Wolf, Jake
Martelli, Joseph
Callahan, Kyle
Period: 3
1/20/14

Barbie Doll Analysis Society and its opinions can change people’s attitude towards life. In Marge Piercy’s poem
Barbie Doll the reader is taken through a girl’s life from birth. As the girl grows up her imperfections are pointed out by society, slowly wearing her down driving her to kill herself.
Piercy’s use of diction, detail, and imagery convey the feeling that the pressure society puts on women to look perfect like a Barbie doll is unfair and not healthy for girls.
The use of diction and imagery shows the portrayal. The use of the diction “tested intelligent” portrays her as a studious and hard working being, proving her intelligence to society. The use of this somewhat out of place diction, is to show that the this girl is different than most “girls” in that she possesses not “beauty,” but more uncommon traits such as intelligence. Secondly, the use of imagery in the word “fan belt,” in conjunction with her
“wearing out,” shows her personality slowly being eroded away by society. Overall, the harsh judgement of the girl changed her overall meaning to world, from being a smart healthy girl to a
“barbie doll” acting such without her “goodness.”
Society’s opinion that girls need to look perfect is unfair. One detail that shows how the girl is unfairly judged is the fact that she goes through “puberty”. Her going through “puberty” shows how she cannot change the fact her body is changing as she grows older. With this in mind, she is still unfairly judged and criticized even though she can't do anything about what is

happening the her body. Another example of