A Real Doll by A.M. Homes

This story right from the start, was messed up. The story follows a boy that falls in love with Barbie without the love part. Homes is obviously using a play on words to express her feelings towards abusive men and women to other women. Not only is the narrator hanging around her all the time out of boredom, but for sex. Yes, he wants to have sex with Barbie. He fantasizes about it.
Homes creates this relationship that brings out the values of teenage boys and men through a doll that she describes as any other woman, but made of plastic. The first scene that made me realize what the story was trying to convey was when the narrator literally put Barbie's head into his mouth. She tries to fight back by biting, but nothing works. This was the pivotal point where the readers realize that man is bigger and have more power than women. Barbie is described as almost fragile because the narrator feels guilty afterwards and will not put her down until she forgives him. Barbie confronts him multiple times and the narrator responds to himself by saying things like, "For a moment, I was proud." And the first time they "made love," there is a moment where he thinks, "I was on top of her, not caring if I kill her." He also fantasizes about "tying her up, but more than arms and legs, but tying the belt around her face." Homes is commenting on the way men treat women sexually and this is very impactful.
Not only is the narrator abusive, but the sister of the narrator is too. She chews on Barbie's toes, switches the heads of Barbie and Ken, change her from the ceiling fan, cutting off her breasts with a knife, and burning Barbie's entire body. After her body is burned and caving in, Barbie still responds with a smile by saying, "Aren't we going to play?" This haunts me because of how willing women are to feel needed and to feel special.
There is also a scene where the narrator actually gets turned on by Ken, but only because when his head is ripped off, there is a hole for him to use, unlike Barbie has between her legs. He uses the male doll for his own pleasure only because Barbie didn't have what he desired the most. He started thinking about Ken more than Barbie.
The title is definitely a play on words. It has a double meaning. The first meaning is in the sweet way, the way you would describe a child, "What a doll." The second meaning relies on the actual character, Barbie being a doll and how she is described and used like a doll, like a thing to play with. This is a metaphor for how women and men are treated by men and other women alike.
This story is a wild ride. It never dies down or cools off and that is what I like about it. It stands for something important and she never backs down from her view on sexism. It was definitely unexpected, but weird and those are the best kinds of stories.