The Perfect Body Image In Barbie Doll, By Marge Piercy

When the words Barbie Doll is spoken or read, the first thought that usually comes to everyone’s mind is the childhood toy of long, lean legs and arms, packaged in bright pink boxes on displays and collections on bedroom shelves. To embrace the image of the doll, teenage girls are situated on an extreme pressure to change who they are these days. The twenty-first century social media and clothing has promoted these skinny, size zero anorexic-looking body type. In the poem, “Barbie Doll,” written by an American poet, Marge Piercy, a beautiful, young teenage girl ends up killing herself for the sake of changing her appearance to the societal ideal of “perfection,” (Line 18). The perfect body image is an allusion to the Barbie doll, and the poem accurately depicts the ugliness of society as people expect girls to look, eat, and act in a certain way that is proven false in …show more content…
As depicted in the poem, “Barbie Doll” by Marge Piercy, a normal, healthy girl sold her life to fit in the society by complying with what the society wants and expects from her. Upon killing herself, she is defeated, and trades her nose for a cosmetic one and her legs for “a pink and white nightie” (Lines 21-22). With the artificial coverings, the poet added sarcastically in Lines 24 to 25, “Consummation at last/ To every woman a happy ending.” In simpler terms, the poet said that every woman thinks that she needs to fit in society in order to be happy, but honestly, the poet is pleading to girls to not let insecurities and obsessions created by societies to take control of life because insecurities can disease healthy minds and could kill. Instead, girls should be confident in who they are to lead a positive