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Irony In Marge Piercy's Barbie Doll

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For many years, women have been expected to meet the unrealistic beauty standards of society, making women face harsh criticism from friends, family, and even themselves. I remember moments when criticism from everyone around me made me very self-conscious about myself. From refusing to wear makeup or girly outfits to obsessing over my overall weight and body shape, I myself am a victim of cruel and heartless judgement just like the girl from Marge Piercy's "Barbie Doll" was.

In the first stanza of "Barbie Doll", one line says, "Then in the magic of puberty". This line is an example of verbal irony because there really is nothing magical about puberty because puberty is just a part of life that everyone will have to go through some day. This line is important because it signifies how society's view of this girl started to morph as she started getting older, no longer seeing her …show more content…

As shown in this quote, the girl in this poem tried to appease society by doing everything she could to get rid of what society calls defects including: dieting, exercising, and act differently. This reminds me of all the pressure my family has put on me to do the same thing this girl did to fit society's perfect image of a young woman.

Marge Piercy's "Barbie Doll" conjures a theme in which shows the truth behind society's view that women have to be a certain way, this theme being that women are often subjected to society's criticism which may cause any of those women to do many things to appease society to try and be seen as perfect. The last part of the third stanza of this poem shows a prime example of this theme. In the third stanza, the girl finally gives into all the pressure that she has been put through and gives up, completely getting rid of everything that society disapproved of just so that society will finally accept

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