Analysis Of Barbie Doll By Marge Piercy

Analysis Of Barbie Doll By Marge Piercy
"Barbie Doll", is a poem written by Marge Piercy in 1936, that clearly delivers strong feminist
views about the pressures and standards that women are forced to live with. The poem is a
depressing take, describing a young girl's life beginning with her birth and ending with her ironic
death. The poem progresses and tells how the pressures of being a woman affect the girl's life and
influence her actions. The poem shows problem in society is inequality between sexes and the
answer is feminism it is equality for all.
This poem opens with a girl's uneventful and normal birth. As a young child, the girl was "presented
dolls that did pee–pee / and miniature GE stoves and irons / and wee lipsticks the color of cherry
candy." (Chesnutt, 349) this was societies standers encroaching on her life and molding her to be a
socially acceptable woman. The toys were meant to prepare her for the expectations she would have
later in life, expectations that a woman should raise children, take care of the babies, feed the family,
do the laundry, do household chores, and look beautiful while doing it. It is proven in a study that
sex–trait stereotypes were found to develop in a linear fashion between the ages of 5 and 11, so
when young girls are given toys to stereotype their futures it really does affect them. (Best, et al.)
The first stanza ends with the girl's puberty years and the realization of society's standards of beauty
as she is told of her "great big nose and fat legs". (Chesnutt, 349)
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Women and the Society They Live In In her lyric "Barbie Doll", Marge Piercy talks about society's
desires from ladies, especially young ladies. Society expects that young ladies ought to be flawless,
similar to a "Barbie Doll". The sonnet is about a character who quarrels with herself over having an
immaculate self–perception. This character battles and demonstrates that society just focuses on
physical appearance and not on inward magnificence. Piercy additionally keeps up that individuals
put more social desires on young ladies. In conclusion, she specifies that society never
acknowledges young ladies who cannot be perfect ladies. As young ladies grow up, the general
public needs them to look and carry on a particular way, however when ... Show more content on
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Looking at young ladies physical appearance rather than anything else is how society is affecting us.
Society pressures young ladies to think the prettier you are, the more attention you get. Word
decision is another essential viewpoint that backings the topic of this lyric. Piercy utilizes an
assortment of words in generally short sonnet. For instance, she starts the line by calling the recently
conceived child young lady a "girlchild". Piercy could have used a different word like "young lady".
The artist consolidates these two basic words "young lady" and "girlchild" to stress the child's guilt
in this lyric. For the most part, young ladies are more pure that young men and youngsters are more
blameless than grown–ups. She utilizes this word decision to clarify the honesty of an infant young
lady. This honesty will vanish when an infant young lady transforms into a youngster lastly when
she confers suicide against society's desires. The last component that Piercy uses to make her sonnet
extremely fascinating is cautious utilization of various tones. These tone change all through the
sonnet. Piercy utilizes mix of various tones including level, nonpartisan, wry, dismal, gloom, battle
and demise. She utilizes wry tone when she says "consumption at last" (24). This line depicts how
the general public turned down a young lady's imagined that she

Barbie Doll By Marge Piercy
Today's society raises young women to conform to archaic practices with total disregard towards a
child self–progression. In Barbie Doll poem by Marge Piercy it is portrayed a young girl who was
attacked by society because of having unruly features on her appearance and body. To make clear,
Piercy uses the title "Barbie Doll" in her poem to symbolize the cultural American traditions of
making young girls live in a fairy tale world; where everything they see or do is perfect. The girl in
this poem played with Barbie toys since she was little, but when she reached her puberty people
started to criticize her of having imperfections on her face and body; which made her commit a
really wrong decision for herself. In today's society there are a large number of women having
plastic surgery, because they do not feel comfortable or confident with their own appearances.
Women are not just beauty queens and home makers; they should retreat from female stereotypes at
a young age so they do not confront society pressure.
Barbie's toys purpose of entertaining young girls is sarcastic, because the underlying theme behind
them is destructive; since female stereotypes make the girls think they are as perfectly beautiful as
the Barbie. In the beginning of the poem the author states various items that any young girl would
have such as, dolls that imitated live children, dolls "that did pee–pee", "mini stoves and irons "to
keep clothes neat, and "wee lipsticks the color of cherry candy", the

Literary Writing : By Marge Piercy. Piercy Essay
Dakota Merriman
Mrs. Love Hilliard
Creative Writing
28 September 2016
Buffalos and Mud Would you consider yourself a hard worker? Or would you consider yourself to
be more of an intellectual? Whichever you answer, you may find a place in the heart of poet Marge
Piercy. Piercy's poem "To be of use" she informs the reader of her bias for people who put
themselves into their work. She also manages to describe particular types of workers and how they
go about their business. In this piece Piercy takes her time to provide an explanation of her love of
hard workers.
In the first stanza Piercy describes the kind of people she loves the most with a type of metaphor
using the seashore. She mentions that she loves people who " jump into work head first without
dallying in the shallows and swim off with sure strokes almost out of sight"(Piercy, 565). This is
supposed to create an image of a person who begins their work immediately without any kind of
hesitation. Piercy also means to represent how easily they seem to do their job that it is almost like a
second nature.
The next stanza continues the poems trend of describing the people Piercy enjoys being around.
Here she compares someone to "an ox to a heavy cart, who pull like water buffalo, with massive
patience"(Piercy, 565). Oxen are often used as work animals because of their massive strength.
Piercy uses this comparison to an ox in order to present a person who is also strong but is patient
and doesn't complain about what they

Figurative Language In The Secretary Chant, By Marrge Piercy
In the poem "The Secretary Chant," the poet, Marge Piercy, uses figurative language to develop the
argument of how society has produced a stereotype that women should be secretaries, because being
a secretary is not always the ideal job because just like every other jobs, there may be emotional
conflicts. The way Piercy uses comprehensive imagery about the speaker's body and figurative
language to depict a woman's perspective of being a secretary interested me. Aftering reading the
poem thoroughly, each imagery and figurative language conveys how women are stereotyped to be
secretaries and why it is not always the ultimate jobs for women. The poem "The Secretary Chant"
uses imagery about the speaker's body parts to develop the argument of how society has produced a
stereotype that being a secretary is the perfect job for a women, but in reality being a secretary
might produce emotional conflicts. The reader can view this when the speaker states, "My navel is a
reject button" (15). The speaker illustrates how her belly button is a reject button. The purpose of
using a metaphor in this quote is to explain how the speaker's body is being altered to inanimate
objects. The significance of the navel is that after detaching the umbilical cord after birth, the navel
no longer has a biological purpose. This is vital because perhaps the speaker feels useless, because
the speaker knows her navel is ineffective. Since the speaker is working over time, she probably
feels like she

