AP English
Dr. Gordin
22 September 2012
The Deeper Meaning of a Barbie The poem “Barbie Doll” by Marge Piercy and the essay “Our Barbies Ourselves” by Emily Prager, both argue that Barbies carry a deeper meaning. According to Piercy, Barbie dolls are menacing tools that affect the way young girls grow up. Prager claims that Barbies are used as sexual devices since the creator is a man. Piercy shows us that from a young age girls are given the tools to become what society expects them to be, for example “presented dolls that did pee-pee/ and miniature GE stoves and irons/ and wee lipstick the color of cherry candy” (Piercy lines 2-4). Piercy emphasizes how society expects girls to be a cook, a house wife and still be able to look good. Also we can see from the poem that the young girl is constantly judged and is molded to be something that she is not even though she is perfectly normal, “she was advised to play coy,/ exhorted to come on hearty, /exercise, diet, smile and wheedle” (Piercy12-14). Piercy emphasizes how Barbies are menacing tools that make girls seem like she is not good enough and changes her appearance to satisfy others and to look as perfect as a “Barbie doll”, Furthermore Barbie is used as a sexual device when Piercy states “In the casket displayed on satin she lay”(19). Dressed in a pink and white nightie” (22). The casket in this quote represents a Barbie doll box and the nightie makes the girl look like a sexual device. Dominguez 2
Prager also believes that Barbies carry a deeper meaning such as the one that Barbies are sexual devices created by a man “There are millions of women who are subliminally sure that a thirty-nine-inch bust and a twenty-three-inch waist are the epitome of lovability (Prager 354).” Prager states that women have come to believe that Barbie has the