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Doll Parts : Gender and the Internalization of Objectification
in Marge Piercy's “Barbie Doll”

Submitted by: Tiffany Morris
ENG 2006 X0
November 29, 2010
  

 

        The poem “Barbie Doll” by Marge Piercy confronts a number of problems of female identity as a social construct. This is rooted, primarily, in the relationship between the body, self, and society-at-large. Furthermore, this poem deals with this concept of the body as object. Though the body is often seen as a figurative object, but the implications of this objecthood become more problematic when tied to the concept of gender. For Judith Butler in “Gender Trouble”, the question of what constitutes gender becomes inextricably rooted in action and performance. Gender, Butler writes, is “an identity instituted through a stylized repetition of acts. Further, gender is instituted through the stylization of the body and, hence, must be understood as the mundane way in which bodily gestures, movements, and enactments of various kinds constitute the illusion of an abiding gendered self” (519). Butler posits that this repetition of acts is inextricably linked to the manner in which one “does” one's body and that it is the “incessant materializing of possibilities” (521). Ultimately, for Butler, though gender performance and doing one's body is an individual matter, “that one does it, and that one does it in accord with certain sanctions and proscriptions, is clearly not a fully individual matter(525). In the poem “Barbie Doll” by Marge Piercy, we see a protagonist confronting these very problems. Early in life the protagonist is presented with objects that reinforcce gender expectation, she then comes to understand the concept of doing one's body correctly or incorrectly and the punitive nature of that paradigm, then becomes a figure of objecthood herself. That this poem is called “Barbie Doll” is telling. Considering Butler's theories of gender as ritual, the figure and function of the doll may work on two distinct levels- as archetype as well as prototype. Through the use of a literal, physical object, gender identity is understood and reinforced in our earliest stages of development. This assists the individual in internalizing the objectification of the body. 

        How, then, does one come to normalize objects and project them onto models of gender? This process begins early in life. The process of individuation and the emergence of self-concept generally begin at the toddler stage of mental development. Most importantly, it is at this stage that children typically begin to internalize external value systems, usually through the actions, discipline and influence of their family of origin. The concepts of gender identity are among those included in these value systems. According to Butler, it is at this time that the performative acts of gender identity are initially formed. She states, “...certain gender norms which originate within the family and are enforced through certain familial modes of punishment and reward and which, as a consequence, might be construed as highly individual, for even there family relations recapitulate, individualize, and specify pre-existing cultural relations; they are rarely, if ever, radically original” (526). Therefore, while it may seem as though the family of origin constructs these gender norms, it could be argued that they are merely stylized within the gender confines already constructed at a societal level. Through this system of punishment and reward, then, it is within the individual's family of origin that the individual first encounters the prescribed standards of gender expectation, as well as the punishment that comes with the failure to meet them

        This system of punishment and reward directly correlates to the ritualization and objecthood of gender. Importantly, this is stage of mental development often marks the beginning of the use of objects to enforce models of gender. This is illustrated early in the poem. Piercy writes, “This girlchild was born as usual/and presented dolls that did pee-pee/and miniature GE ovens and irons/and wee lipsticks the color of cherry candy.” (L1-4). The use of “as usual” indicates that nothing remarkable has occurred in regard to the birth of this “girlchild”,  also giving the implication that this childhood is perhaps one that passed in a typical manner. As we are given an itemized list of the objects with which the child is presented, we understand that these are the first actions which will seek to establish gender identity for the protagonist. Perhaps the most frequent method of establishing gender identity and subsequent expectations in the female child is through the use of the doll. In the earlier stages of childhood, it is often the nurturing, maternal aspect of the gender role which is enforced through playing with dolls. In this way, female children are able to imitate their mothers and subsequently internalize the essential components of the gender expectation that address family rearing and domesticity. Having emerged from infancy into these earliest stages of self-awareness, the female toddler is able to readily identify and interact with this figure that helps to form the maternal identity, thus forming the earliest prototype of gender expectation. 

