3. Barbie Doll

"Everyone saw a fat nose on thick legs." line 11

This poem expresses the shallow nature of society.  The ironic, "magic of puberty," makes all people go through awkward phases. But, this "healthy, tested intelligent," girl was being compared to the "perfect" body image of a plastic barbie doll. It is clearly unrealistic to expect all women to look like an unproportioned plastic doll. This poor girl, despite her good personality and intelligence, was only seen for her looks. Society was unable to see past her ordinary looks and discover who she was as a person. This pressure to be "perfect" led the girl to suicide. She "cut off her nose and her legs" in order to live up to the perfect body image. The pressure this girl, as well as many others, face is what is wrong with our society. As a society, we need to be able to find the good qualities within people to prevent the deadly paths women take in order to become "perfect." I think this poem is cautionary to young girls. The drastic overstatements throughout the poem  convey to girls that it is normal to not look like a barbie doll. The poem encourages women not only to accept the way they look, but also like it. It also warns society what dangers come from criticizing the looks of others. It can lead to anorexia, bulimia, depression, and in this case, suicide.