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Evelyn Perez

Professor Wilson

ENC 1102

31 March 2020

The representation of female struggles in “Barbie Doll”

Marge Piercy’s “Barbie Doll” is a free verse poem originally published in 1971, during

the second wave of feminism in literature. The poem consists of four stanzas and does not follow

a strict rhyme scheme, but instead has few selected rhyming words that create emphasis. “Barbie

Doll” tells a story of a girl who grows up and has her personality overlooked by her peers, and

overshadowed by her physical appearance. The girl eventually succumbs to the pressure from her

peers to hold up a certain standard of beauty, which kills her in the end. The depiction of gender

roles in “Barbie Doll”, along with the struggle of women to cater to societal standards both come

together to create theme in the poem.

Piercy represents female gender roles in “Barbie Doll” by creating a stereotypical

childhood in which the girl grows up. The “girlchild” as referenced by Piercy, is groomed in an

indirect fashion from a young age to live the traditional life of a woman during the 1970s. This

grooming is done so through the use of toys such as “dolls that did pee-pee/ and miniature GE

stoves and irons/ and wee lipsticks the color of cherry candy” (Piercy 2-4). Rhyme occurs in only

these lines to emphasize the significance of these toys. Baby dolls or toy kitchens, both

commonly associated with young girls are given to the child to show her that these are the norm

for her, and for all women of the time. Miniature lipsticks are also mentioned, pushing the idea

of femininity on young girls as well. Women of the 1970s were typically expected to be

responsible for taking care of their homes, children, and husbands, all while maintaining a
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feminine appearance, so it makes sense that a child would have these ideologies instilled in them

at an early age. The child is taught to simply follow the ideas of women in domestic settings, and

is never told that she can be more than that. Kelly J. Mays comments on this cultural norm,

stating, “…girls, not having to adopt a gender role different than that from their first object of

their desire, the mother, grow up with less rigid boundaries of self and a relational rather than

judgmental ethic” (A18). She is given no opportunity to discover herself as an individual, and

instead adheres to the typical lifestyle of other women. The portrayal of gender roles in “Barbie

Doll” ultimately contributes to the theme by showing the common practice of raising girls to be

wives and mothers through toys such as baby dolls and play kitchens.

Women, while being forced into gender roles also fought beauty standards, which is also

shown in “Barbie Doll”. To begin, the girl who was “born as usual” (1) first encounters

judgement for her appearance in line six when one of her peers tells her “You have a great big

nose and fat legs” (Piercy). As a child, one does not usually think negatively of his or her own

body, so most insecurities come from outside sources. The idea of a “beauty myth” originally

discussed by Naomi Wolf, is defined as the use of “images of female beauty as a political

weapon against women’s advancement” (52). This “beauty myth” is said by Asih Sigit

Padmanugraha to have been used by Mattel when creating the Barbie Doll (52). Barbie, a blonde,

tall, and thin doll became idolized by young girls because she could “do anything” she wanted to.

This ties in to “Barbie Doll” because the girl, who had grown up to not be a thin woman with a

small nose like Barbie’s, did not believe she could do or be anything she wanted, nor did she

know anything other than the lifestyle she was pushed into. The girl is unable to embrace herself,

and instead “went to and fro apologizing” (Piercy 10) for her looks. Society during the time

“Barbie Doll” was written was not as open to accepting women who did not fit “Barbie”
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standards, which caused a lot of women to battle insecurities within themselves. The girl is

described as “healthy” and “tested intelligent” (Piercy 7), but she is told to change herself

completely, “She was advised to play coy,/ exhorted to come on hearty,/ exercise, diet, smile and

wheedle” (Piercy 12-14). Society’s influence on girls is portrayed in these lines, as it is common

for women to not speak up when they are marginalized, or to take on eating disorders to become

thinner and fit a man-made description of beauty, or to use flattery as a way to get to where they

would like to be. While common, encouraging women to go to these extremes can be not only

unhealthy physically, but mentally as well, which is also depicted in “Barbie Doll” when the girl

“cut[s] off her nose and her legs/ and [offers] them up” (Piercy 17-18), ultimately killing herself.

Piercy’s word choice of offering something up can be associated with sacrifice, which is what

the girl does when she sacrifices herself for the sake of pleasing those around her. Rebecca

Albright writes about this sacrifice, saying “she succumbed to society’s pressure for perfection

and committed suicide just to be considered beautiful and feminine” (77). The trials faced by the

main character of “Barbie Doll” are representative of those of women throughout history.

Marge Piercy’s “Barbie Doll” tells an accurate story of gender roles and an ongoing

battle with beauty standards for women. The poem, while being told in only four stanzas

contains a strong message of the influence of both immediate surroundings and the media on

young girls’ self-images, and the importance of teaching self-acceptance to children from a

young age.
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Works Cited

Albright, Rebecca. "Women’s Societal Persecution in Sexton’s “Her Kind” and Piercy’s “Barbie

Doll”." Academic Forum 26 (2008): 75- 78. www.hsu.edu. 2008. Web. 21 March

2020.

Mays, Kelly J. ““The Norton Introduction to Literature.” New York: W.W. Norton

& Co, 2013. Print. pp. A17-A19.

Padmanugraha, Asih Sigit. “Woman’s Values in Society as Reflected in Marge Piercy’s ‘Barbie

Doll’”. Faculty of Languages and Arts State University of Yogyakarta.

https://www.academia.edu/927436/WOMANS_VALUES_IN_SOCIETY_AS_REFLEC

TED_IN_MARGE_PIERCYS_BARBIE_DOLL_. 2007. Web. 21 March 2020.

Piercy, Marge. “Barbie Doll”. “The Norton Introduction to Literature.” New York: W.W. Norton

& Co, 2013. Print. pp. 1151-1152.