



Only recently in the world have women began to be unpleasant with their looks. Especially recently, women have become increasingly obsessed with how people see them. Today women are willing to go under the knife to please the eyes of others. Marge Piercy’s poem “Barbie Dolls” speaks about this societal issue. The poem, a timeline of a girl fighting how society views her, exemplifies the issue at hand. Marge Piercy relates the issue with the advent of Barbie dolls. Many articles have been published that back Piercy’s idea including “Oh! You Beautiful Doll” and “The Cost of Competence,” which both having writing about the flip of societies values and how they have adversely affected women’s mental health. Piercy’s poem is about how girls have grown up with Barbie Dolls, thinking that is what they should look like; because of this, women have taken any precautions possible in order to achieve the Barbie doll look. Also, even if the girl did grow up with Barbie dolls, other people did. So, sooner or later another person would point out to them that they don’t align with the idealistic picture of their doll. Society’s view on women has completely flipped as of late, which has led to a dramatic increase in mental disorders in women to accomplish societies demands. Society began to change, and the media went with it, not allowing anyone to forget the new standard. Women also embraced the change for better or worse and focused on their bodies like never before. Barbie Doll by Marge Piercy sums up the entire timeline from the beginning to the switch in ideology, to the nagging in society to always look better. 

Silverstein writes about Lillian Russell and her popularity in the late 1800s. By today’s standards, she would be considered overweight and not attractive. But, at the end of the 1800s, she was one of the most popular actresses of her time. She was even chosen to speak on the phone to the president, which was a huge deal back then. The rise of Lillian Russell’s popularity shows that society back then was willing to accept women from a different standard. But, as Lillian’s popularity diminished, so did societies acceptance of her figure. At the end of her fame, her reviews went from quotes such as “She looks like Venus after her bath” to “Lillian has no beauty below the chin.” What happened? When society began to switch to the obsession over flat stomachs and thin legs, so did the media. Both feeding off each other’s views, society slowly dropped their pounds and picked up their exercise routines. Shortly after the societal flip, Barbie was created. Just as Piercy’s poem exemplifies, the doll led to the demise of women. (pages) Alverez explains that dolls have since been used to represent the detrimental social message of beauty and fragility. Also, writing that dolls have become “a potent means of expressing not only discontent but also ambiguity, negotiation, ambivalence, and the ever-shifting middle grounds of gender and cultural identity.” People from a young age look for an example that they should strive for and because Barbie dolls are placed in so many young hands, they have become the goal of a clear majority. Alverez sums up the problems with Barbies by saying:

“The potential damage (other than to the doll itself) is to

 the desiring girls, who are caught up in a cycle of economic manipulation.

 Their desire is constructed by a world of marketing that denies them an

 undamaged doll, a doll without "a left foot that's melted a little" (p. 16),

 and by extension denies them the life of promised abundance iconographi-

 cally represented by Barbie herself.” 

Alverez explains that Barbie and dolls like it have made girls addicted to the new, girls that are always looking forward to the new look, which in turn causes them to try and conform to the ever-changing standard. It is an unhealthy habit that has become an epidemic today.

Piercy’s poem gives the reader an image of a woman unable to conform to the standards that surround her and resorting to cutting off her body parts to achieve conformity. People around her only praised her beauty once she gave up the aspects that made her herself. Piercy is showing that women are told to look and act a certain way, and they are stuck in a limbo of, until they offer themselves up and essentially kill themselves. The world wants them to become just another, instead of one unlike the other. Women were so obsessed with weight loss that multiple medical problems began to rise and companies started to advise against dieting. Silverstein highlights that “life insurance companies tried to convince their female employees not to diet” during the early to mid-1900s.  

Piercy’s poem can sum up the entire movement of the time in 25 lines. The fad that came to be and is still popular today is being as slim as possible. It has ruined lives in the process. Much of the fads popularity or blame can be set on society and the idols it has created. The second stanza of Barbie Doll epitomizes the fault in societies views. The girl in the poem:

“was healthy, tested intelligent,

possessed strong arms and back,

abundant sexual drive and manual dexterity.

She went to and fro apologizing.”

,but “everyone saw a fat nose on thick legs.” The girl was healthy and happy, but none of that mattered. She was only seen by her flaws. The Barbie doll gave everyone the idea on how a woman should look, and they held that standard to everyone. The classmate in the poem is sure to remind her of her faults. Also, the poem says that the girl was not ostracized until puberty, representing that while people are young society is accepting of anything. But, there comes a point in time when everything changes and people are looked at differently, and if they do not fit the mold they are constantly told so until they “cut off their nose and legs.” People are so willing to go through the motions because of the acceptance at the end, even if they are not themselves anymore. The chance to be remembered as a Barbie doll is too great to not strive for it.

Society dictates what is acceptable, and people make up society. But, media shows people what is right and wrong. So, when the media soaked into the everyday lives of people, it began to plant the seed for the idea behind Piercy’s poem. Once the seed blossomed, it became the standard and ruined lives. Piercy’s poem tells a story that holds true for girls since the beginning of the skinny fad. People have been dieting, exercising, starving and essentially cutting themselves into Barbie dolls so that they can be accepted as beauty. The trend is not going anywhere, any time soon because of the satisfaction people can achieve once they are finally accepted. But, the poem describes a case where it was too late and the girl was only accepted at the end, when it does not even matter anymore. Although, considering the high standards and low self-esteem, society is slowly changing today. Barbie recently came out with a new line of dolls that are proportionally correct and all different shapes and sizes. Everything was good and society was accepting, but then it “hit puberty” and began to notice all the flaws that make each person who they are and that was no longer acceptable. Barbie Doll is a metaphor for society and how they only accept the cookie-cutter version of people, while ostracizing outcasts. 





