Gender Identity in Piercy's "Barbie Doll"
Dolls often give children their first lessons in what a society considers valuable and
beautiful. These dolls often reveal the unremitting pressure to be young, slim, and beautiful in a
society which values mainly aesthetics. Marge Piercy's "Barbie Doll" exhibits how a girl's
childhood is saturated with gender-defined roles and preconceived norms for how one should
behave. In order to convey her thoughts, the author uses familiar, yet ironic, imagery, as well as
uses fluctuating tone in each stanza to better draw attention to the relevant points of her
The first four lines of "Barbie Doll" are written in a trite, simplistic tone which represent
the normality and basic needs of infancy. It is at this point in one's life that a child has no ability
to deviate from the norm, simply because they have no knowledge of it and are completely
influenced by what their parents present them with. The presentation of a doll and an oven,
along with lipstick (1-3), ensure that the girl will know exactly which gender role she must be.
These lines imitate the rigidity in which sexual and gender roles are defined. The tone of the
introductory stanza changes abruptly in line five when the speaker relates "Then, in the magic of
puberty, a classmate said/ You have a great big nose and fat legs." What is particularly ironic is
that puberty is referred to as a "magic" time, when really it is a time for emotional crisis within
many children as they struggle to develop their autonomy. This line is directed in a candid
fashion which digresses from the mildness of the first few lines, rendering it quite more effective
The second stanza of "Barbie Doll" starts off as normal as the first, but easily strays into
different meaning. While "She was healthy, tested i
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