Poem Analysis Of Barbie Girl

Growing up, all us young girls played with Barbie dolls and dressed them up to be pretty. The girl in the poem represents women in society dealing with the unrealistic expectations and standards they face. A girl is born into the world, innocent and pure, unknowing of what she is going to encounter in her life. This child is tormented throughout her lifetime on what people say she should look like or be like, and is haunted by the anticipation of what is normal. The speaker appears to be very knowledgeable of the girl’s struggles throughout her childhood and sounds similar to a speaker in a fairytale. The audience the speaker is attempting to address is society and also young girls to reach out to them concerning this problem. The theme of …show more content…
A sense of compassion is present when reading the poem and being able to see what is being reflected on. Much of what is described represents the norm of women, their life, and how they are presented. To further expand on this, “dolls that did pee-pee/ and miniature GE stoves and irons/ and wee lipsticks the color of cherry candy” (2-4) is a perfect example. What was just explained is associated with what women’s roles are “meant to be”. Women are compared to dolls that go pee, implying that women are only capable in the basics and cannot do anything more. The line also implies that a woman’s role is in the kitchen. Already at a young age, young girls are being given dolls and cleaning and cooking tools. These sorts of toys are specifically geared toward the female community and would be considered strange for a male to partake in this kind activity. Women are also expected to wear makeup and are given makeup kits as young children. An ideal and beautiful woman is expected to wear makeup in order to meet those needs. Many statements are made in the poem referring back to the idea that women are merely objects, such as a doll. To prove that, “in the casket displayed satin she lay/ with the undertaker’s cosmetics painted on,/ a turned up putty nose,/ dressed in a pink and white nightie” (19-22). Even when dead, she is being handled and cared for like a doll would be. She is put in satin, much like a doll would be dressed in, and her makeup is applied so that she appears to be beautiful in order to please anyone that will see her. Her nose, she once worried about, is being fixed and messed with so that it is delightful looking when she lay in her casket. She is dead yet is still affected by society’s standards. She cannot escape society’s ideal image of beauty and now that she is dead, the expectation of beauty is still necessary. Also, the image of her displayed in lingerie is