In Toni Mirrison's book entitled The Bluest Eye it is obvious that she is showing the difference, discrimination, and stereotypes between the African American and White communities. However, when I was reading, I could not help focusing on the obsession with eyes, especially blue eyes that Claudia (one of the main character young girls) has throughout the first two "seasons" of the book.
While thinking about this obsession, I recalled seeing a little African American boy on YouTube with brilliant blue eyes. The video, entitled Wonderful Black Baby with Blue Eyes, that I have provided below is a short composition of pictures with a sad song playing, however below the video is written "LAREN IS FULL BLACK , THIS ISNT PHOTOSHOPPED , AND HES NOT DEAF OR BLIND." To me, this is a striking sentence to provide directly beneath the video for anyone who watches it to see. The obsession with this young boy shows that when something physical, like eye color, falls outside the "norms" for a race, they are shown as completely beautiful or in some cases called an outcast. When a child is born that has characteristics that blur the boundaries between what is Black and White, our society questions it continuously and consumes ourselves with figuring out why this has happened.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LA9ktC90KM
Another question that came into my mind while reading was, why the title The Bluest Eye? Why are people so in love with blue eyes? During Hitler's reign blue eyes and blonde hair were idolized but also hated as they were a part of his Aryan or "perfect" race. Many people despised these people who were seen as higher than they were just because of their hair and eye color. When did blue eyes become less about the perfect Aryan race and more about beauty?
Having blue eyes myself, I often receive many comments about how pretty and big my eyes are and how people wish they had eyes just like mine. I have also noticed the prevalence of blue eyes in many song titles and lyrics. For example, Blue Eyes by Elton John, Behind Blue Eyes by The Who, Beautiful Blue Eyes by Chiodos, Pale Blue Eyes by Velvet Underground and many more. As you can see, blue eyes are adored and talked about frequently. But who decided that blue eyes were so beautiful when people with blue eyes typically have poor eyesight? I wonder why people see my eyes as so beautiful when I am partially blind in one eye and my eyes stick out further than my head.
The image of eyes is mentioned frequently throughout the book especially when Pecola (another young main character) tried to make herself disappear after witnessing a violent fight between her parents. She pictures each part of her body vanishing as she hides under her quilt, but can never seem to make her eyes disappear with everything else. This passage really stuck out to me because yes everyone has eyes, but not everyone has seen what you have personally seen. Eyes hold the passage way to our hearts and souls and can never be completely erased no matter how bad we may want to forget something we saw. What we see is directly connected to who we are, which is why I think Pecola could not make her eyes disappear. She had seen too much to be forgotten.
Tony Morrison, in my opinion, has incorporated some very deep and meaningful symbolism within the pages of her book and she is just waiting for us to discover them.
Perhaps the reasons culture carries on such a love affair with blue eyes is their rarity. No, they are not an uncommon distinction but it is far more likely that a person will have brown eyes. With that in mind our society has traditionally valued what less people have. There is an established celebration of uniqueness and praise towards what is uncommon. It's rather interesting though, to think of how society often times celebrates a shallow diversity. Instead of valuing differences, they value the differences that are affiliated with the dominant culture. What is judged as different is closely related to our norms, and in turn normalized.
ReplyDeleteI think you bring up a very interesting question about why blue eyes are idealized. Toni Morrison wrote The Bluest Eye in 1970 right after the civil rights movement and she chose to set the novel in the 1940s during WWII. Looking at these time periods can help to shed light on why blue eyes, at both of those time periods, were viewed as superior. During the Civil Rights movement the African America population was working to gain equal human rights. Blackness was still viewed as something that was inferior to white. Whiteness was defined as light skin and blue eyes. After gaining these rights there was backlash from the racist white communities who still believed blackness was inferior and “wrong” and undeserving of equal rights. Perhaps Morrison was responding to this hatred and stereotype of the black population and how blacks have inscribed this hatred on to their own bodies. Also having the plot set during WWII where Hitler’s Aryan race was considered the only acceptable and “correct” race may also play a role in blue eyes being viewed as beautiful. Both of these time periods have helped to shape stereotypes of people and define what is “normal” and beautiful. In today’s society I believe that we are still feeling the effects of this hatred.
ReplyDeleteI really like your topic, it brings up a lot of interesting points. Today, with the help of colored contacts, your eyes can be whatever color you want them to be. I see people with contacts to make their eyes blue all the time, and I have to ask why. Why would they go through the unnecessary hassle of taking care of contacts for the purpose of having blue eyes? As a contact wearer, I have to say that they are not the most fun things in the world, and it makes me kind of sad to realize that people are doing these kinds things in order to adhere to societies ideal standards of beautiful eye color.
ReplyDeleteI briefly looked through the comments on the youtube video, and I noticed two kinds of responses. One was admiring the boys eyes, and the other was speculating that there is no way it can be real. Between theories of photoshopping and colored contacts, I have to wonder why it is such a big deal. Laren has beautiful eyes, but so does every other baby I have ever seen. Blue is not the only beautiful eye color out there. Van Morrison's Brown Eyed Girl is still so popular that it's $1.29 on iTunes. I wonder if people will ever come to fully accept that the Aryan race in not superior, and accept everyone as beautiful in their own way.