Una Marson: Poem Analysis

As of recently, the media has been flooded with positive interpretations of beauty standards all over the world. According to various sources, beauty ideals, in women especially, are socially constructed in order to judge a person’s value based on physical attractiveness; therefore, it is highly encouraged that people pay attention to their looks and take care of themselves, in order for others to create a positive first impression of one’s character. It is no secret that beauty standards vary from one culture to the next and it is difficult to establish a universal principle of what is considered beautiful. Many countries’ ideals contrast one another and, as a result, allow for stereotypes to emerge. This is the case between American

Dwight Okita wrote the poem "Responce to Executive 9066", while Sandra Cisneros wrote "Mericans", both are about American identity. Okita talks more about culture with your family and Cisneros wrote about cultural heritage and physical appearance. Those three things do not determine if you are fit to be an American or not.

Much attention is given to the issue of the perfect body image among young girls and women in the United States; however, within this set of people, little attention is given towards black women and the topic of their hair. How are black women affected by these unrealistic standards for beauty, especially in a world that tends to favor the Eurocentric standards? This study discusses the phenomenon behind black women and their hairstyles and explains that their choice in hairstyle is not solely reliant on societal expectations, but also equally of their own personality, self-esteem, and time.

Throughout history, beauty standards have been enforced on females. They are taught what the ideal beauty is by the media and current culture of that time. Society creates certain expectations that require women to look a certain way to be beautiful and if not they are considered ugly. They change their appearances in order to conform to the established beauty standard and often lose a part of their identity in the process. In Toni Morrison’s novel, The Bluest Eye, she captures the struggle young girls and women face to meet the expectations that popular culture has on the ideal beauty in the early 1940s.

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

Eurocentric beauty standards are perpetuated around the world due to colonization and the major influence of Europeans. These beauty standards have forced women of all backgrounds to chemically alter their skin and hair and promotes self-hatred in women of darker complexions. Particularly, American Black women hold many of the lasting effects that the Eurocentric beauty standards caused. There are still issues faced today in which some black women are uncomfortable in their skin, are not fond of their hair and are victims of colorist biases.

According to Shaw and Lee (2015), in our culture, the manufacturing and consuming of products and the fashion industries create the beauty standards (pg. 191). Commercials, billboards, magazines, and other advertisements enforce these definitions. Therefore, beauty ideals reflect what the white, abled, and middle-class feel is beautiful. Even news journalists such as the women who report the newscasts are still “beautiful” women who fit the dominant ideology’s definition of beautiful.

Two baby girls is born on the same spring day. One’s skin so pale to contrast their rosy cheeks; the other’s deep and rich like copper. The pale skinned baby is thought of as beautiful to everyone around them yet no one bats an eye at the rich skin baby. The fair skinned girl grew up being praised every corner she took just for features, men opening doors for her, stranger’s smiles as she walked down the street — all indirect compliments thrown her way. The darker skinned girl never got to receive any of it. This leading to every day that she would envy the straight hair, the blue eyes, the fair skin. She’d look up to the sky asking God why she wasn’t blessed with fair skin — thinking why she was being cursed to have deeper skin and thick curly hair for the rest of her life. Even others with similar skin color is would turn their heads away from her to instead admire the fair skin girl.

There is a common clique stating that beauty is pain. However, this message has a dangerous connotation to it, and the poems “Barbie Doll” and “Beauty” identify the woes of striving for society’s image of beauty. In today’s society, what is considered beautiful emphasizes physical characteristics over other aspects, also women can drastically change their self-perception depending on whether they are engaged in following the trends.

Dolezal, a biologically Caucasian woman, however used all of these practices not to reach a certain beauty aesthetic, but rather to fit into the black-American social group (which she achieved until ousted as a fraud). Dolezal’s motivations were fueled by the fact that she felt like an outsider within her own socialized racial group, and attempted to fit into another which she felt more connected to. In many circumstances of an individual attempting to fit into a group, they may change their appearance to reach certain goals in being perceived by others, as in the case of transgendered individuals. Right now, transgendered individuals, although still not celebrated entirely in the mainstream, are receiving recognition and applaud as in the case of Caitlyn Jenner who spent the first half century or so of her life being socialized as a man. It can be seen that being a part of a social group has much to do in being accepted, and the questionable genuineness of Dolezal’s ‘blackness’ and Jenner’s femininity lie in the fact that neither have been socialized into the groups they wish to enter. For Jenner and Dolezal however, it was the very socialization they were experiencing which caused them cognitive dissonance, or in other words, to feel like deviants while acting as they were expected

European oppressions and expectations have been a major challenge for black women and black culture. The European standards of beauty are perceived as the norm in society and have shaped the way black women view their selves. The purpose of this paper is to explore how aspects of the self and racism have impacted black women’s lives. From the colour of skin, body shape and hair, black women have to construct themselves to feel beautiful or be accepted in society, which is something I’ve struggled with myself. This paper argues that race and the self are two components that influence the perceptions of black hair. Black woman and girls continue to face many challenges and barriers that they have to overcome, and standards they have to conform

Humans are social animals, as a specious a person wants companionship, wants to have relationships with others around them, companionship is key to survival and adapting or assimilated is second nature. An example that highlights this in Una Marson poem is “I like me black face/And me kinky hair. I like me black face/And me kinky hair. But nobody loves dem, I jes don't tink it's fair.” Marson puts a picture in your mind of what assimilation is and how it makes people strip away a part of their identity by changing the outside appearance. Marson highlights over and over again that she likes who she is, she loves her appearance but others around her don’t share her opinion. They want her to assimilate into society, by getting rid of her dark

Black women’s need for positive hair portrayal in mass media is crucial to the development of our self-worth. In a society where attractiveness is generally recognized as a woman 's most admirable quality, most women (especially those who don’t fit into the beauty standard) are aware of the subtle rules for feminine appearance and behavior. For black women, this means understanding our large setbacks within the scale of attractiveness based on skin color alone, and compensating for them through over-commitment to other ways of acting out normative beauty. Rose Weitz deconstructs this concept in specifically when she says,

"Human beauty is a reflection of cultural perceptions and ideas of aesthetics are indigenous to that area” (Meera, 1). Cultural implications of beauty are evident in every culture, and play an important role in the way women are perceived. Various perceptions form an ideal of beauty that is associated with social status (Zaki, Jamil, Schirmer, Jessica and Mitchell, Jason P, 894). Pressure to maintain norms of attractiveness occur especially in professional settings, focusing on appearance (Meera 1). A characteristic that is expected to fit physical beauty standards is hair. Women’s hair causes pressure to conform to norms of attractiveness, pertaining to professionalism and cultural standards (Rosette, Ashleigh Shelby and Dumas, Tracy L, 411).

Natural beauty, in this day and age, is a term that has many definitions because it is a controversial term. With the way people dress, act, and express themselves, it is extremely hard to find the true denotation of natural beauty. This is also true with the growing popularity in makeup in both genders. When asked to define it, people have formed their own opinions of the term along with the commonly known denotation, connotation, synonyms, and antonyms. The definition of the term also can be described and derived from my personal experiences along with others’. Though there is much evidence for and against the belief, natural beauty is more than what’s on the outside.