The White Haired Girl

A family of five were in the first group shot. A gray-haired elderly woman cradled a baby. The child couldn’t have been more than three months old. She was singing and tickling the little one to keep her from crying. The baby cooed with delight. Everyone was standing around with tears in their eyes. A father holding the hand of his six-year-old spoke softly to him. The boy wept from fear. His father stroked the boy’s head and pointed to the skies. It was as though he was explaining something to him

eyes." (Morrison) What would you expect from a girl trying to fit it in a society that has inconsiderable beauty standards most of which she does not poses? Toni Morrison tells a tragic tale of a black girl Pecola Breedlove living in a white-dominated society in the period after the great depression. Pecola innocently longs to be accepted in this world. However, she is subject to scrutiny on every possible instance even from her own family. The poor girl has to cope with verbal and physical abuse both

'm white and Pakistani". Others look at me with great confusion and ask, "What is that?”. I hit them with a huge eye roll and I have to explain where Pakistan is located in Asia. I really think some people did not take World Geography because they 're still so lost. They usually just blurt out with "Oh, so you 're Middle Eastern?" It boggles my mind that

"I 'm white and Pakistani". Some look at me with great confusion and ask, "What is that?" I hit them with a huge eye roll and I have to explain where Pakistan is located in Asia. I really think some people did not take World Geography because they 're still so lost. They usually just blurt with "oh, so you 're middle eastern?" It boggles my mind that

sport Maven could excel at it. He was tall, dark haired, and muscled. Layla was the theater geek, star of all the musicals. She is short, blond, and headstrong. Lastly Pat was 1st in class, straight A student; any question you have she has the answer. Pat is average height, dark haired, and a brainiac. As they started out on their trip, Layla asked, “ Hey have you guys heard of the Little Girl Jody.” “No, what is so important about a little girl, did she die or something,” Spat back Marven. “Yeah

people. Representation can be defined as a view or portrayal someone has on a person or group of people. Two of the most common representations the media makes are that men are dominant, aggressive and muscular, while women are submissive, blonde haired - blue eyed, slim and beautiful. However this is not the case. What the media shows as being normal is in fact abnormal and does not reflect reality. Quite often these representations affect the values of those who consume media, in turn, this affects

The role of an ideal servant in a White people’s family, where ‘she found beauty, order, cleanliness, and praise’ satisfied all of her needs (ibid., 127),” and by “accepting this role (at the expense of her children, however) she finds a positive place for herself” in white society (Miniotaitė, 54). Pecola knew that as long as she remained invisible, she would not be dragged into fights or given any unwanted attention that may negatively impact her, whether it be from her mother, father, peers,

to the child by her “..huge brown eyes and crew-cut hair” (Alexie 106). Grace will always be immediately labeled by her appearance as a dark skinned, long haired, poor, out of place, Indian. We see the realization of her imminent confine, “I don’t want long hair, I don't want short hair, I don't want hair at all, and I don't want to be a girl or a boy, I want to be a yellow and orange leaf some little kid picks up and pastes in his scrapbook” (Alexie 106). Her longing of a leaf shows a symbolism

main girls, Pecola Breedlove and Claudia MacTeer, learn from the start that life is

A red haired girl smiled brightly as she holds her new doll, “It’s a pretty weird doll honey, why did you choose it, Karin?” Her mother asked, “Um, well, uh, I dunno.” Karin said, fumbling with her words, stared up at her mother with wide brown eyes, “It was really pretty so I got it,” she replied, her eyes shifting down to the doll every now and then. Nevertheless, the mother didn’t mind the doll since it made her daughter happy. Little did she know what that one finger meant. ---------- A young