       

        It is important, then, to distinguish the differences in the types of dolls which are marketed to separate and distinct age groups. Consistent with the identification with the maternal, baby dolls tend to be favoured among younger age groups (it's likely safe to estimate five years of age or younger). As personal identity reaches higher forms of complexity and self-awareness (estimating, again, past the age of five years old), dolls such as Barbies tend to be favoured. Often idealized in this age group as a universal model of womanhood, Barbie has been marketed as a vehicle of expression of what is perceived to be adulthood on the part of the child. In this sense, she exists as a figure of manipulation, a blank slate onto which the child can project a multitude of fantastic and whimsical scenarios. These can also be rooted in the mundane; in play among children of this age, Barbie has assuredly taken several trips to the local mall. This is the point at which the figure and function of the doll moves from prototype to archetype. Barbie and other fashion dolls have been marketed with a vast array of careers, hobbies and talents. However, the bodies of the dolls are largely unvaried, even between brands. This is not solely in terms of body shapes, but also, commonly, in terms of the ethnic backgrounds that the dolls are intended to represent. In their sort of limited variety, they more complexly relate the different elements of gender expectation to the child. As a symbol of womanhood, Barbies and other fashion dolls exist precisely as this sort of a model of projection, enabling the child to apply any number of the societal gender confines to her own life, however unwittingly. 

        It is more often in puberty that forms of gender expectation become consciously linked to the body, as that is the crucial point in which the body begins to be considered as a sexual and reproductive construct. When we outgrow Barbies, usually around the point where puberty begins and this awareness of our bodies as reproductive constructs begins, we no longer have that physical object onto which we can project the expectations of gender identity. This, as well as the awareness of the punitive nature of “doing one's body” correctly or incorrectly, causes us to internalize the social constructs of gender expectation as it relates to our bodies. In essence, it is our bodies that become the objects onto which the expectations of gender are inevitably acted. Butler states,Performing one's gender wrong initiates a set of punishments both obvious and indirect, and performing it well provides the reassurance that there is an essentialism of gender identity after all. That this reassurance is so easily displaced by anxiety, that culture so readily punishes or margnalizes those who fail to perform the illusion of gender essentialism should be sign enough that on some level there is social knowledge that the truth or falsity of gender is only socially compelled and in no sense ontologically necessitated” (528). In the poem, it is in puberty that punitive aspect of failing to do one's body and gender correctly is first brought to the attention of the protagonist's mind. Piercy writes, “Then in the magic of puberty, a classmate said/You have a great big nose and fat legs” (5-6). It is then that the protagonist becomes aware that external measurements of her worth are correlated to her physical appearance, and that she is, in essence, also an object of manipulation.

        The next stanza atttempts to humanize the protagonist by demonstrating her various characteristics of both body and mind.  “She was healthy, tested intelligent/possessed strong arms and back/abundant sexual drive and manual dexterity” (7-9). However, this is not perceived as being sufficient, even on the part of the protagonist. The stanza continues, “She went to and fro apologizing./Everyone saw a fat nose and thick legs” (10-11). The fact that she feels compelled to apologize indicates that the protagonist has internalized these external value systems and deemed herself unfit by its measurements. The perception of her existence has been reduced to the aspects of her body which are responsible for her doing her gender wrong. The attempt to humanize her has failed as the internalization of objectification has been successful. It is then that we see the protagonist transformed into an object of manipulation. She receives direct instruction on how to perform her gender correctly, even though some of the advice is implicitly contradictory. “She was advised to play coy/exhorted to come on hearty,/exersize, diet, smile, and wheedle” (12-14). At first glance, it may seem as though the protagonist is thusly humanized, as these directions are oriented in action. However, like the Barbie doll, she now exists as a blank slate onto which the confines of gender expectation can be projected. Furthermore, her principal option is that she can perform certain functions in accordance with the prescribed machinations of her gender, or face the consequences. What are the consequences, then, for the protagonist? As the poem continues, it is the conformity to these external value systems that becomes inherently problematic. This is apparent in the protagonist's “good nature” that “[wears] out like a fan belt” (15-16).  Prior to this, the attempt was made to humanize the protagonist outside of being an object by indicating essential qualities of both her body and mind. To exist outside of this expectation of internal objectification and self-policing in terms of doing her body, she is met with the punitive nature of her failure, as “all anyone could see was a big nose on fat legs”. This attempt to assert individuation is made null by the pre-existing, external measurement of her worth, directly correlated with how she does her body and thus her gender. 

