To every woman a happy ending

The poem Barbie Doll was first published in 1973. The 1970’s in the United States was a time of change and a type of “social revolution”. Several “social revolutions” happened during the 1970’s, but the movement that influenced Piercy was the Feminist movement. The feminist movement of the 1970’s is often referred to as the second wave of feminism. It is the second wave because the first wave was women's suffrage and protesting to gain the right to vote. The wave of the 1970’s was about changing the stereotypical image of women. The stereotypical image of women was that women are to stay at home and take care of the house and children. If they were to work, they were limited to secretarial positions or teaching positions. The feminist movement sought to change this by lobbying for new laws that would grant each job opportunities, and equal pay. Along with these main goals different sects of the movement also sought to change the objectifying of women, meaning changing how society judged women based on their looks. More of the radical groups even protested the Miss America pageant and then staged their own pageant where a pig won. The feminist movement of the 1970’s helped bring societal change that is very normal in today’s society. The movement for changing the image of women helped contribute to the theme of Barbie Doll.

The poem Barbie Doll Piercy creates a theme that originates from the feminist movement of the 1970’s and keeps meaning in today’s society. The main theme of the poem is, societal pressures on a person to fit into a mold or stereotype can drive a person to extreme measures. The theme reveals it’s self slowly in each stanza of the poem. In the first stanza, Piercy creates this picture of a normal girl, who’s give...

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...emorable and add emphasis to the theme.

In the poem Barbie Doll by Marge Piercy, Piercy use the theme to point out the mold of women of the time and to try and break the mold, and use images to drive the point home. When the poem was published in the early 1970’s the second wave of feminism was going on to bring about change on how society viewed women. The poem sought to show how trying to fit someone (especially women) into a one specific mold can lead to emotional despair and death. The images Piercy uses help emphasis the mold of theme and to bring about emotion as the girl is pushed to her limits and dies. Even though this poem was written back in the 1970’s, it still has ramifications in today’s society. As society gets more and more into looks and the perfect image of men and women, many might be driving to extreme lengths to finally find their happy ending.