Toxic, Institutionalized Beauty Standards In The Bluest Eye By Toni Morrison

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Beauty is Pain: The Bluest Eye and Toxic, Institutionalized Beauty Standards “Dick and Jane quote” Even when it comes to children’s literature, perhaps the most wholesome and simple, one can find that it is littered with toxic and whitewashed beauty and social ideals. The sheer fact that these beauty standards are broadcasted to young children through books, and nowadays media, is a testament to how much this society values beauty. But not all beauty, a very select, whitewashed, pearl toothed, golden-haired ideal that is unattainable unless you are Caucasian. Even some Caucasians have trouble meeting these standards, however, with money, one could color their hair, purchase new clothes and suddenly blend in. It is difficult to not fit the standard of beauty. It is difficult to have an odd nose or perhaps very large ears, however, when one …show more content…

Maureen, a well-endowed girl with mixed parents is treated with the extra respect due to her whiter appearance than the other girls. When she makes an appearance at her new school, she is greeted with attention from the teachers, boys, and acceptance from the white girls (Morrison, 47-48). Maureen, with her light skin, demonstrates a hierarchy of skin tone and idealized physical attributes when she at first accepts and defends Pecola, but eventually, she succumbs to her privilege, and insults her, calling her ugly. Maureen subscribes to the toxic whitewashed standard of beauty by feeling superior to Pecola and the other black girls because she looks lighter. By insulting her friends, she is insulting the black part of herself which is self-destructive. Maureen Peal, by insulting the other black girls for being ugly rejects the black side of her identity, conforming to the oppressive qualities of the whitewashed beauty standards demonstrated in Toni Morrison’s The Bluest

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