Instead they show praise towards her and her whiteness by buying white baby dolls, even for black girls. “The big, the special, the loving gift was always a big, blue-eyed Baby Doll….all the world had agreed that a blue-eyed, yellow-haired, pink-skinned doll was what every girl child treasured.” Not only do the girls of this novel learn that whiteness is superior through the white baby dolls and the idealization of Shirley temple but adult women too have learned to despise their own color and learn as they grow that whiteness is the desired color. Whiteness is considered the cleaner color. When Pecola spills berries all over the clean white ladies house this
That's exactly what Madonna attempts to do when she appropriates and commodifies aspects of black culture. Needless to say this kind of fascination is a threat. It endangers. Perhaps that is why so many of the grown black women I spoke with about Madonna had no interest in her as a cultural icon and said things like, "The bitch can't even sing." It was only among young black females that I could find die-hard Madonna fans.
They were the stereotypical toys of the girl, and help to create the image of the stereotypical “girlchild” in the mind. This then continued into when it described how the classmate described her “great big nose and fat legs.” This helps to create the picture that she is no longer the little girlchild that was perfect in every way in the view of society. Instead, she has become different, because she has features that go against the stereotypical definition of beauty that is defined by today’s modern culture. The fact
Brownies The short story “Brownies” written by ZZ Packer and narrated by one of the Girl Scouts named Laurel or “Snot”, involves a confrontation in a restroom over a perceived racial slur between a troop of black Girl Scouts and a troop of white Girl Scouts. Ironically, the black troop comes to find that the white girls were in fact, retarded or “delayed learners”. The irony is doubled when the black Girl Scouts have no misgivings at even calling the white Girl Scouts “retarded” while arguing over the racial slur that was heard by the girls, “nigger”. Dramatic Irony is irony that occurs when the meaning of the situation is understood by the audience but not by the characters in play. Throughout the entire story, the black Girl Scout troop wants to physically confront the white Girl Scout troop over a racial slur that they weren’t even sure was said.
The Struggle for Society’s Acceptance Be careful what you wish for. In the novel The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, a young colored girl named Pecola and her race are rejected by their community based on their physical appearance. The belief of Pecola’s time label black people ugly and different. To be beautiful, it is mandatory that one posses pale skin, yellow hair, and blue eyes. Brainwashed by society’s standards and demeaned by the white race, the black population struggles to fit the stereotypical image of perfection.
In the novel, The Bluest Eyes, by Toni Morrison, there are a lot of different issues that arise. The one thing that stood out the most to me was the sort of racism that goes both ways, throughout the book. Toni Morrison brings out the racism from the 1950’s and shows that "It is the blackness that accounts for, that creates, the vacuum edged with distaste in white eyes" Pecola, driven to want blue eyes by her observations that is is those with blue who receive and thus "deserve" love, eventually loses her mind after she experiences repeated violence at home, at school, and on the street. These violences are all rooted in racism. Pecola begins to believe the lie of racism: that to be black is to be "ugly," undeserving, and unloved.
How popular she is and perfect she is, and so naturally these girls are beginning to want to be just like Barbie, happy and perfect all of the time. There is always so much to look, act and dress. And young girls worldwide feel the need to fit in and the only way to do that is to look and act a certain way. Barbie has always been there to set the trends. Feminist say that Barbie is the cause of worldwide eating disorders, low self-esteem and false perception of beauty.
It is bad that Barbie, a 6 foot tall, 100 pound, size 0, infertile doll is possibly believed to be realistic and perfect (Bennett, Saren). She is one of many reasons young girls eventually develop a low self-esteem and an inaccurate idea of body image. Due to Barbie, young girls have also developed eating disorders, and the lust for unnecessary, unrealistic material objects. Girls should not be pressured about the way they look, act, and dress (Bennett, Saren). By definition, Barbie is a trademark doll representing a slim, shapely young woman, especially one with blond hair, blue eyes, and fair skin (Barbie).
Barbie Doll has a few main themes that can be easily recognized; the main ones that Piercy addresses are the pressures of being a female and the desperate attempts to please others. In this poem, when the subject gets older she is told all the ways that she is not beautiful, while all of her good traits are ignored. Ultimately, it shows how the pressure of trying to measure up to society’s standards can cause an end to someone’s life. The poet makes the point at the end of Barbie Doll that for some women, fulfillment might only come in death. At the beginning of the poem the girl is portrayed as a typical little girl without a care in the world.
Probably the most destructive ideas in the history of human thought. Both originated in envy, thrived in insecurity, and ended in disillusion.” (122) “The big, the special, the loving gift was always a big, blue-eyed Baby Doll…. [A]ll the world had agreed that a blue-eyed, yellow-haired, pink-skinned doll was what every girl child treasured.” (19-20) “We stare at her, … wanting to poke the arrogance out of her eyes and smash the pride of ownership that curls her chewing mouth. When she comes