Barbie Doll is a poem written by Marge Piercy and was first published in 1971. Marge Piercy was born in Detroit, Michigan into a family that had been affected by the Depression. She was the first person in her family that had the opportunity to go to college and she attended the University of Michigan. Piercy’s poetry focuses on issues such as culture or class, and they normally come from a point of feminism. The poem focuses on the issues that women faced during this time period. Barbie Dolls were first coming to the market, and made somewhat of a doll revolution. Second-wave feminism was also going on, and forced women to fight for gender equality. By comparing the historical context of Barbie Doll, we can see how both second-wave feminism and the creation of the Barbie Doll affected young women’s perception on their body and mind. 

According to A Companion to American Women’s History, the “second-wave” of the feminist movement came in the late 1960’s. Women were struggling to fight for day care, better housing options, and union representation (Hewitt). There were two main branches of this feminist movement. The first was called the “equal rights tendency” (Hewitt). Women began examining the differences between the genders and fighting for change. The second part of this movement was known as “women’s liberation” (Hewitt). During the height of this movement, women turned their focus more to singular issues such as employment discrimination, health, or domestic violence. Feminists also found it difficult to give women different options for employment. They were already successful at gaining access in jobs that were not union, such as secretaries, flight attendants, and waitresses. The other male-dominant jobs were not as easy to penetrate therefore leaving women to fight harder. 

Marge Piercy was very active in the second-wave feminist movement, and therefore translated that into her poem Barbie Doll. The first stanza of the poem is what truly displays the stigma that women were supposed to follow in the early 1970’s. Piercy says, “This girlchild was born as usual/and presented dolls that did pee-pee/and wee lipsticks the color of cherry candy.” (Carolina Reader 348). The presentation of objects such as dolls, lipsticks, and GE stoves and irons was meant to train the brain at a young age. The women were supposed to cook, clean, and take care of the children. In the third stanza of the poem, Piercy says, “She was advised to play coy/exhorted to come on hearty/exercise, diet, smile and wheedle.” (Carolina Reader 348). Society was telling women that they needed to stand back, put a smile on their face, and keep up their appearance. That is exactly what the second-wave of feminism was fighting against. The feminists believed women should have the same opportunities as men and not be tied down to a stereotype. That is why women did turn towards fight for the singular issues, because there were so many, they could fight for an issue at a time. It was engrained in these young girl’s minds that this was how their life was supposed to be, but in reality they had so many opportunities that were made unavailable to them. 

In a journal article titled Barbie, it is said that the Barbie doll was first created by an American business woman named Ruth Handler, in 1959. Barbie was inspired by Bild Lilli, which was a German doll (Barbie). Handler noticed that when her daughter played with dolls she gave them adult type roles instead of children roles. This gave her the idea to make a doll that was more adult like. She named the doll Barbie after her daughter Barbara (Barbie). According to the journal article Barbie, Barbie was one of the first toys that was advertised over television. The doll had been sold over one million around 150 countries. The Barbie doll is to scale on a one-sixth ratio. If her measurements were translated into an actual adult shape, then she would have a thirty-six-inch chest, an eighteen-inch waist, and thirty-three-inch chest. The waist-hip-ratio would be 0.55 while the average woman’s body is around 0.80. Researchers soon realized that Barbie would not be able to function with such proportions, because she would not have the necessary body fat to survive. In 1963 Barbie also come out with ‘Barbie babysits’ and that outfit came with a book titled How to lose weight (Barbie). In 1997 Barbie came out redesigned and therefore the waist was made to be a little bit bigger. 

Barbie Doll by Marge Piercy was based off just that, a Barbie doll. Piercy was trying to make a point within her poem about the stereotypes surrounding young girls, based off of Barbie Dolls. Barbie dolls had unrealistic proportions, that no young women could even live with. Young girls would play with these dolls and think that that is how they are supposed to look. In the first stanza of the poem, Piercy says, “Then in the magic of puberty, a classmate said:/You have a great big nose and fat legs.” (Carolina Reader 348). Then in the second stanza she says, “She was healthy, tested intelligent, /possessed strong arms and back, /abundant sexual drive and manual dexterity. / She went to and fro apologizing. /Everyone saw a fat nose on thick legs.” (Carolina Reader 348). Society is telling the “girlchild” that she has to look a certain way in order for her to be accepted. She felt like she had to apologize for the way she looked because she did not have the body of a Barbie, and had people telling her that. In contrast, a Barbie dolls proportions tells girls that they need to have unrealistic expectations of their own bodies. Also, by society also having Barbie dolls, they put the same expectations on young girls. So if the young girls already do not have self esteem issues, they do now. 

Barbie Doll by Marge Piercy can be understood better once the historical context of the time period is better analyzed. Marge Piercy herself was apart of the second-wave of feminism. She focused most of her poetry on feminism, trying to make a part through her work. Barbie Doll is focused on the ideal that women have to look and act a certain way in order for society to accept them. The feminist, such as Piercy, were the ones who fought to end such a stereotype. Barbie dolls also gave women the “ideal” body type that they were supposed to strive for. The creation of the Barbie, which had impossible body ratios, was supposed to be a support system for young girls, but instead taught them that they should strive for the impossible. 
