in her poem represent how women's mentalities would change throughout their lifetimes. The naïve and carefree minds are forced to submit to their gender's expectation at a rather early age and these minds suddenly become consumed with expectations of looks and occupation. It is not until their death that these minds are finally free of society's pressures for they now fit the mold of a Barbie doll.