Barbie Doll Marge Piercy
"Barbie Doll" by Marge Piercy
The poem "Barbie Doll' by Marge Piercy dramatizes the conflict between stereotyping and
perfection within society. The title accentuates the theme of the poem; the Doll symbolizes society's
interpretation of beauty and a reflection of how the girl's ideas of this beauty shape her self–worth.
According to Steven Ratiner, author of Giving Their World: Conversations with Contemporary
Poets, it is Piercy's realistic interpretations of life experience which develops the theme of her
poetry: "... her poems contain visions of a woman's struggle to take responsibility for her own life..."
By comparing the young lady in the poem to a Barbie doll, the author reveals the irony of the title.
The societies within America ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Barbie looks blown out of proportion, she is rigid, she does not step out of line, she just smiles and
does not talk, and she does whatever her puppeteer wants of her. "She went to and fro apologizing",
Robert Perrin notes the melancholic rhythmic emphasis and "depression cycle" of "to and fro" (87).
This line conveys that the girl is convinced that "Everyone saw a fat nose on thick legs"(11). For the
first time, the reader is given traits of the girl that provide the "countermovement for the poem"
(Perrin 87). This girl tries to live up to the epitome, for she has apologized and now wants to repair
herself so she will be acceptable. This line re–emphasizes the ugliness of not measuring up to the
standard of an ideal female, a standard set by society.
The third stanza Piercy transitions into adulthood. It seems as though the young girl is reaching out
for help to match with society's Barbie like expectations of her. She is "advised to play coy, /
exhorted to come on hearty, / exercise, diet, smile and wheedle" (12–14). The society is giving her
"advice" on how to appear attractive so she is struggling to find out as to why people will not accept
her for who she is. Social restrictions accepted by society put a lot of pressure on vulnerable, young
girls who at "heart want to resist the influences of dominant culture" (Perrin 84). The girl is looking
for an answer that society won't give her, she has to

The Market Economy By Marge Piercy
The bizarre economy that we live in has affected us in many ways than our simple mind can fathom.
After World War II there was massive push in innovation. Human were gifted with inventions like
the Airplane, color T.V., polyvinyl cups, and precooked dinners. Nevertheless, these "gifts" came at
an enormous cost. That cost was pushed onto the environment and people living in that
environment. "The Market Economy" by Marge Piercy illustrates the movement in American aimed
at bring attention to a global problem as well as an effort to save the planet along with the people
living on it.
Marge Piercy was born in 1936 which placed her birth at the end of The Great Depression.(History
Channel) This also let her grow up in the "Golden Age of America" where the United States of
America had the highest GDP per capita, people could easily find jobs "you work in a new plastic"
(line17) With all of new economic opportunities that happened during this time period also brought
people out of the country fresh air into more modern factories that populated the environment. and
there was a massive population boom happening. Also with a population increasing people moved
outside of the cities and in to the suburbs. This boom in population was mostly in the middle class
where families spent money on buying thing like "Color T.V, polyvinyl cups, precooked meals" and
other home goods to less than burden of doing house course, and increasing the leisure times. Some
of the cost of goods was not

Summary Of Barbie Doll By Marge Piercy
Society has challenge the true definition of being beautiful. The norms found today expect women
to look certain way, to be placed in the category of being beautiful. A woman should feel
comfortable in her own skin, but due to societal expectations many women lacks self– confidence.
Society expects women to be perfect; perfect body, perfect smile, perfect mentality, perfect
everything. But what society fails to realize, is that no one is perfect and shouldn't be expected to be
perfect because it's impossible. In her poem Barbie Doll, Marge Piercy utilizes setting, imagery, and
symbolism to portray the affect that societal expectations have on women's perception of being
beautiful. Within the poem Piercy chose to center the setting of her ... Show more content on
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The reader becomes aware of the flaws that society sees in the young girl in the second stanza;
"everyone saw a fat nose and thick legs" and disregarded the fact that she "tested intelligent"
because they were too wrapped up in her imperfections (Mays 724). The young girl's inner beauty
was never discussed within the poem, the readers weren't made of aware of her personality, her
smile, or her mentality. Instead they were bombarded with flaws that society found in the girl.
Everyone should feel beautiful in their own skin, but with the expectations that society has set for
women to look and act has made it hard for some women to embrace their beauty. The use of
imagery allows the readers to see the flaws in the young girl just as society has. Piercy portrays
Barbie Doll as a symbol of perfection and what society expects from women. Even though the
Barbie Doll isn't mention throughout the poem, the symbolism is found in the title itself. The
imagery used to describe the young girl "in a casket displayed on satin with the undertaker's
cosmetics painted on" creates the same image of a Barbie Doll in a display box with cosmetic
makeup on with a "putty nose" (Mays 725). Growing up young girls dream of living a life like
Barbie, they desire the perfect body, perfect smile, perfect clothes, the perfect life of the Barbie
Doll. But as the same young girls grow up into becoming young adults they realize that's its
impossible to have the life of a Barbie Doll because no human

Lydia Davis And Marge Piercy
The human species is strange. And it is very hard for one to understand another, yet it is harder for a
human to understand oneself. Lydia Davis and Marge Piercy use "Head, Heart" and "Barbie Doll" to
express to readers two different internal struggles that people have. Davis and Piercy both use strong
diction to express the internal fights that humanity has within themselves. Both Davis and Piercy
also use free verse to tell their poems and to get their point across. In "Head, Heart", Lydia Davis
gets right to the point with her poem. Her poem is only ten lines long but in those ten lines she uses
short sentences and multiple forms of punctuation. In "Head, Heart", Davis writes about the internal
fight between the speakers heart and the speakers head. Davis uses metonymy in her writing. The
head to portray reason and the heart to portray emotion. She writes about how the head is trying to
comfort the broken heart by telling the heart that there will be others and that "You will lose the ones
you love." (Davis line 4) The writer uses a conflict between emotion and reason. ... Show more
content on Helpwriting.net ...
In "Barbie Doll", the speaker is fighting herself with accepting who she really is versus who society
wants her to be. Piercy uses exaggerated diction and is very sarcastic with her writing. This shows
readers that it is a silly thing to feel so unaccepted because of physical appearance but the reality of
it is that these things do actually happen to people. And this is a major issue in society as a whole.
The writer tells a story of a girl who is born just like any other girl but grows into this body that is so
unaccepted by

Barbie Doll by Marge Piercy Essay
The poem, "Barbie Doll," written by Marge Piercy tells the story of a young girl growing up through
the adolescence stage characterized by appearances and barbarity. The author uses imagery and
fluctuating tone to describe the struggles the girl is experiencing during her teenage years, and the
affects that can happen. The title of this poem is a good description of how most societies expect
others, especially girls to look. Constantly, people are mocked for their appearance and expected to
represent a "barbie–doll"–like figure. Few are "blessed" with this description. The female gender is
positioned into the stereotype that women should be thin and beautiful. With this girl, the effects
were detrimental. The first stanza describes the ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
It's ironic that this particular word is used because puberty is actually a stage of emotional crisis'. A
hurtful remark was made towards the child, and she was described as having a "big nose and fat
legs." The second stanza also begins with the subdued tone mentioning the girls positive aspects,
such as being "healthy...intelligent...strong." These specific details are usually related to the male.
Once again, the gender characteristics play as an underlying factor. These qualities were not good
enough for a woman if they were not beautiful. The stanza then takes a turn like the first turning
away from the simplicity. The girl "went to and fro apologizing," while everyone still saw "a fat
nose on thick legs." Society places women into the mold where they begin to put on a facade and
apologize for their "misfortunes." In the third stanza, the girl was "advised to play coy...(and) smile."
Women are once again pressured to act in a way that is unreal, like a "barbie doll." The "fan belt"
mention in this stanza is used as imagery to describe how one's facade can wear out over time, as
hers did. She "cut off her nose and her legs," in response to this. The character Nora in "A Doll's
House," is a perfect example of how women are like dolls and do what they are told or what society
expects of them. It is only in the last stanza where the girl is dead and has "consummation at last."
She is finally given a compliment when someone said,

