Understanding Marge Piercy’s ‘Barbie Doll’ and Its Themes
Marge Piercy: “Barbie Doll”
Marge Piercy is an American poet, novelist, and social activist. She was born on March 31, 1936, in Detroit into a family that, like many others, was affected by the Great Depression. She was the first in her family to attend college, studying at the University of Michigan. Winning a Hopwood Award for poetry and fiction in 1957 enabled her to finish college, and she also spent some time in France. Her first book of poems, “Breaking Camp,” was published in 1968. Marge Piercy developed a love for books when she came down with rheumatic fever in her mid-childhood and could do little but read. She is the author of 17 volumes of poems, among them “The Moon is Always Female” (1980), which is considered a feminist classic. Piercy’s poetry tends to be highly personal free verse and often addresses concerns with feminist and social issues. Nowadays, she lives in Massachusetts with her husband, Ira Wood.
Marge Piercy published “Barbie Doll” in 1971, and the main theme reflects the second wave of feminism. It is often noted for its message about how a patriarchal society places expectations and pressures on women, partly through gender-role stereotyping. The poem is narrated by an unidentified third-person observer (not the poet, nor a character involved in the action).
In regards to the first stanza, the author introduces the girl who is the protagonist of the poem and describes her childhood. Her coexistence with society is very awkward because of her perceived ugliness. There is a repetition in lines 2, 3, and 4 with the word “and” at the beginning of each line. This can be seen in the last line of this stanza: “you have a great big nose and fat legs.” After reading the stanza, we can assume that the tone is playful, but it is going to change in the next stanzas.
Contrarily, the second stanza begins with a very positive picture of the girl: “she was wealthy, tested intelligent…” However, the girl ultimately apologizes because she doesn’t fit societal standards due to her big nose and thick legs; consequently, she is reduced to an object. The last line of the second stanza, “everyone saw a fat nose on thick legs,” shows a tone of irony and sarcasm.
Following with the third stanza, we can guess that she tries to be kind to boys, “play coy.” As much as she tries to be kind, her efforts are ultimately worthless. The third and fourth lines of this stanza present a comparison: “her good nature wore out like a fan belt,” which suggests she is going to break. Then, the saddest part of the poem is reflected in lines 5 and 6, where she commits suicide. This is expressed with an ironic statement: “so she cut off her nose and her legs and offered them up.” Even though she committed suicide, the irony is intensified because society sees her as pretty when she is dead. Nobody can reach perfection once deceased.
Finally, in the last line of the poem, the irony turns into sarcasm: “to every woman a happy ending.” We can’t trust this sarcastic voice, as it expresses the opposite of what is intended. In regards to the poem’s structure, it is divided into childlike simplicity up to line 6, while the middle stanzas (2 and 3) represent a contrast between what this young woman was and the “Barbie Doll” and supermodels.
To conclude, society has a way of placing unrealistic expectations on women. In other words, the perfect woman should look like a Barbie Doll. In Marge Piercy’s “Barbie Doll,” we find a girl growing up through the adolescent stage characterized by appearances and societal pressures.