The seemingly harmless Barbie doll has been one of the main competitors in the toy fashion doll industry for over fifty years. With sales of over $1.9 million a year from these dolls alone, it's hard to argue that Mattel, Inc., the company that owns these plastic queens, is far from having established the ultimate toy empire; However, in recent decades, Barbie has experienced poor sales and received negative feedback from concerned consumers who often question the impact of these dolls on young people's self-esteem and gender perspective. girls playing with them. Despite recent negative customer feedback, Barbie's fifty-year dominance in the toy market has undoubtedly left its influence on young girls in our society in the past. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Marge Piercy, a persistent feminist in the 1960s, wrote politically moving works of poetry to demonstrate the deprived reality of women. Marge Piercy's surprisingly powerful poem, "Barbie Doll," personifies the Barbie doll as a way to highlight the cultural impact that the societal perspective of expectations has on a woman's image and personality. Piercy explains through a third-person omniscient voice that a young girl begins to suffer from the social criticism of her environment until she reaches the age of maturity. It is described that the young "girl" is emotionally ravished by society and, believing that she will be accepted, the little girl matures and is led to believe that death is the ultimate satisfaction. History shows beyond doubt that women struggle against a patriarchal society dominated by those who believe that social standards should be set by men. Through Marge Piercy's use of diction, imagery, metaphor and irony in her critically acclaimed poem "Barbie Doll", the perception of women through patriarchal ideals depicts the effects of self-criticism and society's incessant attempts to damage self-esteem. Doll" demonstrates the re-emergence of the destructive standard that society imposes on women by stripping them of their humanity. Chris Semansky, a poet of many eclectic works, examines "Barbie Doll" and concludes that Piercy's poem acts as an ironic example of beauty and Semansky explains the irony of how the way we are raised in the world affects our view of what is "normal": "It is not an intentional or necessarily coercive process, but 'a process that adults themselves have gone through and come to believe is "natural." As Semansky has argued, even women who grew up within a generation that followed these patriarchal norms. are convinced that the way they were raised and the ideals that surrounded them were completely "natural" from a psychological point of view. The norms were all that they were taught with these patriarchal definitions of "normality". prevalent today as then, this prevents women from making decisions for themselves without criticism from others. Despite the culture change, Piercy seems to be making it happen. suggest that progress has been minimal. The poem symbolizes women more as "...plasticized" beings of objectivity, transformed into creatures who have been torn from their humanity" than as people who simply seek to find value in themselves. self-evaluation of themselves (Semansky 38). Piercy's diction throughout“Barbie Doll” illustrates the coercive standard that society seems to impose on women, not only of the generation in which this poem was written, but also of the current generation. Words such as lipstick, frying pan and diet mentioned in "Barbie Doll" are representative of the insurmountable respect that women are held to, even through the innocence of simple household items: "The dolls, the frying pans, the irons and lipstick are all conventional things that give little girls, especially in the West, clues about society's expectations” (Semansky 38). With these little props mentioned in Piercy's poem accompanying the doll that this "little girl" played with, it seemed to represent the process of becoming a woman in a degrading way, as this "little girl" is described as ultimately being obsessed by the materialistic definitions that make up a woman in this society. Interestingly, Alice Van Wart, professor of literature at the University of Toronto, describes "Barbie Doll" as ironic and condemning. Wart suggests that the title itself "...points to the central device and controlling irony and symbolic associations between the doll and the women in the poem. Due to the "plasticized" nature and inauthentic connotation behind the words Barbie doll, it powerfully and metaphorically describes the importance of control that the Patriarchal ideals had on women Although Piercy displays a plethora of metaphors behind the use of diction in her poem, the images provide a vivid picture of the kind of lifestyle women lived. Piercy's poem strongly suggests that. 