Context is key, especially when it comes to literature. It is important to try to find personal meaning in a text, but it is sometimes even more important to figure out the message that the author was trying to get across to the reader. To do this, the reader needs to learn more about the story, such as when it was written and what was going on during that time. “Barbie Doll” by Marge Piercy is a perfect example of why context is important when it comes to literature and how meaning can change when examining it through the lens of a different time period.  

“Barbie” Doll is a poem about the life of a girl. It is not the story of some extraordinary person, rather just the story of a typical girl. It describes the hardships that a girl goes through throughout everyday life. These are hardships all women face, but these are hardships that are forced onto them by the expectations society sets on them. Society expects girls to play with dolls and wear skirts and society shuns them if they are not what most people would consider to be attractive. For example, in the poem there are lines that say, “She was healthy, tested intelligent… Everyone saw a fat nose on thick legs” (Piercy 348). This shows how despite the talents this girl had people still only focused on her flaws. It is almost as if society does not want women to be unique and just wants them to sit still and look pretty. 

In terms of context, “Barbie Doll” had a lot to do with what was going on in the time it was written. Barbie Doll was written in 1973 and at this time second-wave feminism was becoming more prevalent as women fought to become seen as equals to men in the eyes of society. It was as if women were not even seen in the 1970s. A quote from an article about 1970s feminism says, “By the mid-1970s, the work of ‘making the invisible woman visible’—the invisible white woman that is—had reached a high point in academe…” (Floyd 833). This means that in the 1970s the women were basically invisible, they were there but they only went through the motions and did what they were told. In the mid-1970s feminists began to combat this and wanted to express their uniqueness and not be shunned as a result of it. When “Barbie Doll” was written it was 1973, so a decent amount of time into second-wave feminism. This poem was meant to show people how women were expected to act, look, and behave. This poem was not saying women should not do this and it was not berating anyone for allowing this to happen. This poem was simply trying to make the reader see the point of view that a women had during the 1970s.

When Marge Piercy wrote “Barbie Doll”, I doubt that she believed the same problems she talked about in her poem would still be relevant today. Unfortunately, some of the problems still do exist, even over 40 years after she wrote her poem. The world, and America in particular, have made progress though. Nowadays women who try to be unique and different are supported by a lot more people than those who would have been supportive 40 years ago. America has come a long way as the country may have its first female president in 2016 and women who are homosexual are not discriminated against nearly as harshly as they were in the past. In an article about this poem Robert Perrin says, “By examining the language throughout the poem, students may discover the insensitivity - and ultimately cruelty – of a society that encourages patterned behaviors…” (Perrin 84). He also goes on to say that this text may cause students to question social norms. Perrin is talking about the society people live in today and how by making people live certain way because that is what society deems to be “normal” is an abysmal idea. Not only does making people live like this make them miserable, but it takes away part of their free will by prohibiting them to live the way they want. Feminism is trying to prevent this from happening to women all over the world, although this problem does not apply to solely women. 

There are many similarities between feminism in the 1970s and feminism today. Feminism in the 1970s was not about anything extremely substantial, like the right to vote, but issues that were minor but meant a big deal to women. These things include the things spoken of in “Barbie Doll” and things such as equal pay and even receiving the same amount of respect as men. Today, most of the battles from the 1970s in terms of feminism have been won, but there are still minor things feminists want to feel more equal to men. Feminists are slowly trying to get women and men to be seen as equals. In an article about second-wave feminism the author of it says, “Unlike first-wave feminism, which focused narrowly on voting rights, the movement concerned itself with a wide array of subjects, from bread-and-butter issues such as workplace and credit equality…” (Zeitz 677). Feminists in the 1970s and today both fought for similar types of things. This quote talks about things that even feminists today are still fighting for. 

Throughout the 43 years that this poem has been available for people to read, interpretations of it have changed. The main basic theme has stayed the same, but other smaller parts to the theme have changed. The theme is that women are expected to act, look, and behave certain ways while men do not have to worry about these problems. People, however, think about this differently now than they did 40 years ago. In the 1970s, this poem was about how women were expected to be proper, pretty, and respectful. It was about how they are abused because of their flaws and are forced to hide their talents. In 2016, the meaning is a little different. People may agree that women should be respectful and ladylike. In today’s world, however, most people encourage people, including women, to express themselves and be who they want to be. Today’s society is all about letting people follow their dreams and pursue their passions. In the 1970s women were pretty much restricted from doing so and were not seen as equals to men. Today women are, by most people, seen as equals to men and are encouraged to follow their hearts. 

“Barbie Doll” has a lot of meaning. It could mean something personal to the reader. This paper provided proof on how the interpretation of literature can change when taking historical and cultural evidence into account. People reading this 40 years ago may have a different interpretation than people reading it today and both will most likely have different interpretations than people reading it 40 years from now. Taking into account the background information of a piece of literature or an author is a great way to find the true meaning behind it.
