Should I wear my hair straight? Should I wear it natural? Should I conform to society? Should I stand my ground and show my pride? Am I good enough? These are the things that black women asked themselves in the 1960s and 1970s. In “The Bluest Eye”, written by Toni Morrison, there is an underlying theme: the faces of black women. To use in comparison with “The Bluest Eye”, the chapter “Contexts for the Emergence of ‘Black is Beautiful.’” in Maxine Leeds Craig’s book “Ain’t I a Beauty Queen? Black Women, Beauty, and the Politics of Race” provides insight about black women and how beauty standards surfaced. Both texts greatly gives a representation of the life of black women in the mid to late 1900s. There were many things black women had to worry about back in those times. The three hardships focused on in both “The Bluest Eye” and the specific chapter from Craig’s book are appearance, relationships, and work duties/images.
First was the struggle with appearance. There was a “historic widespread disparagement of dark skin, tightly curled hair, and African American …show more content…
Most, if not all black women were maids in their home and someone of the white society. Women were supposed to be submissive to their husbands. A servant to him and the house. In “The Bluest Eye”, Morrison uses good illustration of this quote. Claudia and Freida’s mother was portrayed as such. She was always cleaning the house and taking care of her children or tending to what needed to be done. It’s as if black woman were good for nothing but being a servant. In addition to another example, at the beginning of a chapter in Morrison’s book, she writes “Mrs. Williams got a job cleaning and cooking for a white minister on the other side of town…” (112), which further proves what Craig talks about and proves that “mammy” image. The “mammy” look, according to Craig, was “[Black women as a] domestic servant … a fat, dark – skinned woman wearing a head wrap”
First was the struggle with appearance. There was a “historic widespread disparagement of dark skin, tightly curled hair, and African American …show more content…
Most, if not all black women were maids in their home and someone of the white society. Women were supposed to be submissive to their husbands. A servant to him and the house. In “The Bluest Eye”, Morrison uses good illustration of this quote. Claudia and Freida’s mother was portrayed as such. She was always cleaning the house and taking care of her children or tending to what needed to be done. It’s as if black woman were good for nothing but being a servant. In addition to another example, at the beginning of a chapter in Morrison’s book, she writes “Mrs. Williams got a job cleaning and cooking for a white minister on the other side of town…” (112), which further proves what Craig talks about and proves that “mammy” image. The “mammy” look, according to Craig, was “[Black women as a] domestic servant … a fat, dark – skinned woman wearing a head wrap”