"Then in the magic of puberty, a classmate said: / You have a great big nose and fat legs." (Lines 5-6)
First of all, this is the first time that I have ever heard puberty being called "magic," so I am going to pinpoint the obvious and call that statement out right now for its irony.
The quoted line above that features the girl's nose and legs is a recurring phrase throughout the poem because it is what the mean girls decided to pick on about the subject of the poem, and it is what she eventually altered about herself. The biggest irony; however, that I noticed in the poem was the imagery related to a Barbie Doll. In the eyes of a child, she is perfect. Barbie has multiple careers, and a fantastic body that you can dress up in any outfit imaginable. But, what a little girl who has just received a Barbie for Christmas doesn't realize is that Barbie is actually a perfect representation of imperfection. She is not physically possible. The upper half of her body would cause her to fall over because she has such skinny ankles! Most Barbies have hair that is completely disproportionate to their body, and they are completely ridiculous when viewed from a realistic point of view. As it is, little girls don't see all of this. They see a flawless toy that is almost ridiculously fun to play with. (I would know.)
The irony in all of this is that the subject of Piercy's poem is trying to be perfect, but she will never be if her model is practically the definition of imperfection. As the last stanza demonstrates, this irrational goal finally gets the best of the girl.
No comments:
Post a Comment