The Market Economy Marge Piercy
"The Market Economy" was a poem written by Marge Piercy in 1973. The publishing of "The
Market Economy" could have been influenced by a couple of factors. First, was how Piercy lived
during the time that capitalism was first introduced, and new markets and means of wealth and
prosperity were being created. Next, "The Market Economy" was published after the start of the
1970's recession in the U.S., which could have had some influence on the purpose of this poem. To
be simple, the poem is very negative and is about the negativity of Capitalist America and how bad
it is for the environment and for our health. Piercy wrote her poem in the style of free verse.
Consistently throughout the poem there no signs of rhyming or meter. Piercy was very direct with
her poem. In "The market economy, she did not favor the use of similes or other literary devices.
One of few literary devices used was the use of the name "smog city." One google search later, and
pictures of large cities with smokestacks pumping out metric tons of smoke into the air gives
explanation to the term "smog city." ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
She demonstrated this within the first 10 lines of the poem, when she writes, "you can have
polyvinyl cups and wash and wear suits but it will cost you your left lung rotted with cancer." This is
a good choice because she demonstrated how Americans had access to newer and easier clothing
materials and cups, but these new materials were harmful to us, and we didn't care about the toxins
we were consuming. One more section that describes this is, "suppose someone offered you a frozen
precooked dinner every night for ten years but at the end your colon dies." This just goes to show
how simplifying our lives can damage our health in the long

Poem Analysis: Barbie Doll By Marge Piercy
Duncan 1 Brittany Duncan Instructor Kathryn Mitchell English 102 6 November, 2014 Unrealistic
Perceptions If you are women; you most likely have had at least one Barbie doll or if you're a guy
you have notice a girl admiring this doll, a doll that you took with you everywhere you went, you
had an favorite outfit, a favorite way to do her hair, you admired that Barbie doll and someday
wanted be like this doll, this object. But that's just it, an object is an object. Consumers have taken
notice of this admiration and have used it to their advantage of not only as a selling point but as a
way to prove a point, a point that has high expectations of how you are to look physically. Barbie
dolls have been the talk of social attitudes lately, there's truth to both sides. ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
Young girls idolize these dolls and that's not healthy for them because these Barbie dolls are skinny,
pretty with tons of makeup on, hairs in perfect condition and has fancy clothes. This isn't reality, one
might transform herself into this idea of an Barbie doll; starves herself, gets plastic surgery, dyes her
hair, transforms her face by using tons of makeup. This is all too much work, looking like a Barbie
doll is not easy and unrealistic. Marge Piercy uses her poem to show the negative aspects how
allowing a young girl to idolize a Barbie doll. Piercy uses graphic details in her poem that might be
perceived as gruesome and harsh, this might be but this adds to her poem, it gives detail to it
expressing how dangerous it can be for a young girl to idolize this doll and fall into these social

As the audience reads "Barbie Doll" by Marge Piercy, the poem gives you an insight of women in
the 1970's. Even though the poem was written back then, the audience can still relate to the story. In
this day in age, people still go through society judging them. The audience may have experienced a
part of their life where society didn't accept them for who they were. Marge Piercy's poem "Barbie
Doll" connects the audience through emotions to show the standards of beauty for women,
eventually never living up to society. Letting the audience connect through emotion, Marge Piercy
uses an ironic tone, a metaphor, and symbolism throughout the poem.
Marge Piercy uses an ironic tone throughout the poem to show the audience why she is disappointed
... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Using a metaphor in the poem may have given the audience mixed emotions. The audience was
probably confused because they weren't sure if the girl is dead or not. "So, she cut off her nose and
her legs" (Piercy 17). The audience may have felt disturbed because the writer used a strong
metaphor to represent the narrator killing herself. Instead of the writer just putting "she killed
herself", she wanted to emphasize that line because the narrator was tired of not being accepted for
who she is. Some of the audience may feel the same way because people may feel tired of their self–
appearance. They want to change something that can be accepted.
The writer connected the audience with emotion by showing symbolism in the poem. Towards the
end of the poem, the writer talks about how society made her into someone that was acceptable.
Society put the "undertaker's cosmetics painted on" (Piercy 19). This symbolizes the type of beauty
society was accepting. It was more of a mask. Society even puts on a "nightie" (Piercy 22) on the
narrator even when she is dead. The piece of clothing represents women appearing to be beautiful
and pure. The audience might be wondering why society is still bothering the narrator when she's
dead. They also may feel sad for the narrator because society is still not satisfied.
This poem specifically pertains to the standards of beauty in women but, men can relate because
society judges them too. Society has done a lot of damage to many

The Secretary Chant By Marge Piercy
Poems are a unique piece of literature that generally include a strong form of emotion. When writing
poems, the author will do certain things to make their poem more powerful such as word choice and
word placement, punctuation, character choice, and what point of view the poem is being told from.
The author does this so that they can better connect their audience to the poem and make them relate
more to the characters present in the poem. One thing that can make poems powerful is when an
author includes divisions, conflicts, and multiple forces within the self, or in other words, within a
character. Including this in a poem emphasizes what the characters are feeling personally and allows
the reader to see through the character's eyes. The ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
While reading the poem, the woman doing this can be thought of as her having such a low self–
esteem that she feels worthless and the only things that can explain how she feels are office objects.
The line "my head is a badly organized file" gives the idea that the woman's life is a jumbled mess
which can be a reason that leads to her low self esteem. After reading the poem, it is discovered that
the women's conflict in herself is that she isn't recognized enough for all the stuff that she does, and
that the reason she is comparing herself to office objects is because she feels like a machine, doing
the same thing every day, and never getting a break. The line "my head is a badly organized file" can
be relooked at as the woman always doing work and that a lot of things are always on her mind and
she doesn't know how to organize those things. The woman also feels like a machine because like a
machine can break down, she feels that she will too because she is always doing so much. The
woman describes herself, but does not give her name, which incorporates stereotypes because her
individuality is taken away, and she does not know who she is anymore. The woman wants
recognition for all the work that she does, but she does not get it, and is seen by everyone else as a
machine, which lowers her self esteem even more. The poem being in first person helps the reader to
understand the woman better because they get exactly how the woman is feeling and not another
view saying how she

