Barbie Doll

If I had to switch the title of “Barbie Doll” by Marge Piercy to fit a man’s perspective I would change the title to, appropriately, Ken Doll. With just some minor changes in the poem, it could easily be written about a boy rather than a girl. Most all kids when going through adolescence face the same issues of what people believe you should look like and what you accomplish, whether it was 50 years ago or in today’s time.
In the first stanza I would change the sentence “dolls that did pee-pee” to guns that made noise. I would also change “miniature GE stoves and irons” to footballs and dirt bikes. I would think that to a boy, being made fun of their physical body, as in being scrawny would hurt their pride, along with being book smart. In my mind, boys like to be seen as “jocks” or the big man on campus, who has it all, including; athletic body, great hair, and pretty girls that hang on them. It usually does not include being the smartest one in class.
The second stanza would have to change in the manner that a boy would not go around apologizing for who they are as a girl would. A boy, I would imagine, would let the criticism infest inside him until he exploded. Think Columbine!
I think that girls are more advised to try to change themselves and their images than boys are. Girls are more emotional seekers than boys are and they like to think of everyone liking them.
The last three lines of the poem is the most powerful. “Doesn’t she look pretty? Everyone said. Consummation at last. To every women a happy ending.” This means that the girl finally made everyone think that she is pretty and that they all like her even though she had to take her own life to make it happen.