Research Question: What role does beauty play in the oppression of black women in Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye?

Burcar, Lilijana. “Imploding the Racialized and Patriarchal Beauty Myth through the Critical Lens of Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye.” Vestnik za tuje jezike 9.1 (2017): 139–158. Web.

• In this article, the author brings up the racialized norms of gender and race during the time revolving around The Bluest Eye. This article also gives us a glimpse into how these societal norms affect the people around them.

Khan, Md Reza Hassan, and Md Shafiqur Rahman. “The Framework of Racism in Toni Morrison’s “The Bluest Eye”: A Psychosocial Interpretation.” Advances in Language and Literary Studies 5.2 (2014): 25-8. ProQuest. Web. 19. Nov. 2020.

• In this article i will focus on the discussion portion on the Beauty Industry and Ideology in the text. Here the article discusses how popular media can be used to bring about racist self-hatred in the black community, making them (characters such as Pecola in The Bluest Eye) feel insecure about the color of their skin or their figure compared to the likes of the white actors and actresses on mass media at the time.

Koch, E. C. “Hollywood’s Terror Industry: Idealized Beauty and the Bluest Eye.” Sanglap, vol. 1, no. 1, 2014, pp. 147-157. ProQuest, http://proxy.wexler.hunter.cuny.edu/login?url=https://www-proquest-com.proxy.wexler.hunter.cuny.edu/docview/1910805134?accountid=27495

• E. C. Koch goes into depth on the idealized way of looking at beauty and how it affected young black children during the time. The article covers the 1940s perception of the white standard of beauty with references to the characters, Claudia, Pauline, and Pecola from Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye.

Bump, Jerome. “Racism and Appearance in The Bluest Eye: A Template for an Ethical Emotive Criticism.” College Literature, vol. 37, no. 2, 2010, pp. 147–170. JSTOR,www.jstor.org/stable/20749587. Accessed 11 Nov. 2020.

• Jerome Bump explores the emotive qualities of racism and how it affects the black community. By exploring these qualities this makes it easier to explain the how the mass media places these standards of beauty on black girls in The Bluest Eye. 

Research question: How does the “white gaze” affect Black families within The Bluest Eye?

Works Cited:

Roye, Susmita. “Toni Morrison’s Disrupted Girls and Their Disturbed Girlhoods: The Bluest Eye and A Mercy.” Callaloo, vol. 35 no. 1, 2012, p. 212-227. Project MUSE, doi:10.1353/cal.2012.0013

• This essay has large parts in which it focuses directly on the relationships between the Black families and the white characters throughout the book. It shows the white families’ influence on the thoughts of the “opposing” Black families.

Wallowitz, Laraine. “Resisting the White Gaze: Critical Literacy and Toni Morrison’s “The Bluest Eye.” Counterpoints (New York, N.Y.), 2008-01-01, Vol.326, p.151-164

• Although based around real world application, this article dives into the strength of the “white gaze” within Toni’s Morrison The Bluest Eye, showing off some student-led responses to the question at hand, giving different perspectives beyond that of my own or even the writer themselves. This allows for deeper thoughts to arise to the surface and allows for the access to previously untapped knowledge.

Peimanfard, Shima. “Othering Each Other: Mimicry, Ambivalence and Abjection in Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye.” International journal of applied linguistics & English literature, 2018-06-01, Vol.7 (4), p.115-120

• This article focuses on a psychoanalysis of The Bluest Eye, primarily on the internally colonized mind of main character Pecola Lovebreed and the effects that this colonization has not only on her, but other Black characters around her as well. It challenges another essay, “Of Mimicry and Man” by Homi Bhabha, which speaks on the usefulness of mimicry to counter white supremacy as Pecola’s mimicry is what ruins her.

Bhabha, Homi. “Of Mimicry and Man: The Ambivalence of Colonial Discourse.” Vol. 28, Discipleship: A Special Issue on Psychoanalysis (Spring, 1984), pp. 152-159

• A chapter of a larger text that is useful as a counter argument, giving life to the larger argument at hand by presenting counterable points of reference.

Debra T. Werrlein. “Not So Fast, Dick and Jane: Reimagining Childhood and Nation in The Bluest Eye” Melus, 2005-12-01, Vol.30 (4), p.53-72

• A section of a larger body of text that focuses on how the “white gaze” and views of white people skew those of Black people, particularly children who are the most impressionable at a young age as their minds are still developing.

Research Question: 

“How colored girls are affected short-term and long-term by generational racism and systematic stigmas.” 

Kuenz, Jane. “The Bluest Eye: Notes on History, Community, and Black Female Subjectivity.” 

African American review 27.3 (1993): 421–431. Web.

