by Kitty Anarchy
From: Los Angeles Review
Victoria Chang’s poetry collection Barbie Chang looks at the complex realities of racism for third-generation children. Even as a child, the speaker, Barbie Chang, is not able to have normal friendships with anyone—she overhears a classmate’s mother advising her daughter against forging a friendship with her because it is not in her best interest in “Barbie Chang’s Daughter:” “the new girl’s / mom tells Barbie Chang / that her own daughter should not tie / herself down too fast.”
The speaker foreshadows her future endeavors as she curiously observes the Circles, reminiscent of the Plastics in Mean Girls: flawless, shiny manicured, gorgeous people with certain size and fashion requirements (in “Barbie Chang Got Her Hair Done,” they have “matching floral / barrettes”), mannerisms, and etiquette. Barbie Chang and outsiders are intrigued by the seemingly perfect lifestyle the Circles exude, those intricacies she craves to belong to. In “Barbie Chang Loves Evites” she “sipped water for days,” reminiscent of the diet advice to drink a glass of water when you’re hungry.
Chang’s poems raise many questions. Why do women chase after these groups that usually are based on superficial looks? Why are women willing to change in order to be accepted instead of accepting themselves and having accepting people in their lives? In “Barbie Chang Shakes,” she writes,
Barbie Chang shakes the hand of
another Smith a former
beauty queen who still wins friends
at school sets the
rules for who is cool and who is not.
Attractiveness is still the factor that gets someone friends, and, let’s face it, the beautiful people get more benefits through life.
Why do they do it all? Approval. In “Barbie Chang Runs” “there’s always a woman / worrying about other / women wanting to be loved by other women,” forever chasing and seeking approval from those who should be allies, sisters. This poem illustrates the craving for acceptance that is often conditional on outward appearance. Women also get caught up in the competition for an unachievable perfect life. In “There are Lungs,” she illustrates this idea,
Barbie Chang is still
working harder because
the women at school seem better and
healthier have better
breath and time and rhyme when they speak
some of them pretend to be wealthy
if they pretend then
why does she want a new house bigger
than theirs
Los Angeles Literature 