Marge Piercy’s “ Barbie Doll” establishes the character to be a young girl who hits the stage of puberty and is then subjected to people's hurtful words that destroy her body image.
Before these words she seemed to be a normal little girl playing with all the right toys. The words spoken were with intent to help the girl change her physical appearance so she could be a better version of herself, but in the end the girl felt there was no other option. She could never make everyone happy. The last part of the poem shows how society's judgmental words can strip you of your innocence and leave you in a satin lined box six feet under. The beginning of the poem there is a girl who is born and she is then given a doll, play stove, play iron, and bright red lipsticks. Soon this little girl beings to mature and hits the stage of puberty where her body begins to change. A fellow classmate says to her that she has a big nose and fat legs. She is healthy, smart, has strength in her arms and back. She is agile with her hands. She felt the need to apologize to everyone for her physical appearance, because she felt as
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“Her good nature wore out like a fan belt”. This shows the pain and struggle the girl is going through not being able to feel content with the way her body looks. Her good nature is worn out the once probably happy little girl is being beat down with hurtful words to the point of no return. Clearly the girl is depressed and no one seems to be concerned with that emotion, but more concerned with how she should act or how she should feel. The last two lines that Piercy gives are “Consummation at last. To every woman a happy ending”, this shows relief like a weight is now lifted off her shoulders she no longer has to concern herself with what everyone else thinks of her. Now everyone can be happy she is finally the “perfect beauty” they all wanted her to