Barbie Doll

The poem Barbie Doll by Marge Piercy is one that is full of irony.  The title itself is ironic at the end of the poem.  Barbie: the classic image of what every perfect girl should like like.  However, in reality, Barbie wouldn't even be able to stand due to some feature.   This comparison to Barbie shows how this perfectly fine girl was pushed to the brink due to societies messed up rating system.  The girl, a person with healthy differences in her appearance, was always being compared to an inanimate doll that people strived to be like.  Albert Einstein once said, "But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”  This quote could easily be applied here.  

Referring to question 3, the answer of it could be take in two ways.  One way is that these description assisted her fate by making her look more like a male.  In this, she may have been criticized more. Additionally, these "strong arms and back"(835, Piercy) may have made the terrible procedure that she did to herself easier.