"Barbie Doll"

In the perspective of switching the poem "Barbie Doll" by Marge Piercy, into a poem that could be the replica, just in the life of a guy, this is what I would do; I would first change the title of the story to "Big Man on Campus". There is something that both guys and girls share in the 'growing up process', peer pressure, the norm and plain and simple wanting to fit in. The difference is in the methods. In "Barbie Dolls" the second stanza talks describes the girls' features, instead of "everyone saw a fat nose on thick legs" (11), for a guy it would be; everyone saw wirey arms on a puny frame. For guys, the peer pressure is focused on being 'jacked and tan', I don't think there is a good parallel from the initial comment, "Then in the magic of puberty, a classmate said: you have a great big nose and fat legs" (5,6). Guys aren't usually so hurt by comments like that, as the common girl would be. The thing I would present to readers (if I were to re-write this poem with a switch on genders) would entail something that establishes in the readers mind that would be easily related to by most any guy. Something that bothers each guy at one time or another. Only one thing comes to mind, pride. Pride is something that each guy needs to have something in, in general a guy will not pursue a sport that he is not good enough at to have pride in. When guys pick on eachother (and we all do) we usually are lambasing someone else' pride in the effort to enlarge our own. In regards to parents, many fathers find pride in the accomplishments of their son(s). If the fathers, find nothing, the son loses pride in himself, feeling like he let his father down. This type of diction would have to be conveyed in a poem about guys and the expectations and pressure that affects them.