Labeling women has been a bigger issue than people think throughout history. Women have come a long way since not have any rights at all, but there is still much work to be done. Feminists have worked tirelessly to gain equality for women. In today’s society women are supposed to be equal yet still receive pressure from the media, workplace and society. Marge Piercy’s Barbie Doll describes a young woman’s development and how labels destroyed her self-esteem and eventually led to her death. This poem was written in the 1970’s but is still very relevant today. The stresses that were put on women during the 70’s are the same ones that still occur today, like being pretty, skinny, domestic duties and having other “womanly qualities”. This poems relevance today shows how women are still an oppressed minority group with desperate need for change.

This text was originally written in 1973 at the peak of second-wave feminism in Detroit. Marge Piercy grew up in a working class family in a neighborhood sparked by racial tensions. Marge was able to see at a young age how oppression and tension can mold a society into something very unpleasant. The 70’s are often overlooked for their great racial and social tension due to some social movements that overshadowed. Great strides made in music and pop culture distract from the many social flaws that existed during the time period. Women in the 70’s were very domesticated, used mostly to display their beauty, give birth to and take care of the children.

The Barbie Doll poem describes a young woman born to a normal life who deals with the stresses put on her by a young classmate. The “girlchild” as referenced in the poem is gifted some items that will eventually shape the way she thinks and acts throughout her life. The dolls, kitchenware and cherry red lipstick condition her to fit the mold of a women. Society says a woman should be pretty, domestic and submissive. Piercy argues 

The structure of the poem displays the irony and unjust nature of women in society. The author uses a specific scheme and structure in each stanza pf the poem to show a progression. The starts each stanza with a general statement that leads into the points she eventually makes in the following lines. Then she lists three facts or statements that show the main point of the stanza. She then follows with two or so more lines that contradict the points made during the previous lines to make an even stronger argument that further backs up her overall goal of the passage. Throughout the entire passage Piercy argues how unfairly treated women are in America. 

The women in the poem gets older and more mature as each stanza progresses. 

The original points made during the poem still remain today 
