The Bluest Eye Sexism Analysis

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Recommended: Portrayal of women in literature

The Bluest Eye written by Toni Morrison tells the story of several African Americans living in the rural south from 1910 to 1941. One of the main characters in the book happens to be Pecola Breedlove. Throughout the book Pecola encounters many hardships. Her problems range from home, school, extracurricular activities; even if she is walking down the street she has a problem with someone. It is very obvious that during this time period, white people are not that fond of African Americans and you would think that Pecola has the most trouble with. When in all actuality, many of the problems she encountered where her own people so to speak. The people who bullied her felt that because she was a darker skin tone that she was a target. In this …show more content…

Sexism in The Bluest Eye shows how the discrimination against women turns violent. There are many examples of sexism in this book. Mrs. Breedlove was a victim of sexism, whenever Mr. Breedlove or Cholly would abuse her verbally and physically because he felt like she was beneath him. Or every time Pecola was abused or talked down upon by a male character in the book because they knew that she would not stand up for herself. The male characters basically took advantage and preyed on the females in the book based off of strength. Men are physically stronger than women, so when a man looks or sounds angry a women’s instinct is to cower away from him. Men also use the excuse of them being angry as a way to not receive consequences for their discrimination or abuse. According to Brian Nichols who is a policy manager for Men Stopping Violence against women goes to say in his article that when a man yells at or hits a woman it is his choice. Anger has nothing to do with it, the man does it because he knows that he can get away with what he did. Pecola is greatly affected by sexism as well, because it shows that no man that she encountered had any kind respect for her. Pecola is also an example of how sexism can turn violent. Sexism in The Bluest Eye, shows how disrespectful and violent men can be to women based on the fact that they know they can because men are held at a higher …show more content…

The two main struggles that stood out the most are racism and sexism. Both hurt Pecola in ways that are unimaginable and unheard of. However, racism affected her more than sexism. Racism affected her by lowering her self- esteem, it made her take the hate from others and internalize it, and it affected so that she was in an identity crisis. Sexism, did not affect her as much as racism but it did damage her in a way. Both affected her, but racism affected in such a way that it is heartbreaking. Pecola going through racism on top of other problems, only made things worse. As she continues throughout life, she will forever be reminded of what she went through and one thing that will stand out is how she was torn down by several people all because of the color of her

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