Barbie Doll

The poem “Barbie Doll” by Marge Piercy is a very feminist poem. However, it can also be applied to boys if it is just tweaked here and there. Often times we don’t think of boys as having problems with peer pressure and the way they look, but they do. The hardest think for boys though is the emotional aspect of life. As a society we believe boys to be the tougher, stronger sex. We expect them to always have the answer, to never cry and always be stronger than women. Girls can play with boy toys without getting teased. If a boy picks up a doll, before long the whole daycare will be laughing at him. Girls can cry whenever they want and it is not looked at as being abnormal. If a guy cries, he is thought of as weak or a mama’s boy.

If I wanted to rewrite this poem for a boy, my title would be, “Superman,” because Superman always saves the day and is never hurt for long. He also never cries and has muscles that no one can ever achieve the healthy way. This brings up another point. We tend to think that girls are the ones that struggle with body issues and having to look a certain way. I think boys struggle with this as well. Look at all the male super heroes. They are all ripped! They all have broad shoulders and look very manly (even though they wear their underwear over their TIGHTS!). In my poem I would write about male super heroes and how they affect little boys.

If you’re a girl or if you’re a boy; it doesn’t matter, you are still going to go through peer pressure and pressure from our society on what the cultural norm is. Boys go through just as much problems with body issues and self-images as girls do.