Feminism is an ideal that has been around since the late 19th century striving from the western world. Feminism is the advocacy of women’s rights on the ground of political, social, and economic, equality to men.(class notes) The ideals of women’s equal rights from society is the ideal age hope that women have worked towards for centuries. To be looked on for one’s intellect rather than the physical appearances and material worth of a women in societies view is a main concept we see in our world. In the poem Barbie Doll by Marge Piercy, the presence of material worth of women shows the reader how others views and ideals of women impact the realistic character of women in today’s society. The presence of impractical standards put on women in today’s world and throughout our culture have caused a want of consummation and has put restraints on the roles and relationships of women’s in society by pure appearance alone. 

In the piece of Note and Documents from The University of Chicago Press, the article “Consummation” or “Consumation” In Shakespeare. The article discusses the meaning of the word “consummation” and “consumation” in regards to their differences in meaning and how the two words are used throughout the English history in relation to each other. “Consummation” is typically known from the famous Shakespearian soliloquies where it is used for meaning “to indicate fulfilment of a deeply felt desire” (Kellenberger). In the Elizabeth English era it was later seen spelt as “consumation” and “consummation”, meaning different things but being used interchangeably in spelling. The word typically has been used to display a since of death or completion to an end. The interchangeable use of the two words is discussed of their different connotations and how it effects the situation in which each is used. The word “consummation” is typically defined as a point at which something is complete or finalized. The word “consumation” first derives from the Latin word consumer, defined as “the action of consuming, destruction” (Kellenberger). The article discusses where in different literary works throughout the eras the words are seen side-by-side and are varied in spelling and meaning. The text gives many examples of Shakespearian writing where Shakespeare uses both spellings of the word to mean similar descriptions of an end or death. The overall outcome of the article claims that “regardless of the double m, the meaning can be nothing but the wasting away of the body in death, that is, “consumation” (Kellenberger).

The idea of consummation is “the point at which something is complete or finalized” (Dictionary). The article “Consummation” or “Consumation” In Shakespeare discusses how the idea of consummation is the finalization of something through death, similar to how the poem Barbie Doll by Marge Piercy portrays consummation through its narration. The poem describes the progression of comparing appearance and reality in regard to the high standards that society has put on women’s physical materialistic appearance. As in the article, the poem discusses how a young girl strives to reach materialistic expectations of looks and appearances and ends her search of society approval with death. “In the casket displayed on satin she lay” (line19 Piercy). The poem displays a coming to an end for the narration by death of finalization of beauty. There are two common known ways you can interpret the poem. The first is actual physical death of the girl from suicide, which confines itself with the view of “consumation” meaning “the action of consuming, destruction”. The second interpretation falls under the meaning of “consummation”, “to indicate fulfilment of a deeply felt desire” (Kellenberger) with the figurative loss of the innocent “girlchild” (line1 Piercy) that once was the girl described in the narration from her constant want to change her appearance to get social approval and ending in fulfilment of her wants through losing herself. Either way of looking at the poem can be seen in a different way like the separate meaning of the words “consummation” and “consumation”, but both like the words end in a finalization of being consumed to an end as seen in the poem “Consummation at last. To every woman a happy ending” (line24 Piercy). The idea of coming to finding an end. In the ideals of feminism, the piece brings forth an end to the hold that we allow society to have on our roles in the world as women and the want to own our given right to our cultural impact and roles in society. 

The article, The Impact of Physical Attractiveness on Women’s Social Status and Interactional discusses the idea of how beauty and physical characteristics of women affect their day to day life, and how society’s portrait of how a woman should look resembles their relationships with the world around them. The article discusses the hypothesis of “status-generalization theory and communication-accommodation theory that behavioral resulting from status inequalities emerge when attractiveness differences dyads” (Haas and Stanford). By looking at past research the article discusses the way desirable characteristics cause women to be looked upon.  The ideas within the findings reflect the stereotyped expectation that “what is beautiful is good” (Dion, 1972:285) and “beauty-as-goodness” (Eagly et al.,1991; Feingold, 1992). Here we see the results of attractiveness in women and how they differ in relations to behavioral attitude and treatment from others based primarily on the outside appearances and characteristics of the female. As seen in Piercy’s poem, Barbie Doll, the article displays how the appearances of women are seen to others and are used in advantages in life to get by without intellectual thought. 

The idea of a person’s overall looks in correspondence to behavioral and personal interaction is an idea that we have seen for years in particular to the physical appearance of woman in society. We put expectations on a women’s appearance in today’s society that effects the overall treatment and thinking of oneself in the world around us. In the poem Barbie Doll, Piercy compares the ideals between material appearances and realistic views of a young girl. The idea of “perfection” versus “imperfections” from a visual physical material structure against immaterial indicators. The molding of a women in society is changed by the outside views of others and creates a loose of comfort in one’s personal being and challenges the ideals of acceptance by others views looked upon one by society. Culturally a woman is molded into her role by the expectations and judgments that are placed upon her by world views. “She was healthy, tested intelligent, possessed strong arms and back, abundant sexual drive and manual dexterity. She went to and fro apologizing” (Lines 7-10, Piercy). The young girl had brains and strength, but because she lacked beauty in the eyes of others her unique traits where lowered in worth and pushed aside. We are taught in society that to prosper we must live up to the idealistic image of a women put forth for us by men and others in our society. In the poem the ideas of feminism are brought to the surface by the ideals that the young girl allows a man to lower her importance based on physical looks. 

The presence of material worth of a women shows the reader how societies views and ideals of women impact the realistic character of women in today’s society. The cultural ideals of feminism seen through Piercy’s poem Barbie Doll shows how women in our culture are brought up to believe their roles and presence should be based on a man’s views and societies mold of a woman physically and not un materialistically.  The presence of impractical standards put on women in today’s world and throughout our culture have caused a want of consummation and has put restraints on the roles and relationships of women’s in society by pure appearance alone. The search for equality and acceptance of women in societal roles is and has been a cultural struggle that has put a shine on how women must carry themselves in our world and allow ourselves to focus on us as people and not a pretty face. We aren’t Barbie dolls to be played with or looked upon. We are real women in a real world, and want to be able to have our role in moving forward away from materialistic placement of women in time. 
