Barbie Doll Analysis

Circles on the Water: Selected poems of Marge Piercy1999This 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.

Then in the magic of puberty, a classmate said:

You have a great big nose and fat legs.She was healthy, tested intelligent,

possessed strong arms and back,

abundant sexual drive and manual dexterity.

She went to and fro apologizing.

Everyone saw a fat nose on thick legs.She was advised to play coy,

exhorted to come on hearty,

exercise, diet, smile and wheedle.

Her good nature wore out

like a fan belt.

So she cut off her nose and her legs

and offered them up.In the casket displayed on satin she lay

with the undertaker's cosmetics painted on,

a turned-up putty nose,

dressed in a pink and white nightie.

Doesn't she look pretty? everyone said.

Consummation at last.

To every woman a happy ending.

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In the poem "Barbie Doll," author Marge Piercy utilizes four short stanzas to provide a scathing review of the cultural and societal expectations that American culture places on children, particularly young girls. The protagonist, if the subject of the poem can really be called such, undergoes a short summary of life during the piece of literature, beginning at birth and ending with a sad picture of her funeral. The entire poem is written with a tone of depression and sadness, in fact, with the young girl presented as " [going] to and fro apologizing," about her culturally unacceptable image.
The image that she possesses is not supposed to be wrong in an empirical sense, but rather that it is incorrect in comparison to what America typically presents as being the "perfect" woman. As a child, the girl was "presented dolls that did pee-pee/ and miniature GE stoves and irons/ and wee lipsticks the color of cherry candy." By providing concrete examples that many Americans will be familiar with, and even using the brand name of General Electric, Marge Piercy allows the story to resonate with some image of the reader's past. In these examples, though, abide the very ideas that ultimately cause the girl's lack of self-satisfaction: perfect bodies, perfect faces, and the perfect look. It is no coincidence that Piercy names the poem "Barbie Doll" the quintessential example of fake perfection.
The author goes a step farther, however, and shows the consequence of dissatisfaction with one's self. Despite the fact that "she was healthy, tested intelligent/ possessed strong arms and back/ abundant sexual drive and manual dexterity," traits that would be considered to be the pinnacle of "correct," she was unacceptable to culture. The girl attempts to please everyone at first, but soon "Her good nature wore out." In the stanza immediately following, Piercy brings the central idea together: as the girl, now dead, lies in a casket with fake makeup and fake dress, the people, or society, are finally happy. "Doesn't she look pretty? Everyone said. / Consummation at last. / To every woman a happy ending." Laced in irony, the author states that finally, the girl has achieved acceptance, but not on the merits of her character or her being; rather, through the unwilling compromise to culture. Piercy shows through her poem "Barbie Doll" the dangers of false standards and the consequences of their application. It is not that we should all be held to a single, high standard, but rather that we should be judged each according to our own merits and values.

| Posted on 2010-01-17 | by a guest

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It only shows that if we do not conform to our society we will be excluded and wont fit in. The only way to fix that would be to change the way we look so that we can accept ourselves as well as be accepted. We have to change ourselves to live a happy and productive life.

| Posted on 2009-10-26 | by a guest

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The "casket displayed on satin" could not only be a symbol of the death and destruction caused by gender stereotypes, but it could also represent a giant Barbie packaging box.

| Posted on 2009-02-24 | by a guest

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I believe it was written on purpose in this way so that the casket could have more than one meaning. Concluding that in a way, society's pressures either force women to conform or kill their selves in the process. Unless a woman doesn't conform, then in that case it is a social death in the eyes of society, even if the nonconformist doesn't see it that way. All in all, the sum is that society's idea of beauty is unrealistic and only causes pain no matter how you look at it.

| Posted on 2009-01-27 | by a guest

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skyyyy
When your young, beauty is not essental. However, when a young woman hits puberty she is very self conscious about her looks and when someone blutly states shes ugly she will think that and will do anything to change that. The message of the poem could be that she has an eating disorder or gets plastic surgery; anything to have the "ideal" beauty portrayed by the barbie. Even if it means destrying herself. ANYTHING FOR BEAUTY...

| Posted on 2008-11-06 | by a guest

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The word casket sticks out the most. She's not really in a casket or dead- she's getting some sort of cosmetic surgery to improve her looks. The speaker of the poem is relating that to death by using the word casket.

| Posted on 2008-09-19 | by a guest

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Once she becomes a woman, it is then she becomes ugly. Although she is strong and mature, clever and passionate, none of these things are valued. Because beauty is equated with extreme youth (almost childlike, with skinny limbs and small features), the fact of her womanhood was irreconcilable with 'beauty'. So she decided to offer her strength and health up: for a woman it is thought better to die beautiful and debilitated than to live non-beautiful and strong.

| Posted on 2008-03-25 | by a guest

.: Societal Demands :.

I believe that Piercy is pointing out the truth within our society. Our society is so consumed by the importance of appearance that as individuals we judge others based on this superficial concept. There is an emphasis placed on being "feminine," meaning slender, pretty, and soft. Because the "Girl Child" does not fit this profile perfectly others judge her, “big nose and fat legs.” The “girl child” has a good attitude though; she carries on “apologetically.” She conforms to “play coy, exhorted to come on hearty, exercise, diet, smile and wheedle.” This life of trying to please wears on the girl. Out of rage that her nose and legs have been such a burden or in attempt to conform to society’s expectations she cuts off her nose and her legs. Only in her last public appearance do people say “doesn’t she look pretty.” There is an irony in the last lines, to every woman a happy ending.

| Posted on 2005-12-08 | by Approved Guest