
In the graphic novel Bitch Planet by Kelly DeConnick and the poem Barbie Doll by Marge Piercy, two different viewpoints are expressed towards conforming to society. In the essays, the authors show their awareness of the problem of not showing one’s true colors, and being the same as everyone else. Being ordinary and fitting in is not a terrible thing, but changing who you are to be someone you aren’t should not be enforced. DeConnick and Piercy agree on the issues of body image, but push their arguments in opposite ways. 

These two texts have a similar message, however, there is much evidence proving them different. In Bitch Planet, the government is trying to change the main character, Penelope, to look more attractive. When she is on trial the head of the council says, “All we want is to help you be happy. Why do you insist on making your life so difficult?” (DeConnick 184). Society thinks that if you do not look the way everyone else expects you to look, you will not be happy. However, Penelope is perfectly happy the way she is and does not need the government to look out for how she fits into society. She believes that happiness does not depend on how you look; as long as you have people around you who care about you then you will be content. In Barbie Doll, it is reversed. The young girl in the poem was okay with who she was until society pointed out her flaws. A classmate in the main character’s school states, “You have a great big nose and fat legs” (Piercy 348). Why is it that society decides what beauty is? This young girl who was harassed might have had low self-confidence to begin with making her vulnerable to this bullying. The girl instantly started apologizing to her peers for not looking the way they want her to. 

There are some very serious concerns when it comes to excessive weight loss. People avoid meals, vomit, and take laxatives to lose weight. Many women will take dieting to an extreme. An example from Bitch Planet is when three friends, who fit into the societal pattern, are eating breakfast say, “Divided by three, that’s 15 calories each.” “Did I tell you I evac’d 12 ounces two days in a row?” (DeConnick 195). This seems absurd, however, millions of men and women are this extreme about dieting all over the world. This is completely unhealthy and not the way to get fit. Body image is not something as crucial as society makes it seem. People are causing more harm than they realize to themselves by extreme dieting and other weight loss techniques.  According to Fit Day, “The consequences of extreme dieting are not pretty, as they all involve debilitating effects on your body; in some cases, some consequences may even be a threat to life itself. The consequences are so extreme that they involve both physical as well as mental degradation, a true debilitation.” Marge Piercy makes an exaggerated remark about how the main character in the poem cuts off her fat legs to be accepted instead of attempting to lose the weight in a healthy way. If being socially accepted as beautiful is the main priority for some women, there are multiple other appropriate solutions. 

These two authors approach the issue of body image in two different ways. They both want to get the message out of how one should be confident and have high self-esteem no matter what people think. In Bitch Planet, the author shows a strong independent woman, who does not need the approval of others. DeConnick wants this character to be a role model for women everywhere. Piercy addresses the problem in a slightly more complex way. This author uses sarcasm and exaggerations to prove that it is not worth changing yourself to be part of the norm. Piercy uses sarcasm by stating, “Doesn’t she look pretty? everyone said. Consummation at last. To every woman a happy ending” (Piercy 349). This is said after the girl eventually dies, with her “putty nose” and cut off legs while she is laying in her casket. The author uses the sarcasm by showing how ridiculous it is that she has no legs and a fake nose, and finally people think she is acceptable enough to be pretty. All the girl wanted was to be accepted and she finally recieved that acceptance once she was dead. Do you think that’s what the girl truly wanted? Is this girl happy now that people can say she is finally pretty, although in the big picture it does not matter anymore? 

The main characters in each of the writings have very different personalities but are in similar situations. These texts are alike because they both contain characters that do not fit in with the norm. However, there is distinct contrast in how the characters solve their problems. While one shrugs off the harassment from society, the other succumbs to it. There are external and internal factors deciding which way these characters go about thinking of their body image. The media is a main external factor which contributes to preadolescents, teens, and adults. The media always portrays women looking thin and beautiful, and this can cause many women to feel poorly about themselves. According to Proud 2B Me, 35-57% of adolescent girls engage in crash dieting, fasting, self-induced vomiting, diet pills, or laxatives. Those considered to be overweight are more likely to engage in such extreme dieting (Boutelle, Neumark-Sztainer, Story, &Resnick, 2002; Neumark-Sztainer&Hannan, 2001; Wertheim et al., 2009). This would include the character in Barbie Doll because of her “fat” legs. In the poem, the girl “cuts off her nose and legs and offers them up.” She does this so other people think she is pretty, and when she gets that kind of approval from society then she will be happy. Being independent and courageous is extremely important in the society in which we live in today. The main character in Barbie Doll looks at others’ appearance and wants to emulate that to feel beautiful. The internal factor is that happiness should not depend on what others think, but what you think. 

I find these two texts interesting because one is a comic and the other is a poem, yet they are similar because the authors are portraying a related message. They speak about why you should be yourself and not to change to simply fit in. Both of the main characters struggle to be accepted into society, and in the end they leave the reader with a lasting theme. Being insecure about your body image can be dangerous. With internal and external factors affecting the way you view yourself, one could take drastic measures to look the “appropriate” way. One could argue that Piercy’s way of delivering her message was severe, while DeConnick has a more logical way of dealing with body image. Both of these texts are effective in stating their arguments and with these, people everywhere can understand that it is better to please yourself than to please society. 