Barbie Doll Marge Piercy Analysis
In the story "barbie doll" by Marge Piercy it's about a young normal girl growing up playing with
dolls and pretend make up. It takes a shocking turn when she is made fun of during her youth
adulthood, for have a big nose and fat legs. Futher into the poem she cut off her legs and nose and a
very unusual illustration of her laying in a casket with an conclusion that express "to every woman a
happy ending". Within society a women desire to be flawless when it comes to looks. There's so
much pressure and eagerness when it comes to a female fulfilling that image of looking like
barbie.There is proof to this statement with the poet's use of irony, imagery and the impact of words
having a bad outcome on the self–esteem of females.
Piercy's use of irony is detected within the title itself "barbie doll". I envision it to revolve around
the ideal barbie image alot of people make great efforts to achieve. However, this is where the true
irony comes in. Barbies are popular for their unnatural slim bodies and perfect features and because
they are played with by little girls, that image becomes the image teenagers and girls look for. Yet, in
the poem the girl does not have barbie doll features." a fat nose on thick legs,"(835) is what she was
being teased about because she hit puberty. "Then in the magic of puberty" Puberty is when your
body begins to change into an adult and there's nothing magical about that, especially for the little
girl because it caused her to be teased for her appearences.
In the last few lines of the poem, piercy refers to a "happy ending" it is a depressing thought.
"Consummation at last. To every woman a happy ending"(24–25) is very sarcastic and pessimistic.
She is basically saying that at last the end has come and its a feeling of pleasure since the girl got
her wish, but at what cost did she become a barbie.
The poet's use of imagery is all over the poem when we reflect on the girl childhood and how she
was teased for her "fat nose on thick legs" she doesn't resemble a barbie doll with perfect nose and
legs."Her good nature wore out like a fan belt." (15–16) There's imagery in this line because a fan
belt breaks quickly when it comes in contact with oil. So the on going disapproval

Barbie Doll by Marge Piercy
Theme and tone are some of the most important aspects of understanding a poem. Not only do they
tell the reader what the poem is about, it also tells them the author's attitude and feelings towards the
topic. It is crucial to know not only the topic of the poem, but to know what the author is trying to
say about that topic as well. Many authors use poetry to express their opinions on certain issues.
These issues can be controversial in some cases. The poem "Barbie Doll" by Marge Piercy
illustrates her view of a woman's social role in America. Just from looking at the title of the poem,
we can see that the author believes society's expectations of women are unrealistic. A barbie doll is
supposed to be a figure of a "perfect" woman that is tall, skinny, and flawless. This look is obviously
unachievable for a human being to accomplish. Barbie dolls are also only given to young girls. They
are shown at a young age what they are supposed to look like and how they are supposed to act. This
is where girls are first introduced to their female roles in society. A doll is fake and made of plastic,
incapable of being intelligent and having a mind of its own. These are the issues that Piercy
addresses throughout her poem "Barbie Doll." This poem is a story of a girl who grows up
struggling to conform to society's standards, which eventually leads to her death in the end. The
author starts off by referring to her as a "girlchild." The term is very general, meaning that not only
did

Marge Piercy Barbie Doll
"Barbie Doll" by Marge Piercy begins describing a normal little girl who played with the usual toys
that girls played with. Baby dolls and appliances taught her how to role play for her future position
as a wife and mother. These toys symbolized the various skills females are intended to acquire.
Besides taking care of children, cooking and ironing were future responsibilities she needed to
become skilled at. She was also required to make sure that her general appearance was a priority and
that she looked presentable. "... lipsticks the color of cherry candy" (Piercy line 4) was given to her
so she looked beautiful and concealed any imperfections she had. The "... magic of puberty" (Piercy
line 5) caused a fellow classmate to criticize her. Her classmate exclaimed, "You have a great big
nose and fat legs" (Piercy line 6). The child suddenly became mindful of her looks and questioned
her beauty or lack thereof.
Regardless of the fact that she was smart and strong, it was overlooked because of her big nose and
fat legs. This made her overlook her ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
She ended her life because other people were not happy with her appearance. The sad thing is that
upon her death, people commented "Doesn't she look pretty?" (Piercy line 23). She was finally
recognized, but unfortunately it wasn't until her death that she was accepted for who she was.
However, the only reason why her beauty is commented on at this time is because of the makeup
used by the undertaker. She appears to be beautiful in death, but she is disguised with make–up. She
is created to seem like somebody she was not in her physical lifetime. There is pure sarcaism at the
end when the Piercy states, "To every woman a happy ending" (line 25). This clearly reveals exactly
how people contaminate a female's rationale that the only way to have a joyous end, females have to
sculpt themselves into a flawless figure just like that of a Barbie

Marge Piercy Barbie Doll
In Marge Piercy's poem 'Barbie Doll' she expresses how much of an impact society has someone's
life, especially women. Piercy explains how even the brightest, most intelligent women can become
consumed by this mold that society has labeled "all women" to fit. Unfortunately this poem was
written almost fifty years ago and is just as relevant today as it was back then. Women have always
been presented with unreal expectations since a young age, they will always be expected to uphold
these expectations and be advised to "play coy, exhorted to come on hearty, exercise, diet, smile, and
wheedle."
Piercy naming the poem 'Barbie Doll' adds a lot power further making this poem even more
meaningful. Barbie is seen as an icon in pop culture, even though ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
And finally after living her life people say "doesn't she look pretty/ consummation at last. To every
woman a happy ending" (23) only after finally changing herself to become something society
wanted her to become did people believe she was pretty and finally accepted her.
Marge Piercy's poem 'Barbie Doll' signifies what society demands of women. This poem shows how
no matter how much of a great person you are no one will notice unless you fit the mold of a
"Barbie". At the end of this poem the girl child is no longer unique she is now a clone of every other
person, in the process of trying to be accepted by everyone she lost what made her unique and

Sleeping With Cats By Marge Piercy
A highly talented, writer who was praised as a poet and a novelist, turns her gaze as she shares her
thoughts on life. As she explores her maturity as a feminist and a writer. She pays tribute to her
loving recollections gave her life meaning and constant comfort even if things don't go the way she
wanted.
In this inspiring and moving memoir, Marge Piercy, shares her perceptions concerning life.
Throughout, she remembers every moment of her life that changed her, inspired her, and changed
her into a better person. She revisits her past with all the people, circumstances, and actions that
she's been involved.
With pure honesty, Piercy enumerates her untold childhood, growing up in a religiously different
society in Detroit. Experiencing ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Her father put up a repairing business and worked industriously to provide their needs while her
mother, a housewife, did her best to keep the family intact. She loved her mother the most and
credits every little thing to her especially for introducing her to word games that enhanced her
vocabulary and made her what she is now, a very successful novelist, author and poet. She pursued
to finish her studies but neither her parents understood the importance of education and her dreams.
Lacking familial encouragement by the age of 15, she established a strong root that would define
entirely her for the rest of her life.
In that same year, she lost a very close friend due to heroin overdose; her beloved cat died because a
certain family poisoned her gentle intelligent cat; such was the pain that she experienced when she
lost her religious mentor, Hannah whom she loved so much as grandmother died because of a
stomach cancer diagnosis.
She became so timid in the following years, always keeping a low profile. That was she began to
write because she can truly express her thoughts through her fictions, poems, essays and novels. She
participated in a civil rights movement and knew that her feisty emotions against racism had roots in
her cat's

