Barbie Doll is a narrative poem written by American author, novelist and social activist Marge Piercy. It was published in 1971, during the time of the second wave of feminism. It is often noted for his message about how patriarchal society puts hope and pressure on women, partly through gender role stereotypes. It tells the story of a dead girl trying to meet the unrealistic expectations that society holds for her. It starts with talking about a little girl, and then proceeds chronologically through the girl's life. Using powerful diction, intended syntax, and rhetorical tools, the poem touches prominent feminist issues such as gender stereotypes, sexism, and the influence of patriarchal society.
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Marge Piercy wrote this poem during the second wave of feminism, when women paid attention to sexuality, family, and the workplace. This relationship with the Barbie Doll because of her poetry expresses the stereotypes, sexism, and patriarchal influences that women submitted during the 1960s. The purpose of the poem is to showcase the struggles women face because of these societal problems in the hope of changing them.
The title of the poem comes from a Barbie doll. Barbie is a prominent cultural icon during this period, revealing what a perfect American woman is. It represents an unattainable body standard and a life full of stereotyped gender roles. This representation causes a woman to look for something that does not really exist in reality, and like her story in poetry, the girl eventually dies trying to become what her Barbie represents.
Maps Barbie Doll (poem)
Analysis
first Stanza
The first verse begins with a girl who is born; fit perfectly into the mold provided by the community where he was born. The poem went on the toy list the little girl played, like a miniature doll and miniature GE stove and iron. She was also given lipstick, compared to cherry candy using metaphor. In a patriarchal society, women hold cooking positions and clean households. This, along with the makeup given to him, shows that from very young age this girl is taught to adapt to certain gender stereotypes, even without realizing it. Dolls are also an important part of this verse, as well as all poetry. Barbie dolls have become cultural icons since they were made in 1959, little more than 10 years before the poem was published. It is somewhat controversial whether it is seen as a "role model for young girls, American cultural icons, and models of aesthetic perfection" or on the other "the tool of racism, classism, and sexism, and underestimates it as the contemporary epitomization of a cult of thinness." In the context of this poem, The Barbie doll ends up being a negative aspect of her life, creating a bad self-image of the body among other problems. At the end of this verse, the girl passes through puberty. Someone in a girl class commented on negative things about her body, saying that she has a big nose and fat thigh. This is the point in poetry where his insecurity has been damned. Throughout the rest of the poem, he grew up struggling to meet the inaccessible societal standards represented by his Barbie doll.
second stanza
The poet goes on to talk about the girl in terms of what attributes she holds, but also how she and society do not see them. He is portrayed as healthy, intelligent, strong, able sexually and quickly, but he does not see these things. She has learned from the moment when she was a child that she has imperfections and is not good enough. He compares himself to his doll, and therefore apologizes to society for his imperfection. He does not see good in himself, just a comparison between what he and what society says should be. In this verse, its attributes are listed one after the other, which is then followed by disagreement. This syntax helps the reader see all the good aspects of the girl at once, which then makes the reader ask why the girl did not see it. The verse finishes by saying everyone, which means the public, only sees him for his fat nose and thick legs, the same thing that his classmates said when he was a child.
Third temple
The third Stanza speaks of the sexist hopes that the patriarchal society has placed upon him. As a girl, "she is advised to play sheepish, urges to come with passion, sport, diet, smile and fishing." This list shows the expectations placed on women in society. The patriarchal power in society is what is responsible for certain "standard" beliefs of women. Women are expected to play well, appear as good girls, thin, eat a little, and be happy all the time. Due to external pressure, they try to do all that. There is sexism represented in these lines because only women have long hopes to meet. Piercy's passage in this verse "creates a strong vision of how people use its influence on young women who are easily influenced, and underestimates young women who, in essence, want to counter the influence of dominant cultures." The girl in the poem is easily influenced because she has adapted to society since she was a child. Therefore, he aims to fulfill all these hopes, but can not sustain them. She gets tired "like a fan belt." and ultimately kills himself trying to be perfect as the people want. He finally gave the people his nose and legs because he could not live like this anymore.
fourth Stanza
The fourth and final verse speaks of the girl's death. He eventually dies trying to be perfect like his Barbie Doll, the pie cutter woman formed by the community. He died trying to achieve something that could not be achieved, but encouraged, which is a real problem in lies. She is shown on her casket, all dressed up. Society finally made it as he wanted, but at the expense of his life. Now she's covered in makeup, reconstructed, and dressed nice, she's considered pretty. The verse finished with the phrase "for every woman who ends happily." This shows that in the end, this is what the girl wants. He tried and struggled to meet the unrealistic expectations of the people and when he died trying, he finally did. Being looked as beautiful as the community was his goal, and he managed to make it happen.
Conclusion
The girl in the poem was born innocently, but because of the society in which she was born and raised, she became corrupted. This poem shows a sad case of a living girl trying to be perfect and die trying. From the beginning he was taught to cook, clean, and be what the "expected" to be, or in other words, who the community told him. Because of this sexist and patriarchal influence, he is never fully satisfied with himself. The torture of the people caused her to lose her life.
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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