Irene Cara, a singer, said, “I don't like being under someone else’s thumb. I'm very supportive of other female artists, especially those trying to make their own statement trying to do what they want instead of being someone else's Barbie doll.” This quote single-handedly supports the fact that women are considered as nothing but playthings, and the fact that men can somehow force flawed women into the imaginary molds of perfect, inferior women.

In the music video, Barbie World by Agua, there are several lyrics that suggest that Barbie could be controlled by anyone – her boyfriend, Ken and the children who play with dolls. “Let’s go, Barbie, let’s go party.” Following these lyrics, Barbie, instantaneously, drops whatever she was doing and joins her boyfriend, Ken in the activities that he plans. “And the lyrics, “You can brush my hair and undress me everywhere.” and “You can touch, you can play, if you say, ‘I’m always yours’.” and also, “Make me walk, make me talk, so whatever you please.” suggest that Ken could do anything with Barbie, even if those words are suggesting something inappropriate for the young children watching the video. Not only the lyrics suggest that Ken could do everything and anything to Barbiie, it also suggest that he can do what he wants when he wants to do them. The lyrics, “I’m a blond bimbo girl.” and “Come, jump in, bimbo friend, let us do it again.” are degrading Barbie by labeling her a stupid, foolish and inept person or they label her as an attractive but stupid young woman. In the video, Ken pulls Barbie’s arm from her socket, and he used the arm against her – pointing her own arm against her at what seemed to be a poolside party. He was moving her arm as a child would move a doll. She was displaying frustration and anger at Ken pointing her arm at her, but forgave him in the end, meaning that she let Ken control her.

Marge Piercy wrote a poem called Barbie Doll. The poem is about an average, ordinary girl growing up through the adolescence stage and the expectations the girls are asked to fulfill. The first stanza talks about the mindset that a child is placed under during childhood. Girls are given dolls, stoves and irons, and they expected to play with them. Because the doll, stoves, and irons are the usual toys that relate to the old-fashioned duties of women. This way, young girls begin to learn what they should be like for society and not to roam far from the expectations. The author mentions the magic of puberty because that’s the age where girls start to care about their appearances for others’ sake. A hurtful remark was made towards the child, that she was big-nosed and had large legs. The second stanza also begins mentioning the girl’s positive aspects, such as being healthy, intelligent, and strong. Being intelligent, healthy and strong are usually related to the male so these traits were not good enough for a woman if they were not beautiful. In the third stanza, the girl was advised to play coy and smile – to flirt around and act in a way that is unreal, like a barbie doll. But this ‘act’ gets old and wears off, resulting in her giving up and cutting up her nose and legs. It is only in the last stanza where the girl is dead and has consummation at last. She is finally given a compliment when someone said, “doesn’t she look pretty?” and that was the consummation. The undertake used make-up to cover the pain and suffering the girl went through and placed her into the mold of a barbie doll with a putty nose and dressed in a pink and white outfit.

Both pieces of text, Barbie World by Agua and Barbie Doll by Marge Piercy, explained how a perfect woman was supposed to act. Like a Barbie doll, a woman is ideally very attractive, but can’t live or fend for herself. Men are supposed to tell woman what to do and how to live. Women are just puppets on strings, plastic Barbie dolls that are ‘played’ with by the men.