Colorist Culture Beliefs Essay

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison takes place in Ohio in the 1940s. The novel is written from the perspective of African Americans and how they view themselves. Focusing on identity, Morrison uses rhetorical devices such as imagery, dictation, and symbolism to help stress her point of view on identity. In the novel the author argues that society influences an individual's perception on beauty, which she supports through characters like Pecola and Mrs. Breedlove. Furthermore, the novel explains how society shapes an individual's character by instilling beauty expectations. Morrison is effective in relaying her message about the various impacts that society has on an individual's character through imagery, diction, and symbolism by showing that

According to McIntosh’s suggestion, “we should acknowledge enormous unseen dimensions, talk about the obliviousness advantages, and raise our daily awareness on the perquisites of being light-skinned.” McIntosh’s approaches are characterized as reasonable to resolve the issue. By listing down every advantage she takes for granted, she is raising awareness in the society. By

Dina Gerdeman’s article discusses how the cosmetic industry in India has created a stereotype in which individuals with lighter skin tones are more acceptable and successful in comparison to those with darker skin tones. The media has portrayed this image persistently despite social activists arguing against the implications. Even though many campaigns have been created to combat this stereotype, the March 2016 case author of “Fair & Lovely vs. Dark is Beautiful,” Rohit Deshpande says, “…if you look at whether it’s done anything to affect the sales of the product category, the answer is no. This is a big market by any standards, and it’s growing exponentially” (para. 12). By the cosmetic industry’s perspective, “The government

As the research continues it becomes ever more important to discuss how exactly the differing pigmentation of one race of people actually occurs, because I feel that it has an effect on the way colorism is handled throughout the African American community. There are two ways in which a person of African descent can be of a lighter complexion; the first being amalgamation, which is the coming together of both the black and white races and reproducing to make a mulatto or mixed race child and the second is the use of cosmetic creams in attempt to bleach one’s skin until they too appear mulatto (Dorman 48). This is relevant because, it shows the extremes that people are willing to go to reach the highest plateau of social acceptance. Many of these creams were painful acidic chemicals slowly burning away the pigmentation as people slept, while others were considered mild abrasive materials used to “gently” scrape away dark pigments (Dorman

Colorism has been prevalent in America since slavery. The lighter slaves would be put to work in the house and the darker skin slaves would be put to work in the field. In my opinion, this is one of the many Eurocentric ideologies that are still experienced today in the black community. Growing up I was a lot darker than my peers. Boys at my middle school would always say my best friend is prettier than I because she was of a fair complexion. Colorism is also best exemplified in movies such as Color Purple and Spike Lee’s School Dazes. Once I completed the “Skin Tone IAT”, the results were a bit surprising, they stated, “Your data suggest a moderate automatic preference for Light Skinned people over Dark Skinned people”. I was raised by my great grandfather who was Irish and Indian. To the naked eye, he looked like a Caucasian male. Up until age 6, I was afraid of darker skinned men. The results are still surprising to me that after all these years I still have a preference for light skin people over dark skinned people when in my personal opinion I feel that skin tone doesn’t matter or define you as a person. Which was also shown in class when we did the circle activity. Once again taking this test I felt that it was a bit unnecessary because you’re upbringing has a lot to do with the results and it does not mean that you have any sort of bias toward a particular group. I believe my results are inaccurate because the type of men that I am generally attracted to now are of Darker

Over the course of the years, society has taught black girls that the darker their skin tone is, the uglier they are which triggered them to do their best to meet Eurocentric beauty standards such as having light skin, slim nose and straight hair.

The desire to feel beautiful has never been more in demand, yet so impossible to achieve. In the book “The Bluest Eye”, the author, Toni Morrison, tells the story of two black families that live during the mid-1900’s. Even though slavery is a thing of the past, discrimination and racism are still a big issue at this time. Through the whole book, characters struggle to feel beautiful and battle the curse of being ugly because of their skin color. Throughout the book Pecola feels ugly and does not like who she is because of her back skin. She believes the only thing that can ever make her beautiful is if she got blue eyes. Frieda, Pecola, Claudia, and other black characters have been taught that the key to being beautiful is by having white skin. So by being black, this makes them automatically ugly. In the final chapter of the book, the need to feel beautiful drives Pecola so crazy that she imagines that she has blue eyes. She thinks that people don’t want to look at her because they are jealous of her beauty, but the truth is they don’t look at her because she is pregnant. From the time these black girls are little, the belief that beauty comes from the color of their skin has been hammered into their mind. Mrs. Breedlove and Geraldine are also affected by the standards of beauty and the impossible goal to look and be accepted by white people. Throughout “The Bluest Eye” Toni Morrison uses the motif of beauty to portray its negative effect on characters.

