Unfortunately, like most girls, once she hit puberty she was only known as “big nose and fat legs” (Piercy 6). As she grows up she is normal girl that has “dolls that did pee-pee and miniature GE stoves and irons” (Piercy lines 1-3) and she wears “wee lipsticks the color of cherry candy” (Piercy 4). This character struggles with the idea of trying to change herself. With this in mind, Marge Piercy describes the internal conflict of the character, who does not specifically have a name. “Barbie Doll” by Marge Piercy can be classified as a great work of art due to the use of internal conflict, symbols and imagery, as well as ethical evaluations addressing the human condition making this piece timeless and significant. This poem connects to many people, specifically women today due to the fact that plastic surgery and other cosmetic surgeries have become every day decisions made to fit into society. Surgical procedures increased by more than 80%, and nonsurgical procedures increased by 461%.” () People all over the world change their bodies on a regular basis to conform to what in society today is classified as “perfect”. Thee should be characteristics signifying success.Fake Is the New Perfect “Since 1997, there has been almost a 250% increase in the total number of cosmetic procedures.
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She is described as healthy, intelligent, strong, with a healthy sexuality, and with good manual dexterity. The second stanza expands on the theme by detailing the virtues of this particular girl child, which in the end are seen as meaningless.
This is also the image of the Barbie Doll. The world of "miniature GE stoves and irons/ and wee lipsticks the color of cherry candy" (3-4) is a world both of childhood and of societal expectations-girls are socialized to be housewives, mothers, and mannequins who use makeup to attract men.
The mention of puberty makes this revelation even more hurtful, for this is the time when girls begin to want to be admired by boys. You have a great big nose and fat legs (5-6). Then in the magic of puberty, a classmate said: It is only when she leaves the warmth and separateness of the playroom that she encounters a new attitude, and the fact that this attitude takes place outside the home emphasizes that it is a societal attitude which is then imposed on the girl, no longer a girl child but a girl in school: As she grows up, she is treated as every other girl child is treated-given the same toys, raised with the same expectations, and presumably loved by her parents for herself.
The subject is a "girlchild" like every other girl child-she was "born as usual" (1). Women are thus made to feel that they are failures when they do not achieve that level of perfection, a level unrealistic in its demands and met only by a tiny percentage of women. The Barbie Doll is used both as an ideal and as an impossible goal, and the theme reiterates the idea that women are expected in this society to live up to this impossible ideal. Marge Piercy's "Barbie Doll" is a poem which uses the idea of the Barbie Doll in its positive and negative aspects to develop a theme related to a real woman in the real world.