Toni Morrison And Virginia Woolfs The Bluest Eye

Essentialists claim that women writers tend to avoid difficult societal issues, such as gender, race, and political concepts. They critiqued that women prefer to be â€Å"safe† when it comes to the style of their works, but that could not be farther than the truth. These women, have in fact, made a tremendous impact on society and sculpted the way we see things in the world today. Toni Morrison, author of The Bluest Eye, challenged the Essentialists’ claim by making a novel about racism, and how it affected African American culture in the 20th century. Margaret Atwood, author of The Handmaid’s Tale, challenged this notion by addressing issues about sexual violence and political issues, except in the shape of an extremist and dystopian world.†¦show more content†¦The characters who were apart of the African community are forced to accept themselves as the â€Å"outsiders†, which has been told to them by the upper class white community. Morrison sho ws how these stereotypes tormented the brains of many, sometimes to the point of losing their minds. The black community was taunted by the white people, and Morrison made the focus of the novel a young group of little girls who are just realizing the horrors of the world. Not only does the novel discuss racism and it’s effect on the black community, but it discusses the unrealistic expectations of beauty in our society. Even the title of the novel â€Å"The Bluest Eye† displays a stereotypical viewpoint of beauty. For example in the story Pecola Breedlove yearns to have blue eyes. She hopes that one day she will be able to transform, and therefore be loved by others because of her new blue eyes. Eventually, Pecola goes crazy, thinking that she has the bluest eyes. Toni Morrison discussing an issue such as racism and unrealistic beauty standards is surely not what I call a safe call, but instead, a bold and intimidating one. Personally, this felt like a way of describing what happens to a person who wants to change themselves physically and becomes distorted in the process...because it is, in fact, unrealistic to drastically change one’s appearance. Margaret