“Popular culture can sometimes quicken this silent transformation, because the atmosphere it creates and racist messages are so prevalent that they are difficult to ignore. Therefore, African- Americans are especially vulnerable to the messages conveyed by popular culture that white beauty will inevitably dominate people’s life.” She idolizes Shirley Temple unlike Claudia who despises Shirley. “Younger than both Frieda and Pecola, I had not yet arrived at the turning point in the development of my psyche which allowed me to love her. What I felt at the time was unsullied hatred” (Morrison pg.19). Claudia is too young to understand what is about Shirley that makes her beautiful and Claudia not.
These are good examples that she uses because it’s something that we all hear once in a while. She also uses students’ experiences to convince her audience. The most that struck out to me was the quotes she used from black students. “It was weird, even in high school a lot of black students were like “Well, you’re not really black”. Whether it was because I became president of the sixth-grade class or whatever it was, it started pretty much back then.
Analysis of “White Lies” by Natasha Tretheway Some readers may find Natasha Tretheway’s poem “White Lies” a simple poem about a girl who pretends she is white and lies about being white to fit in with society. A bi-racial child growing up in the 1960’s and 1970’s was difficult, especially since segregation became illegal in the 1960’s. I believe, however, that the poem is a story of her childhood, innocence and a struggle for personal identity in America. Natasha Tretheway’s childhood was not an easy one. Natasha was a girl who was born in 1966 to a black mother and a white father.
The film starred Marilyn Monroe as the blonde and Jane Russell as her wise brunette friend. The Encyclopedia of Hair describes Monroe's role as that of "a fragile woman who relied rather on her looks rather than on intelligence - what some people refer to as 'dumb blond'. At the same time, in the film she demonstrates a certain amount of wit regarding her life position expressed in her hit "Diamonds are the girl's best friend". And when her fiancé's father (who initially disliked her but eventually was impressed) asked her why she pretends to be dumb, she answers that men prefer this way.” (Wikipedia) Marilyn Monroe was one of the most famous Celebrities to use her looks to get what she wants. She was not afraid to flaunt herself at men and the media.
Octavia’s mane makes her envied because it opens the door for her to become a part of the white girl’s world that is televised. Medias take on the beauty has socially engrained that “white” beauty creates inferiority amongst other races because physically this is
arol Gilligan—influential feminist psychologist and author—is worried. Gilligan's 1982 book In Another Voice (called "the little book that started a revolution" by Harvard University Press) electrified the pundit class with its premise that girls were fundamentally misread and oppressed by American society. The advocacy programs promoting equality for girls that resulted from Gilligan's call-to-arms have had an impact few would deny. In fact, they may have worked too well, as schools generally acknowledge that girls now outshine boys in grades and high level-course enrollment (even in math and science, says the National Center for Education Statistics) and outnumber them in formerly male bastions such as honor societies, debating clubs and
Akeelah is a young black girl from south Los Angeles living with her widowed mother, her sister, and her niece. Needless to say, Akeelah is in a low-income household. However, although Akeelah lives in a poor household, she is extremely intelligent as this is evident through her unique ability to memorize and spell a vast majority of words at her young age. Without the consent of her disapproving mother, Akeelah enters her school’s spelling bee and wins. The movie continues with Akeelah gradually reaching the national level of spelling bee tournaments with the help of her coach, Dr. Larabee, her principal, and the community she lives in.
Helen Keller Helen Keller has persevered throughout her lifetime. She persevered because she was able to read, write, and she also accomplished a lot for a person who was deaf and blind. For example Helen wrote over seven books and she also graduated from collage with honors. Sure Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in baseball, but Rosa Parks stood up for her rights by not sitting in the back of the bus so that a white person could have her seat. So Jackie has done something that many people have done as well, but nobody has done anything like Helen Keller.
In their 2006 psychological experiment, Does Barbie Make Girls Want to Be Thin? The Effect of Experimental Exposure to Images of Dolls on the Body Image of 5- to 8-Year-Old Girls, “a total of 162 girls, from ages 5 to age 8, were exposed to images of either Barbie Dolls, Emme dolls (U.S. size 16), or no dolls (baseline control) and then completed assessments of body image” (283). The professors found that those exposed to Barbie doll images produced “lower self-esteem and a greater desire for a thinner body shape than in the other exposed conditions.” The professors study concluded that “these findings imply that, even if dolls cease to function as aspirational role models for older girls, early exposure to dolls epitomizing an unrealistically thin body ideal may damage girls’ body image, which would contribute to an increased risk of disordered eating and weight cycling” (283). Being exposed at a young age to this doll that portrays the so called “perfect body” instills into the mind of young girls that that is how their body should look, and causes them to feel insecure if they don’t have a Barbie body. This can then lead young girls to believe that the only solution is to change their bodies, either by developing eating disorders or by receiving
But these ideas do not always have to be right. It could often be completely unthinkable. In "The Lottery", Shirley Jackson uses the change in character of Tessie Hutchinson, to portray the evil that lies within the society, and how deep rooted tradition will change her forever. No one in the community questions the tradition of the lottery, until Tessie, but only when she got picked for it. At first she is in a very good mood and is excited for the lottery.