The Appalling Tragedy: Sexuality, Beauty Standard, and Racism in The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

Dilek Arslan

Article Details

The Appalling Tragedy: Sexuality, Beauty Standard, and Racism in The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

Authors:

Dilek Arslan

Publisher:

Mardin Artuklu University

Journal:

Artuklu İnsan ve Toplum Bilim Dergisi Vol.8 Issue 1, pp.1-9

Document Type:

Article

Publication Date:

7/2023

Document Language:

English

Document ID (Org No.):

2001293202

pISSN:

2548-0545

Keywords:

Abstract:

 Being about the tragic lives of African American black families who encounter traumatic circumstances, the novel The Bluest Eye especially focuses on the unbearable life of a little black girl, Pecola. The horrible atmosphere of the novel can be seen from the beginning pages. It is heart-wrenching to see from the beginning pages of the novel that a young girl is raped by her father; consequently, she is pregnant. Pecola is so severely affected by the traumatic events such as the racial discrimination, internalized ugliness as being black, whiteness as the accepted beauty standard, and sexual abuse by her father that in the end, she goes mad and hallucinates a dream friend seeing her blue eyes. As a child, she associates blackness with the burden of her life and she considers that having blue eyes would be the solution to all her sufferings. Moreover, other black male and female characters such as Frieda, Claudia, Cholly, Darleine, Paulina are affected by the racism, sexual abuse, beauty standard, discrimination, and humiliation in the society. They have an internalized belief of blackness and ugliness; for this reason, they believe they experience poverty and discrimination. The aim of this paper is to discuss the traumatic tragedy caused by beauty standards, sexual abuse, and racism.

 Being about the tragic lives of African American black families who encounter traumatic circumstances, the novel The Bluest Eye especially focuses on the unbearable life of a little black girl, Pecola. The horrible atmosphere of the novel can be seen from the beginning pages. It is heart-wrenching to see from the beginning pages of the novel that a young girl is raped by her father; consequently, she is pregnant. Pecola is so severely affected by the traumatic events such as the racial discrimination, internalized ugliness as being black, whiteness as the accepted beauty standard, and sexual abuse by her father that in the end, she goes mad and hallucinates a dream friend seeing her blue eyes. As a child, she associates blackness with the burden of her life and she considers that having blue eyes would be the solution to all her sufferings. Moreover, other black male and female characters such as Frieda, Claudia, Cholly, Darleine, Paulina are affected by the racism, sexual abuse, beauty standard, discrimination, and humiliation in the society. They have an internalized belief of blackness and ugliness; for this reason, they believe they experience poverty and discrimination. The aim of this paper is to discuss the traumatic tragedy caused by beauty standards, sexual abuse, and racism.

 Being about the tragic lives of African American black families who encounter traumatic circumstances, the novel The Bluest Eye especially focuses on the unbearable life of a little black girl, Pecola. The horrible atmosphere of the novel can be seen from the beginning pages. It is heart-wrenching to see from the beginning pages of the novel that a young girl is raped by her father; consequently, she is pregnant. Pecola is so severely affected by the traumatic events such as the racial discrimination, internalized ugliness as being black, whiteness as the accepted beauty standard, and sexual abuse by her father that in the end, she goes mad and hallucinates a dream friend seeing her blue eyes. As a child, she associates blackness with the burden of her life and she considers that having blue eyes would be the solution to all her sufferings. Moreover, other black male and female characters such as Frieda, Claudia, Cholly, Darleine, Paulina are affected by the racism, sexual abuse, beauty standard, discrimination, and humiliation in the society. They have an internalized belief of blackness and ugliness; for this reason, they believe they experience poverty and discrimination. The aim of this paper is to discuss the traumatic tragedy caused by beauty standards, sexual abuse, and racism.

 Travmatik koşullarla karşılaşan Afrikalı Amerikalı siyah ailelerin trajik hayatlarıyla ilgili olan En Mavi Göz romanı özellikle küçük siyahi kız Pecolanın dayanılamaz yaşamına odaklanır. Romanın dehşet verici atmosferi ilk sayfalardan anlaşılabilir. Romanın ilk sayfalarında küçük bir kızın babası tarafından tecavüze uğramış olduğunu, dolayısıyla hamile olduğunu görmek yürek parçalayıcıdır. Pecola ırk ayrımı, siyahi olarak içselleştirilmiş çirkinlik, güzellik standardı olarak beyazlığın kabul edilmesi ve babası tarafından cinsel istismara uğraması gibi travmatik olaylardan o kadar şiddetli etkilenmiştir ki sonunda aklını kaybeder ve mavi gözlerini gören hayali bir arkadaş halüsinasyonu görür. Bir çocuk olarak siyahiliği hayatının sıkıntılarıyla ilişkilendirir ve mavi gözlere sahip olmanın tüm sorunlarının çözümü olacağını düşünür. Aynı zamanda Frieda, Claudia, Cholly, Darleine, Paulina gibi diğer siyah kadın ve erkek karakterler de toplumdaki ayrımcılıktan, güzellik standardından, istismardan, ırkçılıktan ve aşağılanmadan etkilenirler. İçselleştirilmiş bir siyahlık ve çirkinlik inancına sahiptirler bu yüzden de yoksulluk ve ayrımcılık yaşadıklarına inanırlar. Bu yazının amacı güzellik standardı, cinsel istismar ve ırkçılığın sebep olduğu travmatik trajediyi tartışmaktır.

Article Details

The Appalling Tragedy: Sexuality, Beauty Standard, and Racism in The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

Authors:

Dilek Arslan

Publisher:

Mardin Artuklu University

Journal:

Artuklu İnsan ve Toplum Bilim Dergisi Vol.8 Issue 1, pp.1-9

Document Type:

Article

Publication Date:

7/2023

Document Language:

English

Document ID (Org No.):

2001293202

pISSN:

2548-0545

Beauty Standard

Sexual Abuse

Racism

Class

Toni Morrison

The Bluest EyeGüzellik Standardı

Cinsel İstismar

Irkçılık

Sınıf

Toni Morrison

En Mavi Göz

Issues

Article Details

Authors: Dilek Arslan

Publisher: Mardin Artuklu University

Journal: Artuklu İnsan ve Toplum Bilim Dergisi Vol.8 Issue 1, pp.1-9

Document Type: Article

Publication Date: 7/2023

Document Language: English

Document ID (Org No.): 2001293202

pISSN: 2548-0545

Issues

Authors:

Dilek Arslan

Publisher:

Mardin Artuklu University

Journal:

Artuklu İnsan ve Toplum Bilim Dergisi Vol.8 Issue 1, pp.1-9

Document Type:

Article

Publication Date:

7/2023

Document Language:

English

Document ID (Org No.):

2001293202

pISSN:

2548-0545