Marge Piercy Barbie Doll Essay
Beauty Isn't Everything The beautifully touching poem "Barbie Doll" by Marge Piercy, made me
recognize a predominate issue that has been around for ages. Which is, that in our society, there has
and always will be the desire, especially for women, to appear perfect on the outside. There is
simply too much pressure and concern for women to give in and try to look as perfect as a Barbie
doll ( which is physically impossible by the way). I believe the media and the power of people's
words greatly impacts a woman's self confidence. Piercy' selects a free form of poetry and other
devices to help get this point across.
Women are willing to sacrifice their health, happiness and even their life to live up to society's
beauty standards. Piercy's ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
This is shown when Piercy describes what a classmate had said to the "girl" when she had hit
puberty. "You have a great big nose and fat legs."(11) A person who has low self–confidence will
take these words to heart and believe they are true. Perhaps if a woman is taught at a young age that
"it's what's on the inside that counts", then maybe they won't necessarily stress what other's have to
say about them. However, a woman who believes looks are everything will fret and care deeply,
they will fixate on their "flaws". Today we have an ample amount of social media applications, and
when girls are feeling confident they may upload a picture of themselves. However, social media
has the power, with just a click or touch of a button, to quickly shattered that self–confidence.
People whether the individual knows them or not have the power to leave hateful and negative
comments on that picture, pointing out the uploader's flaws. Once a woman is made to believe she is
anything short of beautiful she will always feel as if she is not. When people in general receive
criticism, it tends to follow them and stick with them for a long time, if not forever.. This is even
more true when women are judged or critiqued on their appearance. This problem is evident when
the poet repeats the same line the classmate had said to the girl, to make the point that the "girl"
remembers and believes what

The Secretary Chant By Marge Piercy
Female The struggle of women to achieve equality has been defined in literature in many different
accounts. "Professions for Women" was a speech delivered by Virginia Woolf to a society of young
professional women on her own experiences as a published writer, as well as a declaration about the
current inferior status of women, and ways in which that status may change. "The Secretary Chant"
by Marge Piercy is a poem depicting a female secretary who is defined by her occupation. The
conventional standards of a woman's place in society in accordance to men is portrayed in May
Swenson's poem, "Women". "Professions of Women" preaches ways to push forward and advance
the feminist movement, while "Women" and "The Secretary Chant" succumb to ... Show more
The interesting ordeal is that while Swenson essentially dictates to women to become a form of
Woolf's Angel in the house, Woolf states, "Had I not killed her [referencing the Angel in the House]
she would have killed me" (Woolf 2). Woolf continues to preach to her audience that in order for
them to become successful professionals they must first kill the Angel in the House; if they are
unable to they will always be held back by her, even though every social norm dictates for the
woman to become the perfect Angel in the House. Piercy describes a woman who identifies as a
secretary in her poem "The Secretary Chant." This occupation has taken over the woman in such a
way that she describes her body parts as parts of the office, or operators, which preform a secretary's
work:
My hips are a desk,
From my ears hang
Chains of paper clips.
Rubber bands form my hair
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
File me under W because I wonce was a woman (Piercy 1–4, 21–25).
This woman states that she was become so immersed in her job that she no longer identifies as a
woman. She has come to accept her current place in society as a secretary and does not try to change
her position. She may not attempt to change her position due to a societal norm. Michael Smirlock
in his article published in 1980 states, "Women

Summary Of Barbie Doll By Marge Piercy
"Barbie Doll"
Why when we are alone do we think about flaws or other characteristics about ourselves that are not
"good enough? "Barbie Doll" by Marge Piercy gives the readers a new outlook on the standards
people uphold for young girls. When you see what is expected you begin to realize how unrealistic
these expectations are. Throughout the poem Marge Piercy talked about things that were often
expected from young girls such as appearances, hobbies, and even characteristics. The theme of this
poem is" people set unrealistic expectations on young girls that can cause an affect on their self–
esteem. " was mentioned and as we went deeper into poem the pain she was truly going through was
revealed. She believed the only way it would all be over is if she killed herself, which was the
impact the author wanted you to feel. This is shown by the attitudes of the poem and the figurative
language.
To make a larger impact and connect more with the people reading, Marge Piercy uses figurative
language to give the readers a new outlook on the standards being upheld for young girls. People
can only take a certain amount, and the author shows that in this quote "Her good nature wore out
like a fan belt (16+17)." This presents how the unrealistic "rules", as some may call it, impacted her
so much to the point where slowly it was taking the life out of her. It also showed how she tried to
fit into what society expected but it did not work out. Like it says in
Purewal

Marge Piercy's "Barbie Doll" describes a woman who has only been seen for the different qualities
of her appearance and not her many great personality traits. This girl is constantly put down and
asked to change for the purpose of being more like other girls, but this prospect of having nothing
left of herself has brought her to a dark place. This poem uses imagery and figurative language to
explain that society often forces young women to change different aspects of themselves in order to
be accepted and fit into the perfect mold.
Piercy uses imagery from the beginning to the end of the poem to describe the girl's life as she aged
and to describe the different ways that she was supposed to act. She states that the "girlchild was
born as ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Piercy's continuous use of imagery helps the reader to understand that adults cherish the fake smiles
and slim appearances. Girls are only seen as objects for the men around them and to fit in with the
girls that have the same plastic appearances and personalities. The simile that comes after these
lines, "Her good nature wore out / like a fan belt," helps to emphasize the amount of effort that the
girl child has put into making herself somebody that she is not (15–16). The reader is able to picture
the girl, like a machine, working overly hard to become the person that everybody wants and
constantly wearing herself thin, just as a fan belt does when the machine is being used improperly.
The criticism and so called advice from those around her led her to believe that her only option to
finally satisfy those that she was trying to please was to cut off the parts that were judged, leading to
her demise. Piercy gives the reader a perfect image of the funeral and the girl's body lying in her
casket to again show all of the materialistic effort that was put into making her appear as their form
of beautiful. The undertaker has polished the girl's look off with cosmetics, a feminine nightgown,
and even an unreal nose to replace the one that was seen as too big (20–23). The description of how
the girl was displayed is another way that Piercy has used imagery to expound upon

