Every year, millions of people around the world struggle with their body image, eating disorders, and body dysmorphia. While both males and females are affected, females tend to suffer from body issues more than males. The inner battle comes from society’s perception of what people’s bodies should look like, even though it is unrealistic. The poem Barbie Doll by Marge Piercy addresses these problems and is about a young girl that struggles with her body image. 

Barbie Doll starts out with the main character as a baby girl. The toys she is given are kitchenware, irons, and cosmetics. Next, the child grows to adolescence because the girl’s classmates are now experiencing puberty and become aware of and concerned with their appearance. The girl’s classmate tells her that her nose is big and her legs are fat. These two things are viewed negatively in society. Next, the author describes how the young girl is healthy, smart, and strong, but none of those things seem to matter because her body is not ideal. Because of this, the main character is told to act shy and be quiet. She is also advised to exercise, diet, and always appear happy. Soon, the girl stops wanted to follow that advise so she mutilates her body. In the end of the poem, the girl is dead and lying in her casket. She has on lots of makeup, lingerie, and finally has achieved expected beauty in her death. 

The poem consists of four stanzas, and each stanza represents the girl as she grows older. In the first stanza, the baby girl is exposed to stereotypes of what a woman should be like through the toys she receives. The stove and iron tells the her that she is supposed to be in the kitchen cooking, cleaning, and ironing. The lipstick is meant to tell her that she needs to wear makeup and be feminine. Before the girl even has a chance to live a little, society’s expectations are already placed on her shoulders. Next, the girl becomes an adolescent and her classmates start going through puberty and slimming down. It appears that the main character has not experienced puberty yet, and one classmate makes a remark about her having, “…a great big nose and fat legs” (6). This comment is what starts the girl’s obsession with her body and appearance. In the second stanza, the girl is an adolescent. She is healthy in every way that matters, but she is unhappy with her body because she still sees it as fat and unpleasant. In the third stanza, the girl is now a young adult maybe in her 20s because her actions seem to be for male attention. People are telling her to shy, and exercise to lose weight so she will appeal to others more. She gets sick of acting that way, and mutilates her body. This is referencing plastic surgery, she probably got a nose job and liposuction to reduce the size of her legs. She is a young adult in this stanza because she can finally afford plastic surgery to alter her appearance. In the last stanza, the woman is probably in her late 30s when she dies. Her death is when she is finally able to achieve the pretty look that she has been chasing her whole life. This goes to show that no matter what is done, people that suffer from body dysmorphic disorder are never satisfied with their appearance until it is too late. 

Body dysmorphia (BDD) is a disorder that causes a person to obsess over a supposed defect in their body that is minor or unnoticeable to others. In the article, Body Dysmorphic Disorder. A Survey of Fifty Cases, by D. Veale, 50 people with BDD were interviewed with surveys in a cross-sectional study. Three-fourths of the study population was female. The researchers found that the average age where BDD is developed is late adolescence. They also found that most of the study population was divorced or single. They also found that 26% of their study population was diagnosed with a mood disorder, 16% with a social phobia, 6% with obsessive-compulsive disorder, 72% with a personality disorder, mostly paranoia, and 24% had made a suicide attempt in the past. They study concluded that BDD patients have a high comorbidity and that their illness was not effectively diagnoses or treated by medical professionals. 

The findings of the article show that most of the patients with BDD were divorced or single, which may mean that they have low self-esteem, causing them to view themselves in a distorted way. The other mental illnesses that the patients were diagnosed with may also weaken how they view themselves, and their mental state, causing them to judge themselves, and view their bodies in a way that nobody else sees. The fact that most of the patients were women was not surprising and is probably because society places more beauty standard on women than men. This article relates to the poem because the girl in the poem clearly suffered from body dysmorphia. She was unable to focus on her other qualities other than the physical. In the poem, the author says that, “She was advised to play coy, / exhorted to come on hearty, / exercise, diet, smile and wheedle” (12-14). The girl exercised and dieted so she was probably healthy and slim, but due to her disorder, she still thought she was fat and had a big nose. The girl shows characteristics of body dysmorphia disorder.

The article Gender Similarities and Differences in 200 Individuals with Body Dysmorphic Disorder is about a study that was conducted to determine the differences and similarities in body dysmorphia in women and men. The study was done with two hundred people that suffer from BDD. The researchers found that there were more similarities than differences between the genders. The study found that men with BDD were much older than women with the disorder and they obsessed about their genitals, build, and hair. Women tended to obsess over their skin, stomach, weight, breasts, butt, thighs, legs, hips, toes, and body/facial hair. The men tended to suffer from substance abuse and excessively life weights while women were more likely to have an eating disorder, and do several things that would camouflage or change their appearance. Women also had an earlier onset of BDD than men. The study concluded that these findings can be used to detect and treat body dysmorphic disorder. 

This article relates to the poem because the girl obsessed over the same parts that women in the study were found to worry about the most. In Barbie Doll, the main character had plastic surgery to alter her appearance. The study found did things, such as plastic surgery, to change their appearance more than men. The signs and characteristics of women with BDD that were discussed in the article reflect those shown in the poem. 

Overall, body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) is a serious chronic illness that causes a person the view their body in a distorted way causing them to obsess over it, even though that body part looks normal to others. The main character in Barbie Doll by Marge Piercy suffered from BDD and obsessed over her legs and nose. In the end, she ended up getting plastic surgery and dying from it. She was not about to find beauty until her death. Multiple studies have shown that women are most likely to suffer from BDD, and that it starts at a younger age than in men. These women tend to not be in a relationship, and probably have low self-esteem. This disorder causes people to often develop eating disorders or have plastic surgery. In the end, this is a chronic illness and the only treatment is trying to get the person to view themselves in a better way or develop hobbies so their main focus is not their appearance. 
