“Barbie Doll” by Marge Piercy Presentation by Ms. Boeckman

“Barbie Doll” Marge Piercy 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. “Barbie Doll” Marge Piercy

Form, Meter, Rhyme Scheme This poem is written in free verse, meaning there is not meter or end-rhymes. However, the poem includes internal rhyme, as seen here: “pee-pee,” “GE,” “wee,” “candy,” “puberty”

Speaker and Setting Speaker Setting The omniscient speaker narrates the story of the “girlchild.” The speaker has obvious feminist motivations, which come through in the sarcastic tone and dark humor of the poem. Due to the pop culture references (“Barbie,” “GE”), we are likely in America.

Theme’s “Barbie Doll” Puberty isn’t about finding yourself, but rather about finding out who you are “supposed to be.” The pressures of society and the media influence negative body image in perfectly normal and healthy girls. Society puts pressure on women and girls to value appearance as a measure of worth.

Title At first glance, the title makes me think of the plastic toy, Barbie. Barbie is beautiful, she’s seen as perfect, and she is made of plastic. Perhaps these qualities will play a role in the message of the poem?

Paraphrase A little girl, born quite normally, was given typical female toys, happy until she hit puberty, at which time a schoolmate pointed out her flaws. She had many positive qualities, but she was apologetic by nature. People noticed only her flaws. She was told to behave a certain way, told many things she needed to do to be “perfect.” She became worn out by these expectations. She sacrificially chopped off the parts of herself that society did not like. Laying dead, with a new, fake nose and painted on make-up, dressed in feminine clothes, people finally noticed her beauty. At last, she got society’s blessing, which is all any woman wants.

“Everyone saw a fat nose on thick legs” Connotation #1 In the poem, synecdoche demonstrates how the girl’s flaws begin to overtake her. At first, a classmate notices her flaws; however, by the second stanza, she becomes them. Synecdoche:a figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole or vice versa For example: The word “bread” can be used to represent food in general or money  “Everyone saw a fat nose on thick legs”

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