The Role Of Women In Barbie Doll, By Marge Piercy
People are oftentimes cast into roles or duties that some might believe are duties for certain groups
of people. For example, some people feel nursing is a career for women; and when they encounter a
male nurse, they might not be as receptive to him. In other words, they just don't feel comfortable
with their skills. Also, society has placed women in the role of stay–at–home moms and
housekeepers. Men who take on the duties of stay–at–home dads are sometimes frowned upon by
society and assumptions are made that the dad is not performing "manly" duties. However, there is
no one mold fit all society. People, especially women, should not be stereotyped in roles or duties
that society deemed "women only". The poems "Barbie Doll", "Girl", and "Daystar" reveals the
pain, shame, and loneliness that some women might experience because of society's beliefs.
Marge Piercy's poem "Barbie Doll" reveals society's perception and expectations of girls as soon as
they are born. She is to grow–up and adhere to normal girl behavior. Behavior that does not deviate
from restrictive roles and ideals. Piercy starts the poem off with gender recognition so that the reader
can understand the "girlchild" role in life as a woman. "In other words, she will fit into society's
mold; and the use of the word "presented" rather than given lets the reader know the importance of
the items" (2). After all, they are her training tools. "This 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" (1–4). Dolls that pee–pee are to train her for motherhood. A stove is to train her for preparing
meals; and an iron is for making sure her family is always polished. The lipstick is to remind her
that society expects her to be beautiful as well. Puberty is not a magical time. Piercy use of the word
"magic" and puberty together draws attention from society's perceived "Barbie Doll" to reality (5).
Puberty is a time that can create havoc, as the "girlchild" found out. "The author says that one of the
milestones of the girl's life happens in the "magic of puberty" (5). "Puberty is a time of awkward
transitions and not a time of magic, but expressing it in a

The Poem ' Barbie Doll ' By Marge Piercy
Through the poem "Barbie Doll" by Marge Piercy we see how much words can affect someone,
especially the youth. By always being told that you are not good enough, you are going to take that
one of two ways. One you may give in and give up, or you will decide to toughen up. No matter
how hard you try, you will never be fully accepted until you die. There will always be someone who
wants you to change something about yourself, in order for you to be "better." If we do not take a
stand for who we are and for the things we believe in, are we really living a life worth living? In the
poem "Barbie Doll," we see the main character try and try to change who she is so that she can be
accepted by society. "Exercise, diet, smile and wheedle/ Her good nature wore out"(14–15), all the
things she did to become skinnier, did not make her happy. They made her depressed because of no
matter how hard she tried or what she did, she was never good enough. She soon lost the hope and
drive to become like everyone else, and she gave up. Never give up, because when you give up, just
like the girl in "Barbie Doll" did, that is when society wins. We all have a choice to make in our own
lives, do we live the way society wants us to live, or do we live a life that we want to live. I
struggled with that choice for the longest of times. It all started when I was about three years old
when I first started to think about the priesthood. I have to give a lot of credit to my parents, because
when

"Barbie Doll" by Marge Piercy discusses the social expectations placed on women dating back to
the 1970s and continuing today. Using an ominous tone, she examines the standards of beauty and
class to which society expects women to conform. Holding all women to the same high standards in
appearance and mannerisms will result in all women looking and acting uniformly without any
unique ideas, individuality, or personality. This perfectionism placed on women causes societal
sufferings that will ultimately lead to destruction of future generations.
Piercy's message of high expectations placed on woman begins with the title of the poem itself,
"Barbie Doll". The Barbie Doll, often viewed as the ideal woman, represents unattainable self–
image standards that epitomizes common stereotypes of women. Immediately the reader visualizes
society's perfect woman, one with unrealistic expectations that diminish a woman's intelligence or
intellect and solely focuses on appearance. Throughout the poem, Piercy puts an emphasis on
comparing girls to Barbie dolls; however, the word Barbie only appears in the title. Although there
is no direct comparison to the Barbie doll, when the girl's classmate said, "you have a great big nose
and fat legs" (Piercy 349) she compared the size of the girl's nose and legs to what society's ideal
body type. Piercy uses the Barbie as a symbol for these unrealistic characteristics to which society
wants all to conform, which also causes lack of uniqueness

Marge Piercy Barbie Doll Essay
Life is Beauty and Beauty is Death Barbie dolls, beautiful inventions used in children's play for
imaginative growth. Something so small and delicate aides in the challenge in many of today's
women, trying to become like the plastic doll: slender, pretty, and "perfect" as if made by a machine.
Marge Piercy illustrates in her poem "Barbie Doll" that some women are willing to sacrifice
everything to become pretty and flawless. Throughout the poem Marge Piercy incorporates the
literature devices tone, theme, topic, to inform the reader the implications of beauty. The tone of
"Barbie Doll" is filled with sarcasm. The tone of sarcasm is improved by there being an omnipresent
speaker. Therefore, the speaker is someone watching what has happened rather than the girl
speaking who is going through the events. This helps develop the sarcasm because the speaker's
sentence structure is choppy and the speaker makes the end feel falsely cheerful ... Show more
Many women today are relying on unhealthy diets and even going under the knife in plastic surgery
to become the Barbie doll beautiful they desire to be. According to American Society of Plastic
surgeons over four point six million cosmetic surgeries were done in 2012 and that percentage is
increasing yearly. This is a growing issue today, not only having one ideal look for every single
woman but this ideal look correspondingly causing them to pursue plastic surgery to become the
perfect and ideal prettiness. In addition, unlike media today the poem actually indicates the
possibility of a fatal or horrendous outcome from the surgeries. Piercy indicates at the end of
"Barbie Doll" when the girl is dead and socially viewed as pretty; this is every woman's happy
ending to finally be beautiful, emphasizing the problem with society seeing beauty as the only
reason to

Essay on Language, Imagery, and Symbolism in To Be of Use
Use of Language, Imagery, and Symbolism to Develop the Theme of To Be of Use
In the minds of most people, the words, "hard work" and "heavy labor" carry a negative connotation.
What these words imply is not something that is generally welcomed with enthusiasm but is often
accepted either by force or obligation. Marge Piercy's poem "To Be of Use" conveys an opposing
connotation about the idea of work. The central theme of the poem is that satisfaction, gratification,
and self–fulfillment can be attained by using one's capabilities to serve a functional purpose in life,
for it is the opinion of the speaker that an idle existence has no value or significance because it is
worthless, vain, futile, and ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Piercy continues her description of "the people [she loves]" in the second stanza to further shape the
theme. With the statement, "I love people who harness themselves, an ox to a heavy cart..." (8),
Piercy indicates with a metaphor that she is fond of people who manage burdensome tasks which
seem to require super–human strength without the facilitation of alternative more convenient
methods of completing them. By including the details "people who harness themselves" in this line,
Piercy implies that what makes these people so honorable is that they are ready and willing to
become the "ox"; they do not need to be coaxed or forced to commit themselves to a task. Piercy
adds that those whom she respects "pull like water buffalo, with massive patience,..." (9). Here
Piercy's simile conveys that although they are heavy laden, they remain dedicated and devoted to
their aims. When Piercy describes that they "Strain in the mud and muck to move things forward,..."
(10), the words "mud and muck" become symbols of the obstacles and unfavorable conditions that
Piercy's favorite type of people often have to contend with while working. Despite such discomfort
and inconvenience, with grand effort, determination, and persistence, they persevere and accomplish
their goals. In addition, Piercy relates that she

