Beauty is only skin deep : colorism and the beauty myth in The blacker the berry... , Maud Martha, and The bluest eye

Beauty is only skin deep : colorism and the beauty myth in The blacker the berry... , Maud Martha, and The bluest eye

Callihan, Melinda Jo-Anne

Addison, Elizabeth Hodnett, 1946-

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The following thesis will explore the issue of colorism and the Beauty Myth through three works: The Blacker the Berry…, Maud Martha, and The Bluest Eye. According to the evidence from these texts by Thurman, Brooks, and Morrison, colorism is closely connected to the Beauty Myth. Though rooted in the thought of white, contemporary feminists, the Beauty Myth is as pervasive as it is unjust, leaving the decided "non-beauties” of the world outside the pale. Similarly, though colorism is rooted in racism, it too is sexist. Because color ism in these works primarily affects women, and because it is predicated on the belief that lighter skin is more attractive, it is a racist form of the Beauty Myth. The two phenomena, in close association, provide the negative force of these fictions. As illustrated in the main characters' words, thoughts, and actions, colorism pervades the very fabric of these three novels. Traditionally colorism has been seen as a symptom of racial tension. In these particular works, however, it is not merely a race issue. For these particular women in these very specific novels it is not their color that impedes them, it is their sex.