Since its debut in March 9th 1959, a molded plastic doll named Barbie has become an icon for little girls everywhere. The product line is one of the most successful in the history of the toy industry by selling over a Billion Barbie dolls worldwide throughout history in over 150 countries, with Mattel, Barbie 's inventor claiming that at least three dolls are sold every second. Barbie however has caused some controversy; many parents from around the world have argued that Barbie 's ultra-slim figure represents a ridiculous standard for a body shape and could give their child the wrong idea about what their body type should be like as they grow up.
In the poem Barbie Doll, the author Marge Piercy suggests that an American Barbie Doll typically presents herself as being the "perfect" woman and this leads to people being jeered at for their appearance and expected to have a Barbie-doll-like figure. The doll is symbolic of the ways that women themselves have been made to think that 's what they should look like and what they strive for.
A Barbie Doll can mislead children at a very young age and feel pressured to look and act in ways such as this unreal figure. When the word Barbie comes to mind, one usually thinks of her unrealistic body type-busty with tiny waist, thin thighs, and long legs; yet less than two percent of American women can ever hope to achieve such measurements. Who wouldn 't want to be all of that? As we grow up we realize it is all unrealistic and unachievable