Question

Subject: Reading and Writing

This girlchild was born as usual

and presented dolls that did pee-pee

and miniature GE stoves and irons

and wee lipsticks the color of cherry candy.

Then in the magic of puberty, a classmate said:

You have a great big nose and fat legs.

She was healthy, tested intelligent,

possessed strong arms and back,

abundant sexual drive and manual dexterity.

She went to and from apologizing.

Everyone saw a fat nose on thick legs.

She was advised to play coy,

exhorted to come on hearty,

exercise, diet, smile and wheedle.

Her good nature wore out

like a fan belt.

So, she cut off her nose and her legs

and offered them up.

In the casket displayed on satin she lay

with the undertaker’s cosmetics painted on,

a turned-up putty nose,

dressed in a pink and white nightie.

Doesn’t she look pretty? everyone said.

Consummation at last.

To every woman a happy ending

After reading Marge Piercy’s poem, “Barbie Doll,” several times, explain the action and events of the final two stanzas. What ambiguity and/or irony do you notice?

Write out a potential theme for this poem. Which lines from the poem support this theme? Give two to three specific quotations

Answer 1

This poem deals with what the girl goes through because of her bodily features. The last two stanzas say that, after being told that she had fat nose and thick legs, the poet says, she cuts off her nose and legs, which implies she takes her life. She lays in her coffin which is the casket displayed on satin, wearing makeup. That is when everybody finds her pretty. The ambiguity here is that, she killed herself because she was told that she was not pretty, but after she died, everybody finds her pretty.

Theme: Bodyshaming: an evil that kills

This poem is all about bodyshaming and its effects. The girl is shamed for her fat nose and legs - "then in the magic of puberty a classmate said: you have a great big nose and fat legs" . The girl is given advice on how to become perfect - "she was advised to play coy, exhorted to come on hearty, exercise,diet,smile and wheedle". This pushed her into depression and she took her life- "her good nature wore out like a fan belt, so, she cut off her nose and her legs and offered them up".