Marge Piercy's The Barbie Doll

While Marge Piercy (“Barbie Doll”) and James Dickey (“The Leap”) have created poems that are about women who were trounced by society’s pressure, each poem depicts different elements to reflect the narrator’s voice and convey their message. Piercy highlights her character’s struggle with the preconceived vehemence on women’s role in our society from a young age. “This 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) On the other hand, Dickey uses nostalgia to describe the character in his poem “fastest runner in seventh grade” (Dickey) and how he remembers the main character.

Despite surviving the surgery that removed a cancerous tumour in her ankle, Mia is more distressed about losing her hair and half her leg than her survival which deeply enrages me. Mia reveals to us that she only had two values, which are her looks and her popularity. This is incredibly selfish and stubborn of her as following the surgery that saved her life, she was only met with horror as her leg had been sawn off, not valuing the fact that she survived and that she could’e died if she kept the tumour there. As Mia struggled to live with her new perspective of herself she internally monologues to herself, “I tried to trick myself beyond my f--ked up body… I was forced to live like this.” Along with this, “Each morning I wake up to the same sickening shock…

The audience’s thoughts towards her at first may have been sorrowful, but she does not want any of it. Instead, she wants people to see her for her strengths rather than her weaknesses. On the outside she may look like someone who has given up of

She did die, but she died happy and fulfilled. She seemed as if she could finally breathe easy. “As the coffin settled in the dirt, it made noise, almost like a breath, you know? Like a sigh. Like the coffin was settling down for a long, long nap, for a forever nap.”

The poem "Barbie Doll" by Marge Piercy has a profound meaning to it. After reading it a couple of times, I found the theme by analyzing multiple things. I figured out the theme because of the author's use of figurative language and the outcome of her plot. The theme that I discovered was; people change people for the better or for, the worse, but it is upon them how they take it in.

The characters in the poem and short story “Barbie Doll” by Marge Piercy and “The Birth-Mark” by Nathaniel Hawthorne can both relate to one another in the fact that the public sets expectations for women. “Then in the magic of puberty, a classmate said:/ You have a great big nose and fat legs.” (Piercy 5-6) This quote from the poem “Barbie Doll” is an exceptional example of our general society making fun of an adolescent, who does not meet the societal expectations that have been set for women, until a tragic event happens.

The whole song, she was debating on if she really was happy with herself, and talked about all of the stereotypes and standards needed to be “beautiful”. She then comes to terms, and accepts herself as who she is. The speaker is a dynamic character in the song. She changes from being filled cold, shiny, hard plastic, to being filled with self

The freedom of being able to change Barbie’s clothes into her various wardrobes sold gives the young children playing with her the sense of individuality. Although Barbie has brought a lot of controversy to the table within the years it has been on the shelf, her portrayal has not changed because after all she is just a doll,

Eventually, the pressure to be attractive leads her to commit suicide and finally, people begin to call her pretty when she has a “turned-up putty nose” in her casket. In contrast,

In the short story ''Barbie Q,'' Sandra Cisneros portrays that Barbie dolls can impact girl's lives as they grow up, and influence the way they act and perceive themselves. These girls grow up in a poor family environment considering that they acquired the rest of the dolls in a toys sale after a store burned down. In ‘‘Barbie Q,’’what is the thematic significance of the damaged dolls after the fire? The girl’s enthusiasm to get the new dolls -when they said that they prefer to receive new doll’s clothes- suggests that the meaning of these Barbie dolls is more than just a new toy.

Barbies and The Poor As a young child, did you even imagine having just one toy to play with because your family couldn't afford more? Not everyone has had to go through that luckily however many children still do. Many times people take for granted what they have and what they can get at an easy access. But not everyone has that ease in life. For other families who are struggling just to make ends meet providing for the child is the first priority, not toys.

Barbie: The Plastic Insecurity In Marge Piercy’s Barbie Doll, the author tries to bring awareness to an issue because of the overwhelming social pressures and insecurities, one girl has that causes her to commit suicide. The classic Barbie doll came out in 1959 and this poem was published in 1971 giving only 12 years for the Barbie doll to be out on the market and have an impact on little girls. In Piercy’s poem, as the girlchild is growing up, she is given all the toys girls today get, toy dolls, GE stoves, irons, and lipsticks (Piercy). All the things she will need to be “successful” as a woman.

Although Barbie has conveyed many beliefs through the clothes and jobs she has had, the most controversial belief has been body image. Since first being brought out into the world, Barbie has had an unreasonably shaped body, with a small waist and large breasts. All of Barbie’s body features have impacted the way society expects women to look. But in 2016, Barbie had a dramatic makeover, she was released in different heights and body shapes, making her more suitable to the way women actually look. Barbie’s new look has made a positive impact on young girls and potentially society’s unrealistic expectations of

The poem Barbie doll by Marge Piercy is about a little girl who grows up only to kill herself for not living up to society’s standards. The speaker shows how she had a normal childhood and was happy playing with here baby dolls and toy stove. However, during puberty, her body changed and everyone noticed. She was criticized for her “fat nose and thick legs”. She tried to change by dieting and exercising, but soon tired of doing so.

The poem “Barbie Doll” by Marge Piercy suggests that girls are fatally and ultimately entrapped by society's definition of what feminine beauty and behavior is. In our society we believe that women should be perfect. We want women to be as flawless as a Barbie doll and in doing so we create many struggles for women because no one can ever achieve that goal. The poem gives off a sense of irony when “society” compares a young girl to a Barbie doll. Our society has an ideal that was created by the influences of popular media and culture that is impossible for anyone to reach.