Kinky

Ricky Ybarra

Kinky

This poetry book is filled with a unique look into Barbie’s view on life. I knew it was not going to be the normal book about Barbie just from seeing the cover containing an overweight Barbie, surrounded by sweets and trying to balance on impossibly tiny high-heeled feet. This body dysmorphia is just one of the few issues Duhamel deals with using her persona poems. The title Kinky led me to believe that sexuality would be mainly dealt with in these poems, but sexuality is just a tiny facet of the many issues of Barbie. The poems led me through a journey of Barbie’s many issues such as sexuality, race, self image, careers, body image, love, self worth, and politics just to name a few. My own personal feelings towards America’s perfect little beauty icon has forever been changed.

The sections appear to be organized by Barbie’s makeup. The first section called lipstick deals with the touchy subjects of race relations, different ethnicities, and politics. The words seem to jump off the pages at you in most of these poems written by Duhamel. She chooses her words carefully whether they are long or short poems. The point is always made no matter the length of the poem. The collection of poems in lipstick really jump out at you, especially the ones in which Duhamel talks about the ethnic variations of Barbie that have been introduced into the world over the years. Duhamel definitely does not stray from making highly charged

social statements. I loved the point she made in her poem “Native American Barbie”. Even though the poem has only one line there’s only one of her left, the line sends the message loud and clear about how minorities have been treated and looked at. Another poem called “Black Barbie History” is a poem that I believe really set the tone in the lipstick section. The end of the poem seems to hit today’s thoughts about looking like the beautiful Barbie cutout. Today, the same plastic surgery used on Black Barbie can smooth...