Barbie Doll Essay

“Barbie Doll”, by Marge Piercy was published in 1971. The date is significant to many women. The American Feminist Movement began in the 1960’s but was still going on in the 1970’s. “Women were finally beginning to stand up for what they believe in” (Piatek). This is important because Marge decided to stand up for what she believes in with the use of a powerful poem. The poem contains both historical and societal context. This poem gives a women’s perspective on how they are treated because of their looks. The societal expectations of women are unfair and can literally kill. Marge Piercy wrote many poems that represented what women had to endure. Marge grew up during The Great Depression and suffered many losses at a young age. She took her pain and turned it into literature. She wrote a poem that shows us what life was like in the 1950’s. “Women were not allowed to cross their legs and not permitted to laugh out loud” (Piercy). She had one goal in mind since she began writing. She wanted to show women that they can be anything they want to be. She wanted to encourage women to escape the clutches of oppression. She wrote in her poetry collection, “To give back some of the energy we create together…From …show more content…
He explains how the poem describes the girl child with masculine attributive, and how she has to apologize for being herself. The author explains the use of words throughout Piercy’s poem. He connects certain words with feminism and cruelty towards women. Perrin asks a question that broadens the topics and unexplored meanings throughout the poem. “He asks his students to imagine if the poem was named “G.I. Joe” (Perrin). Would boys be told that they are too feminine or that they are not masculine enough? Would a boy be told that he can only have a certain amount of career choices? It is interesting to think about how society would react if there were a toy discriminating