Gender roles and body dysmorphia are serious issues in today’s society, which generally begin to affect the population in their teen years. Both of these issues involve how people see themselves, how they are affected by the way that others see them, and what is expected of them and/or their gender. These issues were also prominent many years ago, but they were not taken seriously or viewed as problems until recently. “Barbie Doll” by Marge Piercy, a poem that was published in 1971 during the second wave of feminism, examines gender roles, or social expectations, of women and the body dysmorphia that can result from these pressures. Piercy uses visual language, repetition, descriptive words, and irony to point towards the harsh truth of being a woman.

The visual language in the first stanza of “Barbie Doll” is strong and paints a clear picture of what was expected of young girls in the 1970s. This expectation of young girls is also prevalent in today’s society, even though the standards have been somewhat loosened. In Holly Brewer’s article “List of Gender Stereotypes,” she speaks of the assumptions that are automatically made of what the child will like, depending on their gender, after they are born.  In 1970s society, and somewhat in current day society, women are expected to run the household and are taught at a young age how to do so. In the second and third lines of the first stanza, this fact is made painfully obvious. Piercy writes that the girl “was presented dolls that did pee-pee / and miniature GE stoves and irons,” which shows the domestic gender roles that are presented and were expected of young women. This idea that women must be inherently domestic is a completely sexist expectation. Brewer also says that by doing this, the parents are showing the young girl how to be the stereotypical and ideal woman without being conscious of it. Brewer states, “We are teaching [girls that they] are supposed to wear dresses, serve food, and take care of babies; [this is] the biggest and most common stereotype put on women.” This line eloquently explains the pressure that is put on girls at such a young age. Another example of visual language contributing to the gender roles of women is presented in the first stanza through the line “and wee lipsticks the color of cherry candy.” (348). This line connects with the belief that a woman must be feminine. In that regard, women must wear lipstick, do their hair, or other things that are considered womanly to be a “real” woman. The “color of cherry candy” is also important to the meaning of the poem because red is a strong and bright color associated with love, passion, and sex. This contributes to the idea that girls are often over sexualized because they will one day be women, and people tend to disregard the fact that they are just children.

Repetition is a large part of the poem that deals with the body dysmorphia that the subject in the poem faces, and it is shown through the repetition of “[big, thick] nose and [fat, thick] legs.” (348-349). Body Dysmorphic Disorder, or body dysmorphia, is a serious disorder that has only recently started to be acknowledged by professionals (Phillips). The girl in the poem dwells on what her classmate says about her nose and legs, and the comments bothers her so much she decides to get them removed through plastic surgery. The repetition is present three times in the short poem, which important in emphasizing the mental toll the comments took on the girl. According to Katharine Phillips, body dysmorphia causes its sufferers to constantly think about their imperfections and analyze them to the point of insanity. This disorder is different than a person simply being unhappy with their body. She also says, “if the time and energy spent thinking about the body [parts] interfered with day-to-day functioning or causes significant emotional distress, then the person [should be diagnosed with body dysmorphia.]” The subject’s “problem areas” also line up with common areas that women, and men, struggle with. The areas that normally causes distress in sufferers are the nose, stomach, legs, and hips. This disorder can also cause concern for other things, like hair and acne (Phillips). 

Descriptive words through the poem seem to focus on one thing: the expectations of women for themselves and from others. Showing this idea through descriptive words is seen to the fullest extent in the second stanza. Some descriptive words being “healthy” and “intelligent” shown in the line, “She was healthy, and tested intelligent.” (348). The main idea of the second stanza is that, even though the subject has many good attributes, all she can see is her imperfections. This reiterates the fact that the comments that were made towards her about her “imperfections” caused her to completely miss the good attributes she does have, which shows how the disorder affects her everyday life (Phillips). 

Body dysmorphia is apparent in the second stanza, and it continues into the third stanza where the woman is so distraught over these imperfections, she decides to get them removed. The woman felt so pressured by society and herself to change, that she finally did something to try and be happy with herself. The poem mentions that the woman reached her breaking point, like so many other women have, who then resort to extremes, like plastic surgery, to cope with their imperfections. Harsh gender expectations are also in this stanza and shown through the lines “She was advised to play coy, / exhorted to come on hearty, / exercise, diet, smile and wheedle” (349). Women were more expected and told to be shy and modest in the 1970s than they are in today’s current culture. Brewer confirms this in her list of gender stereotypes for women by including two important stereotypes expected of women: “Women are flirts.” and “Women are supposed to look pretty.” Women who tried to break out of this shell would be shamed for not being ladylike, which is completely unfair because there is no right way to be a woman. Moving on to the next line, it speaks of encouraging women to come off as extremely cheerful and happy. This is an unrealistic expectation because women cannot be happy 24/7, and they should not be expected to because that is purely inhuman. The next line talks about how she is also told to “exercise, diet, smile and wheedle.” This line feeds into the diet culture that is becoming more and more frequent in today’s society, and it reiterates the stereotype that women must be beautiful and welcoming (Brewer). 

Irony is also an element that is utilized in this poem. The best example of irony in the poem is the very last line. The line reads, “To every woman a happy ending,” this being the last line in the stanza where the reader finds out that the woman has died (349). The woman has undergone plastic surgery and seems to have died suddenly after the procedure. The fact that the woman gets cosmetic surgery proves that she suffered from body dysmorphia because a common sign of body dysmorphia is “repeated plastic surgery” (Phillips). The irony of this stanza is that the woman had to undergo cosmetic surgery and die to finally be called “pretty” by her peers. Another ironic part of the line is that it is not truly a happy ending because she died. Unless, the reader interprets the line as her finally getting to escape the torture of being unhappy with her body and having to follow set rules that society has set up for her and so many other women. Either way, irony is used in the poem to reinforce the backward ideas of gender expectations. 

Through the use of visual language, repetition, descriptive words, and irony in “Barbie Doll”, Marge Piercy effectively shows the painful truth of what it is like to be a woman. The poem shows the story of a young woman as she faces body dysmorphia, which is caused by harsh gender stereotypes and comments from a classmate. The issues present in this poem were prevalent in the 1970s, but they are also still important issues that are faced in today’s society. These issues greatly affect teens, but they are also seen in young girls and in older women. This poem creates a dialogue to make these important issues easier to discuss to make sure no girl/woman feels the same way as the subject did.