'at a young age, girls are expected to look a certain way in order to be accepted by their peers; however, "Because she wants approval from others, she tries to compensate for her imperfections in other areas" ( Wart 40). The images show the girl's eternal striving to be perfect by the standards imposed on her despite finally achieving "perfect Consummation", which symbolizes society's satisfaction with the image of the girl but unfortunately represents her death (Piercy 24). Wart argues that despite the efforts of the girl in Piercy's poem to achieve perfection, her conflict ultimately ends like her life: "Piercy subverts the traditional implication of sexual consummation toward consummation in death." Interestingly, as Wart implies, there seems to be a sense of irony behind the word "consumption" itself, in that it can represent two meanings: one, the meaning that the idea of marriage is completed by sexual intercourse, and the other, the idea of ​​forgetting as a way of being complete. Convincing dictions such as coy, satin and pink are also used in Piercy's poem describing the perception of fragility and softness in women, which can arguably emphasize that women were seen as helpless and fragile. Shy, satin and pink represent the idea that women are delicate and innocent; just observing the context in which Piercy uses the diction, it is obvious that she wants to give critics the idea that feminism and the connotation behind the feminine gender is not intimidating and weak. Thomas Sepe, assistant professor under the direction of Peggy Dunn Bailey, explained his views on the social imbalance and gender dysfunction that are rooted in Piercy's "Barbie Doll." Sepe explores the idea of ​​how the protagonist of the poem is portrayed, immediately supporting the idea that the poem gives off the perception of how women are perceivedin society. According to Sepe, Piercy uses diction to illustrate the idea of ​​a woman's role in society: "Piercy's use of the word 'presented' makes the process more formal and makes the ceremony one of dictation rather than of choice ". He points out how the diction and foreshadowing in Piercy's poem portrays the idea of ​​a woman as weak and easy while making the poem lighter: "Piercy mixes diction, simile, and irony to create a unique tone of lightness which contrasts with the reality of the main character, a contrast which is itself a mirror of the life of the young girl” (Sep 2). Through this idea, Sepe argues that Piercy uses diction as a way to present women more as ideas of objectivity and control rather than beings with identity and self-worth. Despite the damning diction to strengthen her voice on feminism, Piercy demonstrates through countless metaphors in her 25-line poem, the inequality of women and the accepted facade of female gender. Piercy depicts the problem a girl faces by mentioning in the poem that the girl "...cuts off her nose and legs..." while she "...offers them also..." to the society that she believes is what they desire (lines 17-18). Alice Van Wart analyzes in more detail the image that women had of themselves during this sexist period. Wart states that "the image of the woman cutting off parts of her body indicates a growing popularity among women of the use of cosmetic surgery to perfect their appearance." This form of image modification, as Wart implies, is popular because it allows women the opportunity to change their physical appearance to be accepted by the social framework around them. Wart also argues that the mention of this in Piercy's poem implies "...a history of abuse that women have inflicted on themselves in the name of beauty", meaning that self-criticism is what ultimately leads to drastic attempts to modify the image. The image alteration mentioned in "Barbie Doll" implies that society's judgments about physical appearance have had a detrimental effect on women's self-esteem. For this reason, Piercy conveys the message that women do not inherently view themselves in a negative light; however, social norms degrade women's mentality about themselves due to high expectations. The Barbie doll itself, as Marge Piercy suggests, acts as an ironic example in that young girls traditionally play with it, viewing it as something seemingly innocent despite the underlying norms. entranced by a tiny plastic woman defined by the realm of her home. Ironically, the tone of "Barbie Doll" does not imply any feelings of animosity, indicating that Piercy chose to be passive aggressive in sharing her message about the expectations of women in society. The irony lies in the fact that young girls, depicted as innocent and pure, unknowingly play with things that seem to criticize women themselves. Semansky observed female culture in the 1950s and concluded that parents provide these dolls to young girls because of the popular impression that women are servants: "...they believe that little girls will enjoy pretending to be "be a housewife or a Barbie doll because these dolls are desires that little girls are born with." Semansky suggests that parents are equally oblivious to the underlying message that the Barbie doll conveys as they continue to push young girls to live a life of being controlled with given accessories that society deems appropriate. As we know.