"Barbie Doll"

                In many ways I find the central essence of Marge Piercy’s “Barbie Doll” to be rooted in the idea of a stock character. The young girl in the poem is depicted as a strong, intelligent, independent woman with many unique gifts and talents to offer the world through her vibrancy and individuality. However, the girl was consistently pressured to improve herself because her “great big nose and fat legs” (Piercy, 835) prevented anyone from being able to see her genuine beauty, and the pressure and torment she experienced in the name of achieving physical perfection ultimately compelled her to take her own life. Thus, I believe that Piercy is asserting through her poem the notion that today’s culture both encourages and forces all young girls to essentially become stock characters, or Barbie dolls. Although the young woman presented in the poem possessed many beneficial and valuable qualities, all such gifts were overshadowed by the stereotype which all teenage girls are supposedly forced to comply with today. By mentioning the fact that the young girl was given dolls, fake stoves, and plastic lipstick to play with as a child, Piercy alludes to the idea that all girls today are molded to become stock characters, or stereotypical young women of today’s society, rather than embracing and developing their own individuality. Thus, in this manner, Piercy’s poem embodies a sarcastic and condemning tone as she conveys the idea that society’s obsession with creating all young girls into stereotypical Barbie dolls promotes a universal stock character which all girls must conform to.

                Furthermore, the idea of a stock character contributes greatly to the essence of this poem in the sense that the reaction of the young girl in the poem to the pressure she was receiving was also very stereotypical. Many stories have arisen in the past of young girls who were so distraught over their hopeless pursuits of physical perfection and so oppressed by the feeling of being unable to express their own individuality that they took their own lives. In trying to create an identity which the world would approve of, the teenage girl in the poem instead lost the only real identity she could ever truly possess: her very own unique and individual self. Piercy writes, “Her good nature wore out like a fan belt” (Piercy, 836). However, unfortunate as it may be, many young girls respond to today’s peer pressure in the same manner: instead of fighting for their own individuality and image, they fight endlessly to achieve perfection in the eyes of society, forsake their own identities, lose their sense of purpose and happiness, and take their own lives. Therefore, ironically, the poem “Barbie Dolls” reveals the fact that the young girl in the poem not only did everything in her power to become a “stock character,” but her reaction to her physical imperfections did, in and of itself, embody that of a stock character. In other words, the young girl in the poem acted as a stock character by placing too much emphasis in her life in trying to become a stock character. Though the sarcastic tone of the poem and the disheartening conclusion provide for the poem’s serious nature, Piercy does convey the central theme of embracing one’s own imperfection and individuality effectively via the utilization of the concept of a stock character.