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Appearance In Marge Piercy's Barbie Doll

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Society views the perfect woman as a “barbie doll.” Society places too much pressure on women to become an image like a “barbie doll.” Society can have big impacts on a person with his or her appearance. Society is the biggest competition a person has to impress. If society is not impressed, one will not be impressed. One will change his or her appearance because society does not like them. The poem “Barbie Doll” by Marge Piercy shows one the effects of society. “Barbie Doll” portrays many types of elements, but the most important are theme, tone, and irony. The theme of a poem is the subject of a piece of writing. The theme for the poem “Barbie Doll” is appearance. In this poem, appearance is a big deal for the main character. At the beginning of the poem, the main character’s parents wanted her to grow up playing with toys. The toys she played with were dolls that peed, miniature stoves and iron, and lipsticks the color of cherries. The dolls that peed represented being a mother. The miniature stoves and iron represented being a housekeeper. Lastly, the lipstick represented being pretty. Her parents made her play with these toys, so she would grow up knowing she was suppose to be “pretty” and that she should become a mother. Her parents wanted her appearance to be known by the society. While she was in school, puberty struck her, and her nose grew bigger and she had …show more content…

The tone of “Barbie Doll” is anger. In this poem, anger is another important quality. She became angry because people was making fun of her. “Her good nature wore out like a fan belt” (Piercy, line 15-16). She became disgusted with people making fun of her, so she cut off her nose and legs. “So she cut off her nose and he legs and offered them up” (Piercy, line 17-18). The tone of the story is anger because she became more than angry when people would not stop making fun of her. Another important quality to this poem is the irony of the

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