In this day and age, especially in American society, women and young girls are too often targeted to
dislike their self image. Thanks to media, magazines, models, and society standards, the image of a
normal woman has been twisted into an unobtainable image. Marge Piercy 's "Barbie Doll" perfectly
defines this thought, and shadows a woman who feeds into the pressure of a superior image. Let it
be noticed that this piece was written in the late 60 's, and compare the harsh and drastic change
from the "perfect woman" from that day and age to now. The comparison is exquisite, seeing as the
pressure was so strong in that day and age, and even more so now. The pressure for the perfect
image has been and will be an ongoing race. The short story 'Barbie Doll ' starts off by painting an
image of a young girl, who grows up with the image of a woman 's life and duties planted in her
mind. "Presented with dolls, and miniature GE stoves, and wee lipsticks the color of cherry candy."
(Piercy) Immediately, she was placed unknowingly into the place of a girl, the standards that we are
born to do, born to be. Growing up with this most likely put that idea into her own mind, and
transitioning into puberty made it all the worse. She began to change, displayed the knowledge,
health and strength anyone would be lucky to have. Yet, going into puberty, "everyone saw a fat
nose on thick legs." (Piercy) I remember being that girl, not glamourous, yet not horrendous
looking. I was average,

The Secretary Chant, By Marge Piercy
What attitudes does each of the three authors have about the consequences of work? The authors of
the three texts all share a similar attitude towards the consequences of work, which is that it can be
detrimental to one's physical and mental wellbeing. Author of text One The Secretary Chant, Marge
Piercy describes the stressful life of a secretary and how the accumulation of stressful events leads
to the secretary feeling mechanical and dehumanised. Piercy implies that, with overwork, people can
begin to lose a sense of who they are. In this instance, the Secretary believes she is no longer a
human, but instead a part of the office as her voice has been lost in the quantity of work that must be
done. Similarly, Steven Poole, who wrote text ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
This is further enhanced by the use of emotive language and a detached and melancholy tone. The
use of the verb, "hang," and the noun, "chains," acts as a possible allusion to other historical events
of oppression such as slavery. Such vocabulary choices emphasise the way in which the secretary
feels trapped and objectified in her own work environment. The secretary feels trapped because of
the way that she has been objectified, which suggests that she is only valued for her ability to work
like other office equipment, evident in line 1 where she states, "my hips are a desk." The mechanical
way that the secretary is employed establishes how she no longer feels as though she is a human.
Instead, she is simply part of the office and the repetitive onomatopoeic, "buzz," and, "clicks," that
define workplace environments. This is supported by line 21, where the persona states, "file me
under W because I wonce was a woman." In a similar way, text 2 considers the damaging effect of
work through a satirical narrative voice. This is achieved by exploring how humans are essentially
slaves of the digital world. When humans go on holiday; an event that epitomises quite the opposite
of work, they are still plagued by, "the fear that catching up on a fortnight's email will be epically
disgusting labour." Whilst the prospect of reading one's emails is not the crux of the article, it acts as
a humours anecdote that reminds readers of the dangers of letting the digital world control them.
The light–hearted narrative voice of the text is emphasised by the use of colloquial terms and
inclusive language, such as, "that first volume of Karl Ove Knausgard you've been meaning to
read," as it appeals to the demographic of The Guardian and encourages the

Summary Of He She And It By Marge Piercy
The novel He, She and It by Marge Piercy takes the reader into the year 2059. The world has been
divided into 23 different regions known as multis, which are based on corporate culture. Shira
Shipman, the main character, lived in the multi Y–S (Yakamura–Stichen) until her ex–husband was
granted the custody of their two year–old son Ari. Shira decides to return back to her hometown of
Tikva, where she was raised by her grandmother Malkah. To take her mind off of Ari, she goes to
work with Avram, her ex–boyfriend's dad, on creating an illegal human–like robot named Yod. Yod
is designed to protect the town of Tikva. Since it is illegal to create a robot to portray the same
features of a human it is Shira's job is to teach Yod human mannerisms

Barbie Doll By Marge Piercy Summary
A majority of the world's cultures have one thing in common, male dominance. This mass of male
dominance has allowed males to influence society's perception of how a gender is supposed to be in
favor of maintaining females in an inferior position in order to maintain male dominance. One way
society gives into maintaining male dominance is by placing attributes contributed by women lower
than the same attributes contributed by men, often not even recognizing the attributes contributed by
women because their attributes have been reduced to their appearance. "Barbie Doll" by Marge
Piercy presents an example of the pressure society imposes on women to fit into their vision of the
perfect woman by telling the story of a girl who commits suicide after not being able to fulfill
society's expectations of her appearance. The language and images in particular in "Barbie Doll"
further contribute to the depiction of society pressuring women to achieve a certain appearance and
act a specific way that reduces them from a person to an object, ultimately allowing women to be
placed in a subordinate position to men.
The language and images utilized within the first two lines of the first stanza demonstrate the
familiarity with societal pressures females encounter and the roles their gender is supposed to
follow. The speaker begins the poem by saying that a "girlchild was born as usual" (line 1). The
word "usual" presents a sense of familiarity with the mistreatment women face. The line

In her poem ' Barbie Doll,' Marge Piercy discusses society's expectations from women, particularly
young girls. Society does expect that young girl should be perfect, like a 'Barbie Doll'. The poem is
about a character who fights with herself about having a perfect body image. This character
struggles and shows that society only pays attention to physical appearance and not on inner beauty.
Piercy also maintains that people put more social expectations on young girls. Lastly, she mentions
that society never accepts young girls who can not be ideal women. As young girls grow up, the
society wants them to look and behave a specific way, but when they give up, they might lose
identities. Throughout the poem, Piercy applies vivid imagery, different word choices, and a tone of
sadness and depression to make her readers more compassionate.
Marge Piercy uses the image of a barbie to write about culture of society. Piercy uses vivid imagery
when she started the poem, ' and presented dolls that did pee–pee/and miniature GE stoves and
irons/and wee lipsticks the color of cherry candy' (2–4). In this set, Piercy describes girl's typical
nature. She uses 'pee–pee' to show the ' potty exercise.' of girls. The poet also implies that girls are
ready to be mothers. The 'stoves and irons' are used in the poem for 'cooking and cleaning' and show
the type of work girls supposed to do. They also describe ideal duties of a mother and they are
mentioned to show that girls are ready to do housewives's tasks. 'Wee lipsticks the color of cherry
candy' indicate make–up as a basic and essential part of every girl. The poet mentioned lipstick as a
tool a typical girl uses to increase sexuality and look pretty. Piercy once again takes help of imagery
to show young girls in their early twenties, ' she was healthy, tested intelligent/ possessed strong
arms and back'(7–8). These words list all the good characteristics of a girl, but they are not good
enough for a girl because she is not pretty. These words further explain that young girls are looked
more physically than everything else. In short, society puts more pressure on young girl's good look.
Word choice is another important aspect that supports the theme of this poem. Piercy uses a

