"Barbie Doll": Analysis

“Barbie Doll” Analysis
Directions
Read the background on the writer. Then, read and annotate “Barbie
Doll” and answer the questions under “Exploring the Text.” Provide
evidence from the text to support each answer.
Writer Marge Piercy
American poet, novelist, and activist Marge Piercy (b. 1936) grew up in
Michigan in a working-class family during the Depression. She
graduated from Northwestern University with an MA and went on to
write more than thirty books, including novels and volumes of poetry.
She is known for her highly personal free verse and her themes of
feminism and social protest. "Barbie Doll," from her 1973 collection To
Be of Use, comments on the popular icon - and children's toy - of the
same name. It was published during the second-wave of feminism.
Exploring the Text
1. Identify several stereotypes that Marge Piercy draws on in this poem. Why is
girlchild - one word - an appropriate term?
Because she was raised with the cultural norms of her society. She was playing
with “dolls that did pee-pee and miniature GE stoves and irons and wee lipsticks
the color of cherry candy.” all things marketed towards young girls so she didn't
even have much of an opportunity to try other toys.
2. What images and colors does Piercy use to depict the girlchild?
As in my last answer “dolls that did pee-pee and miniature GE stoves and irons
and wee lipsticks the color of cherry candy.” she had the standard societal
cookie cutter childhood for a “girl child” and was described herself as “She was
healthy, tested intelligent, possessed strong arms and back, abundant sexual
drive and manual dexterity.”
3. Who is the speaker in the poem?
The speaker is a third person limited narrator because we are able to see some of
her thoughts, although not directly but they are implied.
4. How does the way the girl is encouraged to behave run counter to her natural
inclinations?
She is a strong, smart, and outgoing person with “abundant sexual drive” who is
told to quiet down, play coy, smile and wheedle, and to change her strong
physical appearance into one that is slimmer and smaller
5. How does the speaker entwine other commentaries into the poem? Why? Are
these voices in the mind of the girl child real or imagined?
They are both. Body Dysmorphia is the disorder where one never sees their body
in a positive light, they always want to change it and it never pleases them.
Approximately 2% of the U.S. population has been diagnosed with BDD but it is
highly undiagnosed and there is no possible estimate of how many people
actually have it. It can start as early as 4-5 but on average starts during puberty
(age 12-13). Just as real as BDD, is the criticism of other people for body shaming.
6. What is the speaker's tone in this poem? What specific lines and images lead
you to your understanding of tone?
A harsh but realistic informative tone. It tries to play things off as light hearted
such as “doll that did pee-pee” or “she went to and fro” but leaves those structures
behind when she starts to talk about the reality of her situation as she grows up.
It goes along with the progression of her mental health’s decline.
7. So what? What is the purpose of this poem and what can readers learn from it?
To show that people need to be conscious of what they say, whether they mean it
or not people still hear it. Everyone needs love no matter what body you have,
your capabilities are still endless. It also brings awareness to the reality of BDD
and other similar disorders.
Barbie Doll
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.
Then in the magic of puberty, a classmate said:
You have a great big nose and fat legs.
She was healthy, tested intelligent,

possessed strong arms and back,
abundant sexual drive and manual dexterity.
She went to and fro apologizing.
Everyone saw a fat nose on thick legs.
She was advised to play coy,

exhorted to come on hearty,
exercise, diet, smile and wheedle.
Her good nature wore out
like a fan belt.
So she cut off her nose and her legs
and offered them up.
In the casket displayed on satin she lay

with the undertaker's cosmetics painted on,
a turned-up putty nose,
dressed in a pink and white nightie.
Doesn't she look pretty? everyone said.
Consummation at last.
To every woman a happy ending.

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“Barbie Doll” Analysis

Writer Marge Piercy

Exploring the Text

3. Who is the speaker in the poem?

This girlchild was born as usual

She was healthy, tested intelligent,

She was advised to play coy,

In the casket displayed on satin she lay

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