My Verse

“Barbie Doll,” a poem by Marge Piercy depicts the pressure that comes from societies idea of beauty. The effects of this social acceptance force a completely natural girl into a self-destructive loss. We as the reader feel a tone of psychological defeat. The girl in the poem fails to hold on to her natural beauty, and allows other’s opinions to manipulate her self-confidence. “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” (Piercy, 15). A theme that is prevalent is the conflict with societal pressure. 

Continuing with this theme of standing against the crowd, defying the pressures of culture and society, and remaining true to ones self, “Hard Rock Returns to Prison from the Hospital for the Criminal Insane,” by Etheridge Knight, sets a tone of admiration. Hard Rock, as illustrated by Knight, is the tough of the tough. His peers admired him because of his strong pride, and justifying nature. “He had been our Destroyer, the doer of things we dreamed of doing but could not bring ourselves to do” (Knight, 34).

When reading both poems one artist that came to mind was Kanye West. In West’s song Diamonds from Sierra Leone speaks out against the mainstream tendencies, and how as an artist he has a unique ability to speak from the soul. “You gotta love it though somebody still speaks from his soul, And wouldn’t change by the change, or the game, or the fame, When he came, in the game, he made his own lane” (Kanye West, “Diamonds from Sierra Leone”). Defining who you are, makes us human, and therefore cannot be subject to manipulation.

Interestingly, Piercy and Knight both depict stories of defeat, however “Barbie Doll,” in comparison to “Hard Rock,” was defeated where as “Hard Rock,” although was victim to a lobotomy, fought for what he thought was right, and stood up to anyone who threatened to put him down. Kanye defends the importance of being unique, and when influenced by fame and fortune, it is crucial to stick to your roots, and represent yourself as an individual.