Barbie Doll by Marge Piercy
"Barbie Doll" by Marge Piercy is a thought-provoking narrative poem that explores the impact of societal expectations and self-image on a young girl’s life. The poem begins with the birth of a "girlchild," whose upbringing is influenced by conventional gender roles, marked by gifts such as dolls and cosmetics. As the girl matures, she faces harsh criticism about her appearance, which leads her to downplay her intelligence and personal strengths. The poem's progression reveals her struggle for acceptance and the toll that external judgments take on her self-worth.
Piercy employs various poetic devices, including similes and alliteration, to highlight the contrast between the girl’s genuine traits and the superficial standards imposed by society. The narrative culminates in the character's tragic demise, where her body is altered to meet societal beauty standards, symbolizing the lengths to which individuals might go to achieve acceptance. The final lines suggest a grim irony, presenting a "happy ending" that ultimately serves to critique the societal pressures that women face. Through its exploration of identity and conformity, "Barbie Doll" engages with themes of beauty, self-acceptance, and the often painful journey toward societal validation.
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Barbie Doll by Marge Piercy
First published: 1973, in To Be of Use
Type of poem: Narrative
The Poem
Contemporary poet Marge Piercy published a twenty-five line, open-form narrative poem titled “Barbie Doll.” Four stanzas provide the reader with a brief tale of a nameless “girlchild” whose life, markedly influenced by others’ opinions, comes to a sad and premature end.
“This girlchild was born as usual,” the poem begins. The little girl receives ostensibly appropriate gifts: dolls, miniature home appliances, some makeup. Later, “in the magic of puberty,” a schoolmate comments unflatteringly on her appearance, noting her “great big nose and fat legs.”
From the second stanza the reader learns about the young adolescent’s intelligence, physical prowess, and sexual drive. She appears to be healthy, strong, and capable, but she ignores these attributes, instead going “to and fro apologizing.” “Everyone” sees her as only “a fat nose on thick legs.”
As she matures, she receives counsel from others. The third stanza lists behaviors aimed at promoting her happiness and success. In time, her natural goodness breaks down like a worn-out automobile part. Finally, as an adult, she permanently rids herself of her perceived inadequacies by means of a sacrificial offering.
In the final stanza, the reader discovers the now-deceased woman displayed in her casket. She has been artificially fabricated by an undertaker, with a “turned-up putty nose,/ dressed in a pink and white nightie.” Onlookers find her “pretty.” The final two lines of the poem resolve the narrative: “Consummation at last./ To every woman a happy ending.”
Forms and Devices
No direct mention of a Barbie doll is made in the poem. However, the reader may connect the title with the piece as a key to subsequent interpretation, perhaps noting also the urinating doll described in the first stanza and the corpse in the last.
Each of the free-verse stanzas contains relatively short lines and conversational diction. End rhyme is absent, but the reader can locate internal assonance and alliteration with relative ease. Iambs and anapests sustain a melodic rhythm throughout the poem. Not only relevant to poetic form, these “upbeat” accents provide ironic contrast to the poem’s serious content.
Uses and omissions of traditional punctuation marks and capitalization are commonplace in modern poetry. “Barbie Doll” is no exception. Reading the poem aloud demonstrates how these devices, along with the enjambed lines, support emphases and ironies.
Repetition of words, such as the initial “and” in lines 2,3, and 4, suggests a childlike voice or perhaps boredom. In later stanzas, certain morphological structures (past participle endings throughout the poem: “presented,” “tested,” “possessed,” “advised,” “exhorted,” “offered,” “displayed”) convey a tone of formality and detachment, as though one were reading a case history or clinical report.
Piercy’s diction also highlights relative degrees of significance. For example, “dolls that did pee-pee” and “wee lipsticks” sound less important than “the magic of puberty” and the list of qualities that follow in stanza 2. The deceased appears in the final stanza with “turned-up putty nose,/dressed in a pink and white nightie” and looking “pretty.” These descriptors—“putty,” “pink,” “pretty”—markedly contrast in both sound and sense with the penultimate line, “Consummation at last.”
At least three more poetic devices help readers derive meaning from the experience of “Barbie Doll.” First, the simile in stanza 3 compares the individual’s “good nature,” something that is a part of human development and useful to one’s self, with a “fan belt,” something that is mechanical and useful to—also used by—others. Second, “nose and legs,” a synecdoche for the whole body if not the whole person, develops from an initial observation of a trait in stanza 1, to an image of diminished identity in stanza 2, and finally to a symbol of total inadequacy in stanza 3. Third, the last line of the poem constitutes a striking irony as the “happy ending” brings this bitter fairy tale to a close not only for the hapless subject of the poem but also for “every woman.”