Kuenz’s emphasis on the cultural setback in, “The Bluest Eye,” of young black girls through seclusion is her main objective in her article. She further discusses the result of these setbacks, and how it affects the girls as women. Lack of identity is what the author strongly rests on as a major affect to their personal lives, due to the segregation of cultures.

 Rosenberg, Ruth. “Seeds in Hard Ground: Black Girlhood in The Bluest Eye.” Black American 

literature forum 21.4 (1987): 435–445. Web.

Rosenberg writes about the self-image of black girls, especially in childhood, using Mahalia Jackson, Maya Angelou, and Bessie Smith as starting points for her examples. She writes of the experiences of black girls and women clinging to each other because they alone have only experienced the same. Rosenberg also mentions how Morrison’s black girlhood enlightened others to let them know they are not alone. She ends in a scary truth of, “The Bluest Eye,” and how dangerous a designated culture and way of life can be. 

Roye, Susmita. “TONI MORRISON’S DISRUPTED GIRLS AND THEIR DISTURBED 

GIRLHOODS: ‘The Bluest Eye’ and ‘A Mercy.’” Callaloo 35.1 (2012): 212–227. Web.

Roye’s article discusses Morrison’s focus on troubled girls in her writing. She compares the troubles from both, “The Bluest Eye,” and, “A Mercy.” The different stages and types of pity and sadness she gives her female characters through their identity, sexual identity, economic stages, desires, and family play a major role in Morrison’s plot line. The author insists that this is Morrison’s way of attesting to a largely unequal socio-economic and cultural system. Roye’s main objective is to elaborate on Morrison’s vision to expose these inequalities and create assimilation through struggle. 

Vasquez, Sam. “In Her Own Image: Literary and Visual Representations of Girlhood in Toni 

Morrison’s The Bluest Eye and Jamaica Kincaid’s Annie John.” Meridians 12.1 (2014): 58-87. Web.

This critical essay informs readers about the cultural and personal setbacks/experiences of young girls in, “The Bluest Eye”, and  “Annie John.” Within the essay, Vasquez discusses: the theoretical and historical underpinnings of the writers and their personal experiences, visual culture and diverse socio-historical context, impact of western patriarchy, mixed racism, and literary context. The author goes into a deep dive of a black girl’s struggles between both books, and their grapple with Western cultural stigmas.

 Zebialowicz, Palasinski. “Probing Racial Dilemmas in ‘the Bluest Eye’ with the Spyglass of 

Psychology.” Journal of African American studies (New Brunswick, N.J.) 14.2 (2010): 220–233. Web.

This article takes a psychological look on Toni Morrison’s, “The Bluest Eye.” Zebialowicz sets out specific passages to analyze the effects of racism, identity crisis, beauty, white ethnocentrism, and more. She takes a deeper look into not only the feelings narrated but the buried shame, lack of power, and animosity holds within the characters. She tries to unload most of Morrison’s female racial issues and give insight through psychology.

My research process consisted of OneSearch on the hunter database site, and the keywords of: “The Bluest Eye” and stigmas, “” and racism, “” girlhood, “”and psychology. Many searches came up, but from reading through the different options I found these passages relating to my topic the most. These articles and essays hammer in on the type of research I’m looking for, giving me a wide variety of information from different sources and experiences.

(Research question: How does Morrison portray blackness and sex as two things that directly and/or indirectly affect one another?)

