29)#102-11. Blueberry Crumbles Never Meant This Much!

Up to now, we've been discussing the main themes of The Bluest Eye. In my opinion, racial self-hatred and the distorted perception of beauty are the most significant ones, so I tried to find an image to symbolize them both. This is completely made up, so you can disagree. Like I mentioned, I just brainstormed and found this on my own. I wanted to try a different writing style as well, so here it goes...

'Blueberry crumbles'

1) In terms of racial self-hatred, one should clearly understand the scene between pages 107 and 109. Here, Pauline's daughter Pecola accidently drops the blueberry pie which her mother had never made for her. However, it is a routine dessert she makes for the white little girl who wears 'a pink sunback dress with pink fluffy slippers.' The little white girl is the princess and Pecola is the ugly duckling.

When Pecola smashes the pie, Pauline sees the 'ugly duckling' she has given birth to. Anger explodes as she beats the daughter she can't look in the eye. On a subconcious level, I think Pecola's condition reminds Pauline of her own ugliness and that is why she takes it out on Pecola.

2) In terms of the distorted perception of beauty, I hinted on the former clause. In the book, there is a serious portrayal of the 'white princess vs. black ugly duckling' conflict(I coined the term myself). In this scene, the little girl starts crying when she sees the blueberry crumbles. Even though eating blueberry pies is a usual thing for her, she cries and garners the affection of Pauline; whereas, Pecola gets a severe beating. The white girl gains attention because of her princess-like characteristics; however, even though it is a small mistake anyone could have made, Pecola is treated brutally. Her looks victimize her in the eyes of her mother. The distorted perception of beauty declares the winner and the loser in an unfair way.

'Pie' by AriCee under CC Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 Generic

28)#102-10. What Was Right Back Then?? [A Question of Morality]

Now that spring break is over*sobs*, I can get back to blogging. This entry is for week 10.

During our off-week, I read the ‘winter’ and ‘spring’ sections and I noticed a pattern. Why must all adult characters have some kind of perversion?!? Cholly impregnates his daughter; Soaphead Church is a pedophile; Mr. Henry sexually assaults Claudia and spends time with prostitutes... this list can go on. I must ask, “Was it that bad?!?” I mean those times was not the best of times, but why is every character morally corrupt? It really bothered me when I read the book.

Like I mentioned in my previous entry, the self-hatred of African-Americans (because of internalization of the white perception etc.) also bothered me. In class, we talked a lot about this issue and as I’d like to call upon ‘the doll quote’ which effectively illustrates the topic at hand. As Simge already knows, I do not like dolls(if you are that curious why I don’t like them, see her entry 'The Bluest Eye' and no, I did not get paid to advertise her blog, it is just because I want to :P).

I’ll blog about week 11 later…

If anyone would like to harass me-jk- or just randomly say hello, please do so. I like comments very much though I seem to have a limited audience :’(

'I Hate How Much I Love You' by shewatchedthesky under CC Attribuition-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 Generic

27)#102-9. You're Beautiful Just Because..

Having read the first part of the Bluest Eye, I was appalled to see how much self-hatred the characters had for themselves. The character that appalled me the most was Pecola actually. Pecola lives like a shadow, constantly reminded of ugliness. She is devoid of love. Indeed, she poses the question, "how do you get someone to love you?" That is how desperate she is. The only hope she has is having blue eyes, eyes that will redeem her in others' minds.. Eyes that will get her noticed and make her beautiful. Finally, those eyes will make people love her..


The real dilemma I will address here is not how an 11 year old girl came to such a conclusion, but WHO decides what is 'beautiful' and what is 'ugly.' Physical appearance that we are so obsessed with, why does it have to define attractiveness? I might sound like an old lady for saying this, but what happened to "having a heart of gold"? Traits like modesty, consideracy, conscienciousness...what happened to them?

To be honest, there are days that I question these things myself, but luckily I have the most amazing people, first and foremost my parents, in my life to remind me when I get frustrated that I do not need somebody else's approval to be this-or-that. They'll love me the way I am-not because I confirm some sort of a societal criteria. So when my friend asks me if she looks beautiful, I'll say, "Yes, because you look like yourself.."
'Beauty 6' by Leah Makin Photography under CC Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 Generic

10. The Meaning of Beauty

As I watched "Killing Us Softly," I began to think about what it truly means to be beautiful, and that made me remember a Dove commercial that I've seen some time ago. In the commercial, which I've posted at the end of this post, you'll see what Ms. Kilbourne has touched up on in the documentary: our manipulated perception of beauty. The media relentlessly plays with the public physcology, and distorts our definition of beauty. Nowadays, the formula of beauty equals to this:

Razor-thin body+colorful eyes+straight hair+always make-up ready face+stylish and expensive wardrobe..

OR

to make it easier to visualize in our minds, it is either Angelina Jolie or Cameron Diaz.

I bet for the ladies who are reading this, my 'formula' is not a big surprise because after all, don't we hear that men find these women attractive and chase after girls with similar qualities or don't our friends say they wish they had a butt like celebrity A or lips like celebrity B??

But why must such feature of a person be beautiful? Who decides this?

Obviously, the media does, and women are the ones who are victimized by these impossible, unrealistic, and shallow standards of beauty. These days, it seems like having a unique appearance or an amazing personality is not appreciated at all.It actually scares me to say this, but if this is how we are in year 2009 when the rates of eating disorders have skyrocketed like never seen before, then what will we be like in year 2019?? That is the core issue that we must tackle as soon as possible.

Finally, please watch the video below: