 “Barbie Doll” by Marge Piercy, is a poem based on body dysmorphic disorder. Piercy gives arise to an unfamiliar disorder to show the actual severity of it. A reader unknown of what body dysmorphic disorder is, would have the meaning of the story completely different from a reader who knows what the disorder is. Knowing the facts and information behind a story can help a reader comprehend and analyze the work better. The reader will also get the correct understanding and meaning of the work intended by the author. By knowing the symptoms of the disorder and how it impacts people’s lives we will better understand how to deal with people who have this disorder and how to treat it.

“Barbie Doll” is about a girl who kills herself trying to meet the unrealistic expectations that society has for her. During the 60’s and 70’s to current day, the idea of a perfect woman is to have the perfect body, clothes and house. This idea was perpetuated by the iconic figure of Barbie. Every girl had one and was prompted to live up to the unrealistic standards Americans placed on women during this time period. Women were expected to be the “doll” in the perfect patriarchal society. The poem shows what happens when girls take these stereotypes of perfection to heart; it can cause body dysmorphic disorder. They no longer feel like their bodies are acceptable in society and there is nothing they do to change; they are never good enough in their opinion. One negative comment can set a downward spiral that a young impressionable girl cannot get out of.

People who have developed body dysmorphic disorder often go undiagnosed because people assume they are just being “vane or narcissistic,” but this disorder can make people feel disfigured and depressed, sometimes becoming a deadly disorder (Body Dysmorphic Disorder). “There is no doubt that the symptoms cause significant distress or handicap and there is an increased risk of suicide and attempted suicide,” people with this disorder feel ugly and unworthy to be living in a world where they cannot be seen as pretty (Body dysmorphic Disorder). The girl in “Barbie Doll” thought she had flaws because a boy said she had “a great big nose and fat legs” (Piercy 348). So, she cuts off her nose and legs from disgust of her “flaws” and bleeds to death. When the they put “the undertaker’s cosmetics [paint] on [her], a [new] turned-up nose, [and] dressed in a pink and white nightie,” everyone finally said, “Doesn’t she look pretty?” (Piercy 349). The only way the little girl was finally pretty was when they had to reconstruct her body so they could have an open casket at her funeral. She was pretty because the doctors who replaced her nose and legs made her look like a Barbie doll, which fits societies view of a perfect woman. This is an extremely serious disorder that not just happens to adults, but happens to young children as well.

During adolescence children are impressionable and sensitive about their changing bodies, and this is when most people with body dysmorphia disorder start developing symptoms. Not only can it be developed, it can also be from genetics, chemical imbalances in the brain, or life experiences. If a person has relatives with body dysmorphic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, or depression, they are at higher risk of inheriting the disorder. The unbalanced serotonin levels in the brain can also cause body dysmorphic disorder. The most common cause of body dysmorphic disorder is “bullying, teasing, and low self-esteem” (Callachand 14). This is what happened to the girl in “Barbie Doll.” She is described as “healthy, tested intelligent, possessed strong arms and back, abundant sexual drive, and manual dexterity,” but then one day a classmate tells her she has “a great big nose and fat legs” and her imperfections became all she could think about (Piercy 348). The girl is young, healthy, smart, and pretty, but she cannot see that and will never see anything but her “great big nose and fat legs” (Piercy 348). She is no longer good enough in her eyes, and she knows she is never going to be like the perfect doll she used to idolize. She does not want society to see her with these imperfections.

She was ignored and patronized to “play coy… come one hearty, exercise, diet, smile and wheedle” (Piercy 349). People who develop body dysmorphic disorder have moderate to severe symptoms. Using a lot of make-up, clothing that covers most of not liked body parts, comparing looks to others, and constantly checking appearance in the mirror are some of the minor symptoms. Then there are more serious ones like skin-picking, extreme dieting, and excessive exercise and grooming. Anxiety of being in public, cosmetic or dermatological treatment, and plastic surgery are some of the most severe symptoms. According to Naimah Callachand, the writer of “Body Dysmorphic Disorder,” “The most common body dysmorphic disorder obsessions often involve concerns about the face and head… acne, wrinkles, scars, vascular markings on the face, paleness or redness of complexion, hair thinning” (Callachand 14). Although this may be the most common, it is not the only part of the body that is involved with body dysmorphic disorder, “the skin, nose, hair, eyes, chin, lips and the overall body build” are other things that people with this disorder may find unappealing or ugly (Body Dysmorphic Disorder). “People with BDD may complain of a lack of symmetry, or feel that something is too big, too small, or out of proportion to the rest of the body. Any part of the body may be involved in BDD including the breasts or genitals” (Body Dysmorphic Disorder). The girls disorder was focused of her nose and legs. People try to get plastic and reconstructive surgeries to try and obtain the image of the perfect woman, but it does not work all the time. People want that image so badly and to be accepted by themselves and society that they abuse plastic and reconstructive surgery till the doctors cannot do any more. For the girl plastic surgery was not an obtain, because she was too young.

For those who never reach that satisfaction of perfection with themselves, death is the only answer. This is what happened in “Barbie Doll,” the little girl could not find happiness with her nose and legs and surgery was not an option, so she cut them off. It took death and reconstructive surgery for people to see how pretty she is.

Lack of diagnosis or misdiagnosis of someone with body dysmorphic disorder can cause the condition to worsen. The girl is told to behave like a normal girl should, by “play[ing] coy, …, exercise, diet, smile, and wheedle” (Piercy 349). Sometimes it can get confused with social anxiety, depression, or eating disorders, so the root of the problem must be thoroughly investigated. Once body dysmorphic disorder is diagnosed, “[t]he intensity of treatment is defined by the severity of the individual’s condition” (Callachand 15). There is a low-intensity treatment for a mild case of body dysmorphic disorder. Naimah Callchand from “Body Dysmorphic Disorder” states, “Many patients are mostly or completely convinced that they genuinely look ugly, abnormal or deformed, and this lack of insight may make the patient reluctant to accept a BDD diagnosis, or agree to receive the recommended treatments” (Callachand 15). The patients receive psychological treatment, self-help materials and may go to group sessions. High-intensity treatments involve pharmacological interventions as well as intensive cognitive behavioral therapy. These treatments could of saved the young girl in “Barbie Doll.”

This is what happened to the girl in Marge Piercy’s poem, “Barbie Doll.” She was sold on the idea that she had to be perfect just like her doll, and when her imperfections were pointed out to her, she could not handle not fitting into societies perfect woman ideals and killed herself instead of living thinking she’s ugly. Reading the poem without knowing what body dysmorphic disorder is, people would think the girl was overexaggerating on how she looked, or they she killed herself because she was being bullied. If people knew more about body dysmorphic disorder, then the girl in “Barbie Doll” could have gotten help and there would have been a less likely chance of her killing herself.  But knowing this information brings the true meaning of the poem and how serious and unknown body dysmorphic disorder is.