        It is at this point that she “cuts off her nose and legs and offer[s] them up” (17-18). This calls to mind images of sacrificial offerings, though it is also relevant to think of this in terms of the body as an object of gender. In removing the flawed features that keep her from obtaining that prescribed and highly specific level of bodily perfection, she is thus able to finally perform her gender correctly. As we see in the following verse, this perfection is obtained through literally becoming a lifeless object on display. The use of imagery in removing her problematic body parts specifically calls to mind the image of the doll; some dolls are fashioned with interchangable limbs and, at the very least, limbs which can be removed. Perhaps more urgently, it is only when her body and thus humanity has been modified and falsified (through the removal of her problematic legs, and the replacement putty nose),  that she is able to reach peer acceptance. She then receives her accolades: “Doesn't she look pretty? everyone said./Consummation at last./To every woman a happy ending” (23-25).

        It is in this final stanza that the imagery of objecthood becomes most apparent. “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.” (19-22). The image of her face with the putty nose and undertaker's makeup reinforces this idea of objecthood and specifically, of becoming the Barbie doll. That she is dressed in a pink and white nightgown also calls to mind fashion dolls in the specific, with their interchangability of clothes and fashion accessories. She is thus rendered into an object of admiration in the imposed perfection of death. The imagery of these lines indicates a level of display that furthers this objectification, and also calls to mind the image of the Barbie doll in her package, static within the confines of her display box, waiting to be consumed. It is only through this overt display of objecthood, then, that the protagonist could ever hope to have a happy ending.

        If gender, then, is the ritualization of societal norms, it becomes imperative to examine the objects of this ritualization. In terms of the ritualization of female gender identity, the doll is an essential aspect of the reinforcement of the expectations of doing one's gender and body correctly. These objects of gender expectation are often given in the earliest stages of mental development, and thus assist in the ultimate internalization of objectification. By spending a large amount of time in the early stages of mental development identifying with these figures, we are thereby more readily able to accept both the notions and confines of doing one's gender. When it later becomes apparent that not only do objects exist as a function of gender expectation, but that our bodies also exist in this capacity, the internalization of objectification can occur. This ritualization of self-objectification is dramatized in “Barbie Doll” with tragic consequences. Though the consequences of this objectification of the self may be, at times, less overt in the world-at-large, it becomes increasingly apparent that is crucial to examine the manner in which these social norms catalyze the objectification of the self. If gender expectation is rooted in ritual, perhaps mere awareness of this ritualization will assist us in ceasing our participation in these confines of gender expectation that often lead to dire actions and circumstances. Perhaps only then will we be liberated from objecthood.

 

Works Cited
 

Butler, Judith. Performative Acts and Gender Constitution: An Essay in Phenomenology and Feminist Theory. Theatre Journal, John Hopkins University Press. Vol. 40, No. 4. (Dec., 1988), pp. 519-531. Accessed November 29, 2010. <http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0192-2882%28198812%2940%3A4%3C519%3APAAGCA%3E2.0.CO%3B2-C>

 

Piercy, Marge. Barbie Doll. Poem Hunter. Barbie Doll by Marge Piercy. Accessed November 29, 2010. <http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/barbie-doll/>

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Display

Title should be centered


Title creatively indicates the topic and includes the author and text


If you are using a full title page, the essay title should be centred in the middle of the page, and your name, the date, the course, and the professor name should be right justified in the bottom right corner. There is no need to precede this information with "submitted by." A title page is not numbered.


Thoughtful and informative opening sentence. Note: the final phrase could be clarified further by using something like "a number of problems concerning female identity."


Doesn't have a clear referent


Delete: the contrast is already set up by 'Though' at the beginning of the sentence.


Wrong word. Should be "objectification"


Good intro/integration of quotation.


Need more of an explicaton of the previous quotation and more context to complete this point.


Good summation of key point that will be explored in the essay.


Maintain typeface style and size throughout (size 12).


Good transition from theory to its application in the poem.


Need to set off non-essential phrase with a comma.


