Lauren+Reflection+1

Room: American Beauty and Racial Inferiority.

For this room I wanted to incorporate the different characteristics of beauty that American society idealizes and how that relates to race. At the top of the page I choose two pictures of women that society has praised as being the ultimate standard of beauty. These women, Sophia Loren and Twiggy look different but for their time period they embodied the image that American women aspired to. The center picture is a cover from a moderately recent issue of Vogue. This article talked about several "Top Models" who were making it in the fashion industry. They were the new, fresh faces of fashion and booked amazing numbers of shows during fashion week. Almost every single one of these women is extraordinarily tall, white, and blonde. These are the women who were the faces of fashion and the beauty industry. These were the faces projected to American society. The first quote on this page is a quote from Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye. I chose this quote because it depicts the image of beauty that Pecola wishes to embody. She wants to be a blue eyed and fair skinned beauty and loved by all. The picture next to the quotation is Scarlett Johansson who is a perfect representation of the image that Pecola wishes to morph into. The next quotation is when Pecola's mother goes to see a movie starring Jean Harlow. She dresses up to try and make herself look like Jean Harlow and hopes that changing her hair can help her achieve that. However, once she loses a tooth all her hope to be beautiful goes out the window because Jean Harlow has all her teeth and Jean Harlow is beautiful. She feels that there is no way she can fit the mold anymore and settles into her ugliness. The next quotation is from a song called Beautiful by Joydrop. I chose this song because the author thinks that being beautiful gives one special privileges. If they are beautiful then they can do no wrong and they can get away with anything. However the song is sad because the author believes that they do not fit the mold of beautiful and therefore do not get any special privileges. The image next to this is of one of the world's most famous models, Kate Moss. Many magazines and fashion companies worship Kate Moss and her style. She can do no wrong. What she is wearing is "in". How her hair is cut is "in". The following painting is not by an American artist but an Italian artist. I chose to include The Birth of Venus because this painting represents beauty and romantic love. This painting has been widely popular for many many years and I feel that it has had an impact on the American ideals of beauty. In the painting she is graceful and elegant but also white and blonde. The following quote describes the opinion that only the beautiful people can experience romantic love. It is a luxury that only those who are white and the accepted image of beauty can have and experience. This twisted belief attributes to internalizing horrible feelings of worthlessness and feelings that you are not good enough. Beneath this is John Singer Sargent's Madame X. Even though the artist does not say that he was influenced by Botticelli, I feel that this painting has similar aspects to The Birth of Venus. This woman is gorgeous and white and worthy of feeling loved and experiencing romance because she is beautiful. The video from below this shows a girl who is afraid of black people. She does not think that she is black because her skin is lighter compared to other people of African decent. She has somehow absorbed the ideas that people with very dark skin are bad and scary and is afraid of them even though she has never experienced any from of violence from someone with very dark skin. However, she is not afraid of white people because they are "bright". The quote below this talks about how the subliminal messages that black people are not beautiful causes one to internalize horrible feelings that they are inadequate and undeserving. They feel inferior and feel that they do not deserve to be treated right because they are not beautiful.