Women, Subordination, and American Society

                Women are a subordinated subject class in American society. According to Evelyn Glenn in her article "The Movement to Reform Women's Caring", Glenn examines women and their historical chastisement in American society. Women have always been the issue of "gender assimilation". Thus women have always maintained a place as subordinated subjects of the dominant male population. Glenn brings to light this injustice when she states that "Gender was a central organizing principle of assimi1ation programs. As noted previously, men and women would have to be trained to assume specific gender-appropriate duties and obligations." (Glenn 46). In those obligations, women are expected to always make way for a male when considering positions of social power or control. I believe that women used to strictly serve the male population. One of the best examples of this subordination is the Native Americans' Boarding School System of the late 19th century.
                  This Boarding School System that absorbed the Native American girls of the United States were being subordinated as soon as they were placed in the system. Glenn researched into the administrator of this program, a fellow by the name of Captain Pratt. This Captain Pratt is said to have "saw the education of native girls as supportive of the more important work of Americanizing native boys: "Of what avail is it, that the man be hardworking and industrious, providing by his labor food and clothing for his household, if the wife, unskilled in cookery, unused to the needle, with no habits of order or neatness, makes what might be a cheerful, happy home only a wretched abode of filth and squalor?"(Glenn 51). These civilized schools actually were abusive prisons for the boys and girls interred there. Helen Sekaquaptewa, who attended a Phoenix boarding school starting in 1915, reportedly remarked that "Corporal punishment was given as a matter of course, whipping with a harness strap was administered in a room to the most unruly." While boys were subject to more severe physical punishment, girls were as likely to be subject to humiliation as
boys by having to stand in the corner or dress in boy's clothing." (Glenn 55, 56). These schools main purpose was to "civilize" the Native American into American society and culture. The Native American boys were taught duties that pertained to their status in society much like how the women were forced to perform their duties as maids and servants. I believe that these injustices is but one of many throughout our short American history.

African American Consumerist Culture

             In the documentary "Good Hair" by the comedian Chris Rock, we are introduced to the African American hair culture. There is a consumerist culture in our society in which an obsession of beauty is determining that culture's abilities to interact. Throughout the documentary "Good Hair", Chris Rock is exposed to one of the most sensitive issues for African American women. These issues include the idea of beauty, what is beauty, and who gets to determine what is and is not beautiful?
             Chris Rock visits multiple hair and beauty parlors in order to discover more about this culture. In the nine billion dollar a year African American hair industry, there is replacements hair and expensive weaves. These hair styles and products are mostly made by a white dominated beauty industry. Therefore, most beauty products even for African Americans expresses the white dominated beauty industry's' concept of beauty. However, the African American community throughout the show is adamant that they feel beautiful by succumbing to this social norm of weaves and wigs. African American women spend huge sums of their resources to make themselves more beautiful. This fascination with beauty is ingrained into the society so much that when Chris Rock wants to sell legitimate black hair extensions; he is turned down because "black hair is ugly" and "black hair is unfashionable". Fashion is considered an always changing aspect of society. Ugly is the stamp of disapproval used by a society to select individuals that represent the "others" in society. The business of designing beauty products is the system of supply and demand. Businesses that build a product for beauty are not necessarily attempting to alienate the group of people they sell the product too. Obviously at nine billion dollars a year, African Americans are obsessed with beauty products like weaves and hair extensions. What should be analyzed is the social norm of beauty. Whoever said that natural black hair is ugly or inappropriate for formal occasions?

The loss of innocence and ugliness

               Cast away the innocence of childhood and the answers you seek shall make themselves bare witness to your gradual downfall. In The Bluest Eyes by Toni Morrison, we see vivid images of the lives and personalities that make African American stereotypes. The main characters are Pecola Breedlove who is the daughter of a dysfunctional and poor African American family. The second main character is the perceived idea of "inherited ugliness" that plagues Pecola Breedlove's thoughts and self-confidence. Pecola believes that her ugliness is the fault of her personal and social problems. Pecola's desire to have a beautiful blue eyes is but placing a bandage on the wounds of reality. Pecola can not hide the fact she is African American, and throughout the excerpt read; we see a young girl living the nightmare of being black and a woman in America.
                Throughout the excerpt read, we are deluged in the complexities of being black, a woman, and poor. These attributes are best described by Pecola when she said "You looked at them and wondered why they were so ugly; you looked closely and could not find the source. Then you realized that it came from conviction, their conviction. It was as though some mysterious all knowing master had given each one a cloak of ugliness to wear, and they had each accepted it without question."(Morrison 39). As it seems throughout the read, two distinctly opposite characters are presented. The stereotypes of the "religious, tough, black mother" and the "hooker Miss Marie". These two characters are the idolization presented to Pecola.  The idea of Mrs. Breedlove; "for the articulation of character, for support of a role she frequently imagined was hers-martyrdom." (Morrison 39) Mrs. Breedlove is the symbol of tough love, and brutal nature; putting up with little in the way of disrespect. Mrs. Breedlove is presented to us as a character trying to keep the "rickety bridge" of relationships from falling apart completely. The family life for Pecola is mostly broken and abusive; with a drunk for a father and a runaway brother. Pecola throughout dreams of having a mostly white dominated trait of blue eyes. Pecola goes to a shop to buy some candy, and throughout her exchange with the white store attendant, Pecola realizes "she has seen interest, disgust, even anger in grown male eyes. Yet this vacuum is not new to her. It has an edge; somewhere in the bottom lid is the distaste. She has seen it lurking in the eyes of all white people. So. The distaste must be for her, her blackness. All things in her are flux and anticipation. But her blackness is static and dread. And it is the blackness that accounts for, that creates, the vacuum edged with distaste in white eyes." (Morrison 49). Through her eyes, Pecola perceives herself as weak and incapable. When we are introduced to Miss Marie, we see the confidence that Pecola strives for. Miss Marie is but of three sex workers whom represent "Three merry gargoyles. Three merry harridans. Amused by a long-ago time of ignorance. They did not belong to those generations of prostitutes created in novels, with great and generous hearts, dedicated, because of the horror of circumstance, to ameliorating the luckless, barren life of men, taking money incidentally and humbly for their "understanding." but these women hated men, all men, without shame, apology, or discrimination." (Morrison 55,56). These women are independent, confident, and above all else, unapologetic feminists. Pecola sees these sex workers as devoid of ignorance and innocence. A troop of women with the single purpose to survive on their own, removed from the "evil man" and his hemisphere of control. Pecola's experiences with her own "family", the store clerk, and these sex workers provides but a glimpse into the mindset of the African American in America.

Works Cited

Morrison, Toni. The Bluest Eyes. New York City, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 1993. LMU ERes. Web. 5 Feb. 2011.