There are many factors that contribute to how individuals perceive themselves both physically and intellectually, but environmental cues have the largest impact because they form the foundation on which expectations are made. Society and social media, for example, provide an outlet for which thin physiques and symmetrical structure can be idealized. When these characteristics are not possessed by an individual, a sense of self-loathing may be established because there is a realization of inability to meet valued expectations. At young ages, children are stamped with and are expected to conform to stereotypes based on gender. Young girls are often gifted with dolls, a representation of female stereotypes, to instill a positive attitude towards the role of women in society as lesser than men. Young boys, however, are given toys that are associated with masculinity and strength to aid in establishing dominance and a powerful demeanor. This, unintentionally and unconsciously, induces children to desire to match the appearance of the idolized toy. Through analysis of the occurrences in the life of the subject in Piercy’s poem, one can determine how the various ways of which Barbie dolls and other social influences that are used to encourage adolescent children, females in particular, to present themselves to meet societal standards of a thin physique and exceptional beauty, can generate negative effects on psychological and physical health.

Written in 1971, the Marge Piercy’s “Barbie Doll” was able to argue and question the gender and social expectations of young women that rose following the production of the doll. Piercy summarizes the detrimental effect of societal pressures and the unrealistic physique of the Barbie doll on adolescents by recounting the life of a young woman. When the subject was born, she was gifted with toys that reflect on the stereotypes of women: “miniature stoves and irons” that reflect the expectation for women to constantly clean and “lipsticks” that symbolize the expectancy of beauty (Piercy 348). Although toy gifting is a harmless, loving act, it can also be degrading and create “threats to one’s health” (Bergstrom et al.). Early exposure to social media, outlets through which unrealistically thin waist-to-hip ratios are glorified, can cause “body image disturbance[s]… [and] body dissatisfaction” (Bergstrom et al.) later in adulthood. Barbie dolls, a tangible form of social media, are a physical manifestation of the ideal body form; as the adolescent girls who played with Barbie’s mature, unable to achieve the doll’s body shape, they begin to feel insecure. This insecurity about not living up to a physical appearance that is seemingly crucial in today’s society may be linked to a variety of disorders such as depression, anxiety, as well as eating disorders (Wanless).

Piercy, then, illustrates that the subject, although “healthy, [and] intelligent” (Piercy 348), was largely affected by how some individuals perceived her. By providing information that details the good health of the subject, Piercy is able to attest that other individuals’ perspectives play a large role in how one views oneself. The subject, despite being aware of her attributes, is still negatively affected by the comment of a peer about her “big nose and fat legs” (Piercy 348): physical characteristics that do not hinder her intellectual abilities. Although modern social media did not exist at the time of the poem’s creation, other forms of social media such as magazines and television, as well as environmental upbringings, allowed and continue to allow cultural standards and expectations to become more common which, in turn, makes them more desirable amongst the youth. Once ideals and expectancies become widespread, it’s easy for the public to recognize traits that are deemed below standard, creating a sense of superiority. Detections of imperfections, or, in some cases, perfections, begin a wave of physical and success comparisons among peers rather than comparisons to ideally built individuals. Comparisons to fellow unideal citizens can generate a range of emotions depending on whom one chooses to compare oneself to (Bergstrom et al.). Comparing oneself to an individual who is “more capable or superior can [either] increase motivation [to meet societal criteria]… [or promote feelings that] suggest that the self is relatively worse off” (Bergstrom et al.). Contrasting oneself to other common individuals, rather than unrealistically photo-shopped models, can potentially yield a larger psychological impact on self-esteem and self-idealization. Adults and adolescents that compare themselves to their peers whom they’ve presumed are perfect tend to sustain more feelings of self-worthlessness (Bergstrom et al.). 

The teen subject of Piercy’s poem, consumed with self-consciousness and the ineptitude to conform, committed suicide. Morbid diction such as the cutting off of ones legs and nose aids in explaining that the motive for young women and adults to permanently alter their appearances is to please other persons (Piercy 349). The extent to which individuals, most commonly, women, go to obtain “unrealistic ideals that have either been self-imposed or placed by society” (Wanless) parallel to high levels of self-consciousness and low self-esteem. The glorification of thinness and youthfulness is reasoned to be glorified because every individual deems it important from the assumption that others deem it important. If beauty standards were less self-imposed, comparisons amongst individuals would lessen, creating a widespread sensation of self-fulfillment in persons. This lowered self-internalization exemplifies women who have abided modern society’s “thin ideal” (Bergstrom et al.) exaltation and “corollary prejudice against overweight people” (Wanless) and, thus, do not experience the negative consequences of media and societal outlets.

The final stanza of “Barbie Doll” takes place at the subject’s funeral. She lies in the coffin wearing a heavy amount of makeup and a stereotypical pink dress (Piercy). This scene symbolizes not only the physical death of the subject, but the death of her individuality and efforts to conform. The mortician paints her face in a way that will please the guests of the funeral which are a symbol for modern society as a whole. Society is only pleased when every individual meets the baseline of idolized characteristics, no matter how detrimental the journey to conform is. At the funeral, family members and friends of the deceased subject comment on and appreciate the corpse’s newfound beautifulness (Piercy 349). The lack of grievance in the demeanor of the guests are meant to typify the message that social media, expectations, and gender roles send to adolescent children: physical standards and perfection are more important than individuality, and “that personalities do not count” (Wanless). According to modern culture, the thoughts and emotions of persons are irrelevant in comparison to physical and exploitable traits. This misconception is responsible for the self-loathing that derives from under appreciation of intellectual skills and the failure to morph into a model individual, in physical terms. Upon the burial of the subject, Piercy writes “Consummation at last. / To every woman a happy ending.” This denotes the end of the subject’s life as a free-thinking individual; she is now a puppet of the society in which she lives. Her happy ending only relates to her appearance, and not her true emotions which embody death and depression. The journey to a loss of self “beg[an] with Barbie dolls” (Wanless).

Since her debut in 1959, Barbie has “exemplifie[d] female physical perfection in… society” (Wanless). Barbie became a role model for the young who possessed her which has led to an escalation of recorded cases of anorexia nervosa and bulimia symptoms that “occur in about 5-10%... of US adolescent girls” (Wanless). There have also been numerous reports of plastic surgery, and other forms of body modification, in “middle-aged women” (Wanless) which demonstrates how self-depreciation is often carried into adulthood. The popularity of Barbie has not only created additional female stereotypes, but has created a sense of self-hatred in individuals who are unable to obtain her unrealistic form. Because individuals continuously become more persistent in obtaining Barbie’s beauty, society alters its foundation for the definition of beauty. As perceptions of beauty change, Barbie is manufactured more unrealistically, generating an endless cycle of body altering.
