In Marge Piercy's short poem, "Barbie Doll", the author highlights certain aspects of the physical female world that require them to try and be perfect in order to satisfy others' opinions of them. Because this narrative was written in 1973, there is a "background of second-wave feminism transforming American politics and culture" when this piece was written(CR 334). Piercy successfully exposes the struggle women and girls everywhere have to deal with everyday because of the certain physical attributes that are expected of them. Despite the fact that this piece was written during the time period of the 1970s, a poem like this can relate to girls today as well because this is a long standing issue that has affected many females for many years. In the poem, "Barbie Doll", the author uses repetition, syntax, and tone in order to get across the point that girls shouldn't be expected to be perfect and accept themselves for who they are.

Throughout the poem, Piercy repeats certain words and phrases in order to get points across to the reader to prove her argument in favor of feminism. One specific phrase that the author continues to state in the poem involves different adjectives, but still gets the same idea across about physical attributes of the girl in the poem. There is a constant awareness in the work of the girl in the poem's "great big nose and fat legs", repeating the same insult, the author lets the readers know that most people refer to the girl as, "a fat nose on thick legs"(Piercy 334-335). Considering the short length of this poem, consisting of only 25 lines, having two of the lines point out the same two very specific physical faults in the girl's body shows the reader just how important physical appearance is to a woman's essence as a human being. The first line of the stanza of the poem starts off describing the young girl and her childhood toys, but the final line consists of the line involving her legs and nose, which sets the tone for the rest of the poem. By repeating the same kind of insulting description of some of the girl's physical attributes, the author emphasizes the fact that what one person says about a girl's physical appearance, such as the classmate in this specific poem, sticks with many such that a large group of people will only identify the girl with those descriptions.

The other aspect of this poem that stands out to readers and helps the author get her point across about feminism during the 1970's is Piercy's use of syntax throughout the work. The poem begins with the line, "[t]he girlchild was born as usual/ and presented dolls that did pee-pee/ and miniature GE stoves and irons/ and wee lipsticks the color of cherry candy"(Piercy 334). This line alone gives a good hint about what was expected of girls during the time period of the 70s. The toys discussed in these first three lines insinuate that girls were taught at a young age how their role in the family and even society was of the domestic kind. These lines are often considered to enforce the main argument of the poem involving the point that girls are educated when they are younger to learn to adapt and live in a patriarchal society. Specifically, the lines that include "wee lipsticks" and "miniature stoves" "suggest that adults often go for shrunken versions of the so-called 'normal' objects associated with gender to suit their kids. So instead of creating totally new toys, they just miniaturize the sort of things that grown women are confronted with, perpetuating the whole cycle of what's supposed to be normal according to the adult world and patriarchy"(Shmoop). The author uses these toys to imply a sense of control that the adults have over children and the way they are raised, starting as young as right after they are born and the toys that are forced upon them when they are children. They have no say in the matter, because more often than not, they can't speak yet or they're so used to the kinds of toys they are receiving, they don't know the difference. In the time period of the 1970s, a child would not dare defy or question their parents because they were taught to accept things for the way they were.

The final literary device that Piercy implements into her work is the tone which starts off light and hopeful but toward the middle hints at a sense of struggle, ultimately causing the tone to turn dark when the girl dies at the end of the poem. The tone is also derived from the use of irony in the poem with the words the author uses to describe the girl. Piercy points out the positive characteristics of the girl's well-being by stating that "[she] was healthy, tested intelligent,/ possessed strong arms and back."(Piercy 334) All of these adjectives provide a positive analysis of the girl, however, the author continued to bring up the fact that the girl's physical attributes, including her "great big nose and fat legs" which overshadowed her non-physical qualities that made her unique.(Piercy 334) While there are a greater number of words used to compliment the girl in the poem, the couple words that point out her flaws are what bring her down the most, causing her to kill herself. "The tone that the author creates makes the poem into a portrait of the girlchild with its contradictions and irony" by perfectly exemplifying what it means to be a girl, both in the time of the 1970s when this piece was written and even now in the 21st century, where girls are judged more by what they are wearing and how they look rather than their intelligence or strength.(Sepe 2)

Marge Piercy's "Barbie Doll" outlines everything that's wrong with other people's perceptions of women, both in the regard of physical appearance and their duty as a female. While the author's poem was very relevant and proved an important point at the time in which it was published in the 1970s, it also constitutes as a timeless piece that can be used in today's society that all women can relate to. Piercy's use of literary devices further helps support her point and causes her to accomplish a great feat by drawing readers in and getting such an important message across from such a short work. Piercy's message specifically to those who have suppressed and tried to control girls has sent the world a message that has inspired people everywhere all the way from the time period of the 1970s to people almost 50 years later in this day and age to take a stand and not let others judge them based on their appearance.

