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Analysis Of Ann Piercy's Barbie Doll

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Piercy has an issue with “Barbie Doll” and the expectations society puts on women. The way society impacts the decisions that young girls make, forms from what they see and read. Piercy has an issue with the way that young girls look in magazines and on T.V., which advertises skinny models and celebrities. Young girls get the idea and feel compelled to look, act, and dress “perfect” converting with today's society. An example showing society’s actions affecting the “girlchild” were when, “Her good nature wore out like a fan belt. So she cut off her nose and her legs and offered them up” (Piercy 15-18). These lines put into perspective the idea that the “girlchild” has given up on herself. She let her classmate’s comments get to her head, which impacted her decision to die. …show more content…

Unfortunately, it has become an issue for the younger generation, as we see in Piercy’s poem. When it comes to “Barbie Doll” the author has negative feelings about it because when it comes to the younger generation and society today, it is highlighting body image issues. After reading each stanza, one can dictate that Piercy intended to bring awareness to the subject, announcing it’s a Social Protest poem. Apart of the poem “To every woman a happy ending,” (Piercy 25) possess the hidden sarcasm that Piercy intended the reader to pick up on. The idea surrounding the sarcastic quote acts as a lie in society, because happy endings are fairy

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The poem “Barbie Doll” by Marge Piercy suggests that girls are fatally and ultimately entrapped by society's definition of what feminine beauty and behavior is. In our society we believe that women should be perfect. We want women to be as flawless as a Barbie doll and in doing so we create many struggles for women because no one can ever achieve that goal. The poem gives off a sense of irony when “society” compares a young girl to a Barbie doll. Our society has an ideal that was created by the influences of popular media and culture that is impossible for anyone to reach.

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