Her aim was to gain allegiance from middle class white women but in this process she lost esteem from the women within her own race. She played into assertive ideals and clichés in order to be recognized. The author focused too much on gaining acceptance from white people instead of having self-assurance and understanding of possibly never being fully welcomed by her aggressors. It is one thing to desire equality, but when the basis of gaining equality requires degrading your own race, it is no longer equality of race nor mankind, but only gaining appreciation based on performance. McDougald thinks that the low class black women intrude as a hindrance for the entire black race and the few who have proven their dominant are still associated with ignorance and the signification of being a black woman.
“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.
Literary Analysis: “Barbie Doll” Today’s women hold themselves to unreachable and unreasonable standards of beauty. With media and social networking on the rise, the standard of beauty is skewed to what others portray it to be. Girls and women of all ages and diversity have self-esteem issues due to the “beauty myth”. Naomi Wolf, author of The Beauty Myth, defines it as an obsession with physical perfection that traps the modern woman in an endless spiral of hope, self-consciousness, and self-hatred as she tries to fulfill society’s impossible definition of ‘the flawless beauty’.” In Marge Piercy’s poem “Barbie Doll”, the deadly effects of the beauty myth are revealed. It all begins with a young girl being born into the world of judgment.
She wholeheartedly believes if she is beautiful physically then she will be happy. She also believes if she is beautiful she will no longer feel pain, from unloving family members or peers. As the novel progressed, I felt as though I could truly understand the humiliation, suffering, and heartache Pecola and other African Americans, of the time, experienced. Pecola desperately wants to be beautiful. She has a dangerously poor self-image and is thus obsessed with the desire to obtain blue eyes.
Irene is generally proud of being African American but when she passes as a white woman on occasion, you can tell that she loses some of her dignity since she feels as if she is sinking down to Clare's level. In my eyes, I feel as if Irene is a hypocrite because of her disapproval of Clare's passing, but considers it acceptable for herself to pass when she feels it is needed. The
Later, she reveals to August that she doesn’t like Lily because she is white – this is an example of reverse racism, where the minority discriminates upon the majority. Lily is surprised that June could look down upon Lily because she is white. She protests to August about Lily, “But she’s white, August.” (87). Lily thinks right after, “I hadn’t known this was possible – to reject people for being white.” (87). June’s racism is unexpected and especially odd.
From this, the reader can gain a sense of her ignorance. Her primary concern was her appearance and personal state which made her the most out of place of all her sisters. Other hints at her materialistic flaws were when her "precious toiletries" were replaced by more practical things. This disgusted her as she didn't know how she could live without these possessions. This behavior was normal in white America, however when she was placed in an obscure
(Q. 61). Mrs. Nilssen’s clear implication is she does not want Helga around because she is half black. On the other hand Emma Lou was too dark and, as a result, did not fit it with the blacks, nor the white. Emma Lou's family foundered of the "Blue Vain Society" in Boise, a group for light skinned African Americans.
White people believed they were superior to the blacks and barely viewed them as human beings. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Lee writes accurate descriptions of how racism was ingrained in the daily lives of Americans such as Aunt Alexandra whose response to Scout as to why she cannot play with a black boy is "Because- he – is – trash, that’s why you can’t play with him". Alexandra is not giving Scout a real reason why because she has no reason other than she grew up with society telling her black and white children could not play together and was brainwashed into believing it. Another situation that shows the shocking segregation is when Cecil Jacobs asked a question about why the Jewish were persecuted in class "But that ain’t no cause to persecute ‘em. They’re white aren’t they?"
Imagine a world with no discrimination against women. In this fictitious dimension, there would be no degrading stereotypes or insults pivoting around females. Unfortunately, we live in a misogynistic world filled with hateful comments spewed out carelessly against women. I used to be under the impression that sexism was not as important as other societal issues, such as racism. It was only after analyzing “Antigone”, when I started to understand the gravity of how persistent and awful sexism has been over the years.