Self Image In Barbie Doll

In recent decades, society changed its perception of physical appearance and self-image. People place more importance on achieving physical perfection, however, this creates a large amount of pressure on the individual to achieve this unobtainable goal. In Marge Piercy’s poem, “Barbie Doll”, she focuses on an adolescent girl who was driven to commit suicide as a means to rid herself of the stress of being perfect. The poem brings to light the issue of adolescent suicide due to the pressures of self-image. This embodies many teenagers’ feelings because they can try to make their life as unflawed as possible, but some physical attributes cannot be altered. “Barbie Doll” shows the failure to accept one’s physical flaws and only finding happiness

Recently, society tends to focus on physical and materialistic beauty portrayed through the media. The media instantly forms unspoken physical standards that teenagers think they should meet. A strict belief in achieving a perfect appearance places a large amount of growing pressure on all people. Teenagers especially experience such stress because at that age, their bodies and personalities change drastically and they become more concerned on what others think of them. For example, they are pressured to be physically fit, dress, look, and act a certain way. Teenagers critique these particular characteristics because the media highlights such attributes. As a result, the stress of being perfect builds up within almost all adolescents. These societal pressures often have negative, or unintended consequences: “… [the] perception of overweight is related to depressed mood, somatic complaints, and lower self-esteem” (Whetstone, Morrissey, and Cummings). This study proves the theory that low self-esteem and low self-confidence directly result from trying to conform to societal pressures. Society also has a morphed sense of beauty. The public comments on the teenage girl’s dead body, “Doesn’t she look pretty? everyone said. / Consummation at last.” (Piercy 24-25). These last few lines of the poem display how distorted society’s views

The poem “Barbie Doll” by Marge Piercy focuses on this present issue of societal pressures leading to a lower self-esteem that ultimately resulted in a teenager committing suicide. Peer pressure, most often within teenage groups, causes people to behave the way they do. Adolescent teens constantly seek approval from their peers and will change almost anything about themselves to achieve this. Peer pressure and this unobtainable standard of perfection is motivated by the media and society. Recently, society has been more driven by physical appearance and extremely high self-images. Because this standard is set so high, people often struggle to change themselves to be what society considers acceptable. Within this quest for perfection, a large amount of pressure builds within a person trying to either accept or alter their insecurities. As the pressure accumulates, some people cannot cope with this stress and unfortunately commit suicide as a means of solving their problems. Society has become so distorted in its perception of beauty that it unintentionally causes people to kill themselves rather than accepting their true