Comma splice. Replace comma with a period, semi-colon, or add the coordinating conjunction "and" after the comma. OR delete "she" to create a list of actions.


Word choice - this problem persists throughout the essay, though sometimes the correct word "objectification" is used.


Thesis is spaced over several sentences; nevertheless, it pulls together the engaging, thoughtful, and well-developed intro.


Need a dash here not a hyphen. Create a dash with two hyphens.


Specify referent: "object"


Effective framing of paragraph.


No need for ellipsis at beginning or end of quotation. Only use one when you elide a passage from the middle.


Good quotation, but it has not been integrated grammatically. One option would be to elide the "which" at the beginning and end of the highlighted passage. For example: "certain gender norms [...] originate within"


Interesting points, concretely conveyed.


Good topic sentence.


Unnecessary verb: cut.


Referent?


Be careful to vary introductions to quotations. This one could be considered wordy as it is unnecessary. A simple solution is to put a colon after poem.


Slash is used to indicate line breaks for poem


Incorrect format. For poems, the first citation should read (lines 1-4) and the end punctuation comes after the parenthesis. Just include the line numbers in subsequent citations.


Place punctuation inside closing quotation mark


Wordy: use "implying" or "suggesting" instead


Although the doll is the central symbol in the poem, several other "girl toys" are mentioned. Their relevance should at least be noted, but could also be elaborated upon to further the discussion of gender identity.


Word choice? reinforced is the more appropriate word in this context. If "enforced" is being used deliberately, it needs to be justified.


Word choice: replace with "thus making it"


No skipped lines between paragraphs.


Reconsider order of the wording? "of what adulthood is perceived to be on the part of the child" or something more direct like " of how the child perceives adulthood"?


This explanation needs to be expanded as it is a key feature of the prototype.


Word choice: should be "at"


Not the best word—entities? beings?


Missing referent: insert "fact".


Word choice? Projected?


Could vary the phrases used to introduce quotations.


Any quotation over four lines long needs to be indented 10 spaces from the left margin. No quotation marks are needed. The page citation comes after the period.


This passage could easily be omitted in favour of a colon as the previous sentence already sets up an introduction to the quotation.


Spelling error. Also consider reworking topic sentence so that it advances the argument rather than describes the next stanza. That is, make your point about the progression of ideas from stanza to stanza more evident.


Replace with a colon.


a good explanation of the quotation in light of the essay's argument.


Phrase is somewhat awkward as it lacks clarity—who is manipulating her and how?


Punctuation should introduce quotation. Replace period with a colon.


Spelling.


Generally the extra "ly" here is considered unnecessary; it is usually reserved for introducing a direct quotation.


Phrasing? rework to read: action-oriented?


Insightful interpretation.


Slightly wordy style obfuscates the meaning of the point somewhat. As William Strunk would say: clarity, clarity, clarity.


Good summation of the paragraph.


Ideally, one doesn't use the "plot" of the primary work to advance the argument of the essay. One solution would be to rework the first two sentences, possibly integrating them.


Need to address how literally we should take this image.


Word choice? stanza?


Insert missing pronoun "her" between "thus" and "humanity" AND insert a comma before and after the phrase "and thus her humanity."


Delete this comma.


This paragraph opens and closes with a quotation, but there has been no explanation provided for closing quotation. Comment on the achievement of accolades.


Word choice: objectification.


Punctuation needs to introduce quotation. Use a colon.


End punctuation comes after the line citation.


Missing comma to bracket "specifically."


Wordy—cut.


Effective analysis of figurative language furthers the theoretical reading/interpretation of the poem.


Although the style is somewhat abstract here, the commentary is very intelligent.


Missing word: insert "it" after "that."


Consider reworking to finesse the final point: "Perhaps then we might be liberated."


Delete underline


Indent lines following the first line of each new entry. Format journal entries correctly: "Performative Acts and Gender Constitution: An Essay in Phenomenology and Feminist Theory." Theatre Journal 40. 4. (1988): 519-531. JSTOR. Web. Nov. 29, 2010.


Again, indent, and format entry according to latest MLA rules: Piercy, Marge. "Barbie Doll." Poem Hunter. Web. Nov. 29, 2010.