The Poem ' Barbie Doll ' By Marge Piercy
The poem "Barbie Doll" by Marge Piercy in relation to diversity alludes to specific aspects of
gender, mainly targeting the female gender perspective and expectations. In the poem, Piercy is
writing about a young girl transitioning from a child to a women and how society and its idea of
beauty affects her. My interpretation of the poem is that the girl is basically crying out for help
saying look I am healthy, intelligent, and strong but no one sees or cares about those things because
the only thing they see when they look at her is her outside appearance and what society considers to
be the flaws that she possesses. Although this was written in 1936 Piercy accurately describes the
feeling of being defined or constricted by society to think, act, and look a particular way which is
similar to that of todays society which is fueled by social media, where some find personal
gratification and self confidence fueled from likes and retweets they receive." Barbie doll " is the
perfect title for this poem because for the longest time a Barbie was a sign of something perfect and
beautiful, a toy enjoyed by everyone and a conventional symbol for little girls all over the United
States. Similarly the girl was conforming to be sort of like the Barbie doll in a way because of
societal expectations and the want to be viewed in a particular light by ones peers.
The beginning of the poem or the first stanza has a lighthearted tone and then as it progresses it
begins to divulge into a deeper

Essay on To Be of Use by Marge Piercy
Marge Piercy's poem "To Be of Use" expresses an opposing connotation about the idea of work.
Most people believe the words "hard work" carry a negative connotation. What these words imply is
not something that is generally received with enthusiasm but is often accepted either by force or
obligation. The poem's central theme is that satisfaction and self–fulfillment can be attained by
using one's skills to serve a specific function in life, for it is the opinion of the speaker that an
unproductive existence has no value or significance because it is vain, and pointless. Piercy uses
figurative language, imagery, description, symbolism, and details to develop this theme throughout
the poem. The narrator begins developing the theme in ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
By including the details "people who harness themselves" in this line, the narrator implies that what
makes these people so honorable is that they are ready and willing to become the "ox"; they do not
need to be coaxed or forced to commit themselves to a task. The narrator adds that those whom he
respects "pull like water buffalo, with massive patience" (9). Here Piercy's figure of speech makes
the speaker convey the idea that although they are heavy laden, they remain dedicated and devoted
to their aims. When the narrator describes that they "Strain in the mud and muck to move things
forward" (10), the words mud and muck become symbols of the obstacles and unfavorable
conditions that the speaker's favored people often have to contend with while working. Despite such
discomfort and inconvenience, effort and determination, they persist and accomplish their goals. In
addition, the speaker tells that he venerates people "who do what has to be done, again and again"
(11). The repetition of the word "again" is a detail that puts emphasis on the traits of reliability and
dependability that characterize the responsible attitude that the people the speaker admires take
toward hard labor. Hence, in the first two stanzas, the narrator paints a picture of the virtues people
he loves the best possess to help

Marge Piercy Barbie Doll Analysis
The standards of women since early history has always been set to an unrealistic bar, that make girls
around the world feel insecure and unworthy of being beautiful. Society has cemented views of
women and what they "should" look and act like based on things like makeup, body figure, clothing,
etc. Women from all places are urged to alter their appearances in order to fall into the category of
beautiful. The impulse for women to "paint their face" is due to the fear of other people not seeing
them as attractive (Warren par. 7). The perfect female is thought to have flawless skin, perfect make
up, and a slim body. Hiding behind a full face of makeup discriminates women themselves, as it
hides their genuine glamor and disguises their true ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
All three examples link to basic female customs that all women are expected to exhibit. The baby
dolls allude to the stigma that all women are expected to have children and be the main care giver to
them throughout their childhood. Stay at home mothers were extremely common during the time
"Barbie Doll" was written, and second wave feminism was just a fresh idea that would soon begin to
change the discrimination of gender in the work force. This idea is linked to the "GE stoves"
reference, portraying how women's only importance was to stay home and cook for the men in the
family, spending their time in between tiding the house throughout the day. Andrei Cimpian, a
psychology professor at New York University, states in an article by the National Science
Foundation that "Not only do we see that girls just starting out in school are absorbing some of
society 's stereotyped notions of brilliance, but these young girls are also choosing activities based
on these stereotypes. This is heartbreaking" (Margetta). The stereotype of "brilliance" that Cimpian
mentions is the fact that most young girls believe that boys will always be the smarter gender and
will always outdo females in "raw brainpower" due to the negative stereotypes that float around in
society (Margetta). The reputation of this fact is only shaming girls to end up as a stay at home
mom, and not even give the effort to reach for their aspirations (Margetta). Piercy's last item stated
was

Negative Self-Image In Barbie Doll, By Marge Piercy
Negative self–image among women has been a struggle in society for a long period of time. Social
media, magazines, and the pressures of society has caused many young girls to feel bad about
themselves because they do not look like the clothing model on the runway or the bathing suit
model on the front of a magazine. Females grow up with the pressures of having to be in shape,
wearing the best clothes, and putting on a full face of makeup for a male to find them attractive.
Society has deemed that only "fit" women are beautiful, and that idea has caused women to harm
themselves, develop anorexia, and feel insecure of themselves daily. Two works of literature that
discuss the struggles women face from society is Marge Piercy's poem "Barbie Doll" ... Show more
When she realizes her imperfections are valuable, she has a whole new outlook on her life, which
fills her with hope and motivates her to become a better version of herself. The tone in this song
reflects a feeling of being content with one's self–image because she finally wonders "why [should
she] waste a second not loving who [she is] (Bedingfield 10)? This realization is what brings her out
of her depression, concerning what she looks like, to the decision of embracing her appearance
because she is beautiful no matter what society

In "Barbie Doll" by Marge Piercy, society has a way of placing unrealistic expectations on women
in today's society. By using television, magazines, posters, slogans, and even toys women are given
an image that they have to conform to in order to be beautiful. The speaker takes the reader through
what a young child that developing into a beautiful woman may face as she goes through society
and the hurtful comments made to her referencing her natural beauty. She uses self–image as the
prominent theme, a tone that shifts quickly and dramatically and a counter argument that walks you
through all stages of life.
Overall, the theme of "Barbie Doll" is self–image. Self–image is something that every woman will
face and struggle with. "She went to and fro apologizing (10)", suggests that the young woman does
struggle with her natural beauty. "Her good nature wore out (15)", shows that eventually the young
woman gave up on being herself. The tone is sardonic in the fact that her classmates are now
satisfied with her once she is dead. "To every woman a happy ending (25)". The image of a beautiful
woman is a matter of opinion. Society has gotten to the point where a woman will lose in the end.
Her natural beauty will fade as she grows older, gaining wrinkles, grey hair and becoming feeble.
Meanwhile, the tone can be described as caustic, or bitter. Tonal shifts range from bitter or sardonic
to 'as a matter of fact'. These shifts show what a woman will go through as she absorbs the

Analysis Of Barbie Doll By Marge Piercy

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Analysis Of Barbie Doll By Marge Piercy