Morrison’s Portrayal of Beauty Standards and its Impact on Black Womanhood in the Bluest Eye

Abstract

The Bluest Eye is a novel written by the Nobel Prize winning author Toni Morrison; which represents the life of the African American females during the early twentieth century. Morrison shows how the concept of Western beauty ideals are formed and spread among black people. The novel, not only illustrate how black lives have been destroyed because of their skin colour. Yet also shows the human loss that occurs when true and realistic standards of beauty are not established. Along with the harsh racist and sexist acts practised on the black female characters due to the supported beauty myth, brought by the white American society. The present study aims to shed light on the issue of racism in relation to African feminism, The effect of the white ideology on the black female characters during the 20th century; Morrison’s focus in this novel is on the damage black women characters suffer in their feminine construction. In a society that only recognizes white physical traits as a fundamental criterion of beauty.