Which Doll Is The Ugly Doll Essay

“Which doll is the ugly doll?”
An African American child points to a dark colored doll.
“Why is that doll ugly?”
“Because he’s black.”
This was the conversation that occurred between an interviewer and a child of African American descent during the Clark Doll Experiment in 1939. In this experiment, two dolls were placed in front of multiple African American children; one doll was black while the other was white. These children were asked numerous questions including: “Which doll is the ugly doll?”, “Which doll is the pretty doll?”, “Which doll is the nice doll?”, etc. These children were given the task of determining, essentially, which doll was the most beautiful and therefore acceptable. The experiment yielded very shocking results. Majority of the children who were asked these questions tended to favor the white doll, claiming that it was both prettier and nicer because it was lighter. This experiment was conducted again in 2009 and yielded the same results.
The results of this experiment are an example of the exclusion of minority races in today’s

As a result, they are forced to either remain without companionship or succumb to the general public’s perception of beauty; this causes many women to attempt to alter their images in order to fit the mold. In "To Be Black and Woman and Alive", Jihad confesses, “I know four brands of hydrocortisone by heart. I have a Pinterest board dedicated to lemon juice recipes for lightening skin” (Jihad). This illustrates the obstacles that many women face in an attempt to take themselves out of the category of “ugly.” Many women of color fail to acknowledge and fully embrace the pigment of their skin and all the beauty that it possesses; others, however, are able to speak proudly about their skin tone and wish to encourage others to do the