Barbie Doll

As the title of this poem implies, "Barbie Doll" is about a young girl feeling awkward about her body. The symbolism of perfection comes into play right at the beginning. When she was born there wasn't anything different about her and any other girl. Early childhood seems to be quite normal but when she reaches puberty her body changes and she gets teased. She was smart and strong, but all anyone could see was "a fat nose on thick legs" (Piercy 11). The cliche about judging a book by its cover comes to mind and maybe that is what this poem was referring to. By the way the poem continues on, I think her parents tried to convince her that a good nature would make the remarks go away, but she gets tired of putting up with it. She takes her life because of the teasing and when the undertaker gives her a fake nose, people suddenly say "[d]oesn't she look pretty" (Piercy 23)? The last line I think refers to the fact that every woman desires to be called "pretty" no matter what the cost. In this case it cost her her life.