Due to internalized racism, the African American community throws taunts about their body, hair, and skin color at each other, having internalized the hate and definition that White people have given them about what features are good and valuable. In Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye, Morrison captures this internalized racism within 11-year-old Pecola Breedlove, who prays for blue eyes like the ones White Americans have. Although

The average Indian person is not as light-skinned as models, celebrities and Bollywood actresses. These instruments to the media are prized for their fair skin. Indian people from North India generally have lighter skin than those from South India because of the varying climates. Many sources claim that the fascination with lighter skin stems

Through the segregation within slavery and the expectations we put on each other, as seen in the documentaries Light Girls and Dark Girls, as well as my own experiences; we see that history has created a false sense of “authentic” culture. One example of this formation is the segregation of slaves into two classes; the house slaves and the field slaves. As the two groups were split up there were certain expectations that one formed about the other. The house slaves looked down on the field slaves for being dirty and coarse while the field slaves associated the house slaves with credulous and unsullied work with the master. This would later evolve as certain “expectations” would arise about how a dark skinned person should be and how a light skinned person should be. In turn, this type of mindset has created an authentic, albeit stereotypical cultural template that many people still follow today. In the documentary, Dark Girls, one woman states “Why is it they think I’m so beautiful, and my own people don’t see any beauty in me at all” (Dark). Expectations begin to form based on the hue of your skin. In this case, the individual’s community associates those with lighter complexions with more value. While darker complexions are more sexualized and associated with being unattractive. We assign

To the African American male, a lighter skinned female may be able to bear better-looking children with white features. They are also seen as easier to get along with. The continued success of the light skinned African Americans has created a prejudice against lighter skinned individuals in the culture. Dark skinned males and females are raged because of the fact that they get hired for good jobs. Dark skinned females are mad at lighter skinned females because they are not approached as much as they are. This is a real issue because it is causing bitterness towards one another I the African American culture. The simple fact is that no matter whether one is light skinned or dark skinned, they are still African American. However, because of the features in which a light skinned individual processes, helps them get more ahead, therefore, light skinned African Americans have easier lives than dark skinned African Americans.

It is not well understood exactly why women tend to have lighter skin tones that men, it was thought that this was due to the difference in sun exposure as men worked outside more than women, however, Jablonski states that because the discrepancy is based on skin tone that is not exposed to the sun, this is not the reason. “The discrepancy due to skin color is due to more than sun exposure habits; it is indicative of an underlying and genetically based set of causes” (64). The research into these causes is still carrying on as they have not found the precise reasoning, but the possibility that the lighter skin for women would be a way to ensure their health during pregnancy and breastfeeding is hypothesized but there is not enough experimental evidence (70). This is an area that I would like to have more information on as new research discloses. This chapter also discusses the hypothesis of sexual selection as a reason for the gap between the sexes, as men may have preferred lighter skinned women and the different variations for the reasoning of this, however, there is a lack of empirical evidence

“I bleach my skin because it makes me more appealing to men.” “Some girls who are black themselves, say they don’t want a black man, they want a man with light complexion” (Tafari-Ama). These are quotes by Jamaican commentators who believe that lightening one’s complexion is the gateway to sexual attraction and gaining a potential spouse. Sexual attraction and colorism has been synonymous as early as British colonialism and more contemporarily in newspaper ads dating back to the 1950s (Charles 2003). Trauma, as defined by Merriam-Webster online, is a very difficult or unpleasant experience that causes someone to have mental or emotional problems usually for a long time (Merriam Webster). Skin bleaching is a byproduct of deep-seated and haunting identity trauma inflicted by Europeans through slavery and colonialism of the Americas and Caribbean. Due to this trauma, women have interpreted bleaching their skins as a way to increase their sexual attractiveness.

Life is not fair, get used to it,” said Bill Gates (2000). Bill is actually true, especially for people who were born with albinism in Africa. Instead of their sickness, a high number of albinos in Africa are often tortured by people who do not comprehend about albinism. They treat albinos like just an animal or a product which is invaluable in the black market. Newman (2016) found that albinism is one of the genetic diseases that caused by a mutation gene. This gene is the key to create melanin that found in the color of retinas, hair, and skin. This is why albinos have pale skin, white or blond hair and reddish eyes. Albino’s body is totally sensitivity and fragile. In an unfortunate way, many of witchdoctors in Africa strongly believe that using parts of albino’s body or their bones as an ingredient in the worship will bring a good fortune and wealth, so these cause an immoral albino hunting.

This is prominent in the African American community; it is often taught at a young age that if you are of darker complexion or have a curlier hair texture you are not as pretty as the lighter complexioned girl that you might know. It is assumed that the media is to blame for this way of thinking. Youth and teens are self conscious enough without these negative “airbrushed” and unrealistic images put forth in the media.