• Abdullahi, Jumoke “Jay,” and Kym Oliver. “Triple Cripples: On Blackness, Sexuality, Disability, and Autonomy.” AAIHS, 17 Mar. 2020, https://www.aaihs.org/triple-cripples-on-blackness-sexuality-disability-and-autonomy/.
  • Unlike a few of my sources that focus on blackness and sexuality specifically in The Bluest Eye, this source focuses on blackness and sexuality in the present day and how they relate to each other. However, this source also ties in the topic of disability and its relations to blackness and sex, which is particularly unique because of how it can relate to Polly’s race and sexuality. This source also puts a slight emphasis on religion as well, which can further tie into Polly’s character because of how religious she became due to her poor relationship with sex that stemmed from her insecurity of being abused, black, and disabled.
• A.R. Gayathri, et al. “Objectification of African American Women in the Bluest Eye.” International Journal of Pure and Applied Mathematics, vol. 119, no. 12, 2018, pp. 2769–77.
  • This article focuses on the direct relationship between blackness and sex by discussing the different types of objectifications that all the female characters in The Bluest Eye are subjected to. It then explains how this affects the characters by creating a sense of self-objectification. Thus, this text argues that Morrison’s portrayal of sexual objectification of black women leads to their lower self-esteem pertaining to their identity as African Americans.
• Byerman, Keith E. “INTENSE BEHAVIORS: THE USE OF THE GROTESQUE IN ‘THE BLUEST EYE AND EVA’S MAN.’” CLA Journal, vol. 25, no. 4, 1982, pp. 447–57.
  • Byerman makes the argument of how Morrison portrays blackness and sex as two things that are both “grotesque” to the audience. However, he states that this “grotesqueness” is not something that arrives from just racism and the sexualization black men and women, because our society already knows about racism – this is just not shocking enough to the audience because we already know of these problems. Hence, Morrison needs to use topics such as incest to make this novel truly “grotesque” in order to portray the relationship between blackness and sex. 
• Rosenberg, Ruth. “Seeds in Hard Ground: Black Girlhood in The Bluest Eye.” Black American Literature Forum, vol. 21, no. 4, 1987, pp. 435–45. JSTOR, doi:10.2307/2904114.
  • Rosenberg focuses on the levels of sexualization compared to the levels of blackness by focusing on colorism. She suggests that Morrison is able to focus on the relationship between blackness and sex by being one of the first authors to focus on how colorism, or in other words, light-skinned versus darker-skinned African Americans, and how it affects the treatment of different “types” of black people. Thus, Roseberg argues that there  appears to be a direct relationship between the type of blackness and sex.
• Rosenthal, Lisa, and Marci Lobel. “Stereotypes of Black American Women Related to Sexuality and Motherhood.” Psychology of Women Quarterly, vol. 40, no. 3, Sept. 2016, pp. 414–27. PubMed Central, doi:10.1177/0361684315627459.
  • This source is a research experiment done with the purpose of finding out how prevalent stereotypes of African American women are related to sexuality and motherhood in comparison to white women. It was found that many stereotypes remain alive in the present day and that they have extremely detrimental effects on black women. This experiment is therefore useful to my research question because it actually analyzes the relationship between blackness and sex by using the scientific method. The findings can then be compared to the way black women are treated throughout The Bluest Eye in terms of how the research correlates with the relationship between blackness and sex portrayed in the novel.
• “Sex Stereotypes of African Americans Have Long History.” NPR.Org, https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=10057104. Accessed 30 Nov. 2020.
  • Professors Herbert Samuels and Mireille Miller-Young discuss the sexual stereotypes, particularly honing in on black sex workers. They discuss how there is a direct relationship between blackness and sex based on how they are paid, how black sex workers are viewed compared to white sex workers, and even how these things are impacted by politics. However, what is most relatable to The Bluest Eye is how the professors discuss how black communities often disidentify with sexuality as a whole. This can relate to the sex workers in the novel and others’ attitudes towards them. (For example, Claudia’s mother despises them simply because they make a living off of sex, which can perhaps be interpreted as disidentifying with sex.) Thus, this source touches upon a more specific relationship pertaining to sex and blackness.

During the webinar interview with Claudia Rankine. I learned many interesting things about her. She is a very strong, creative and determined woman. I was also proud to know she’s a fellow Jamaican. Like many successful individuals Rankine had her share of negative critiques. However, she was most grateful for the  surprising mentors she came across on her journey. Persons who have aided in her success. She notes that  in her success she never knew who would have helped her in life. Therefore, she was always open and respectful to people regardless of race or gender . When  Rankine said this it reflected back to how we are grown in the Caribbean. We are taught to always treat people we meet with respect. Based on the fact that we never know if that person might be the one to save our life.

When  Rankine wrote “Don’t  Let Me  be Lonely,” she was with Grove Press. Which at the time told her they would not be publishing her work . Due to the fact that they did  not see it as  poetry.  Rankine did not let this damper her efforts. She continued to believe in her work , even after having a friend also referring to the book as terrible. I admired the fact that she never took it to heart . Rankine’s book was Later on  published and became a  major influence in people’s life. Which attest to the fact that you never know what lies a head of you on your journey to self development. In addition, how important  it is to always believe in yourself.

In September, Rankine received a letter from a publisher who also rejected her work. Stating how much he regretted not reading it. Along with the fact that he didn’t realize how wonderful it was. Rankine expressed her book was directed  towards cultural  whiteness.  Stating that everyone is a participant . However, she speaks mostly to her white audience,“Someone who’s interested in building something new.”  In addition,  her book was also a response to  moments. Based  on the fact  that history did happened and the questions that exist in society. She targeted the concept of sociology and what it really looks like.

During the process of creating her novel, Rankine interjected her most meaningful conversations . After having  them professionally analyzed by a hired psychiatrist. Rankine also took great efforts in making sure she had information from creditable sources. She did many research and use statistics along with fact checks. Which all aided as  support for her essays. Her final statement was that essays open more platform for close reading and to be taken a part.

The overall interview with Claudia Rankine was very insightful. It gave an opportunity to know more about her as an author and what really takes place in her mind when writing her books. In addition, the process in which she goes through to ensure her work is of a profound quality.