White Beauty Obsession and How True Woman Dress

5. White Beauty Obsession and How True Woman Dress

Black Madonna movement did not only change the black womanhood to resume their role as an ideal woman, it also changed black woman perspective on white beauty. As they tried to reclaim their image as respectable woman, black women did not only imitate white women ‘s behavior, they also imitate how they dressed and, more importantly, how they looked.

magazines and books, ―black women were obsessed with pursuing the ideal femininity ‖ (Hooks, 1981, p.178). In The Color Purple, white beauty obsession was shown through most of black women. It is shown when Tashi read a magazine brought from America about white beauty obsession on how most black woman try to look whiter. It is described that:

That she had seen the magazines we receive from home and that it was very clear to her that black people did not truly admire blackskinned black people like herself, and especially did not admire blackskinned black women. They bleach their faces, she said. They fry their hair. They try to look naked. (Walker, 1982, p. 276)

As described in the passage, black woman admires light skin owned by the whites and tries to be like them. Many black women put make up on to get a lighter skin. Shug does this through her make up her puts when she performs. Celie sees this the first time Shug came to the house, ―close up I see all this yellow powder caked up on her face ‖ (Walker, 1982, p. 52). Although Shug dresses in her own way, being light- skinned was still every black woman ‘s obsession in early 20 th century, and this was seen as the measure of beauty in the black community. Fairer skinned black woman was considered to be prettier compared to the darker ones. However, some cases showed that bad image was attached to the darker black woman. Bell Hooks states that, ―in black community the fair-skinned black woman who most nearly resembled white women was seen as the ―lady‖ and placed on a pedestal while darker-skinned black women were seen as bitches and whores ‖ (1981, p.110). This was the reason

Kate says to Carrie that Shug Avery is a pretty woman, this is immediately rejected by Carrie by saying that she is not pretty because she is black. As stated in;

…. Then she start having babies. And she young and pretty, Not so pretty, say Carrie, looking in the looking glass. Just that head of hair.

She too black. Well, brother must like black. Shug Avery black as my shoe. (Walker, 1982, p. 28)

The same condition applies to Sofia as well. When Harpo describes Sofia to Celie, he uses the word ―bright‖ to describe her skin color, but Celie thinks that ―bright‖ here refers to her intelligence. Black man rarely takes account of smartness as one quality black woman should have. When she is pretty, it is fairly essential that her light skin will add her beauty.

Most of black women were not satisfied with the beauty they had due to low self-esteem and self-confidence. Celie is also the best resembled this. When she has her freedom and is no longer oppressed by Mr. ____, she sometimes still thinks about her physical appearance. Since she was young, she was told that she was ugly, thus this thought always comes into her mind. Unconsciously she always compares herself with the other beautiful black and white women. As described in:

…. My hair is short and kinky because I don‘t straighten it anymore. Once Shug say she love it no need to. My skin dark. My nose just a nose. My lips just lips. My body just any woman ‘s body going through the changes of age. Nothing special here for nobody to love. No honey colored curly, no cuteness. Nothing young and fresh …. (Walker, 1982, p. 258) …. My hair is short and kinky because I don‘t straighten it anymore. Once Shug say she love it no need to. My skin dark. My nose just a nose. My lips just lips. My body just any woman ‘s body going through the changes of age. Nothing special here for nobody to love. No honey colored curly, no cuteness. Nothing young and fresh …. (Walker, 1982, p. 258)

Similar to the black women in The Color Purple, Margaret is caged on the obsession of white beauty, though both novels present different reason. In The Keepers of the House Margaret is obsessed with white beauty due to her originality as

a mulatto. The truth is that she has a white blood, instead of her black skin and there is no trace of her white father, as stated in the following:

A youth of waiting. With a child, first a baby and then a girl, growing, day after day, like her mother, so like her mother. No trace of white blood showing. No trace at all.

A black baby with kinky hair and knobby arms and legs …. A black girl, like the other girls of New Church …. A woman, tall and angular and black. Her father ‘s rangy build, but none of his coloring (Grau, 1964, p. 82).

Margaret ‘s mother always thinks that her daughter white blood might show someday, or this is what she thinks before she goes away:

By the time she was three or four, her mother was smearing her face with buttermilk, was dampening her hair and sitting her in the blazing sun to bleach, was sending her to the voodoo woman for a charm to bring out her white blood, to bring it to the surface …. (Grau, 1964, p. 82)

Margaret ‘s mother‘s restless trials to make her daughter looked at least fairer than the current state she is now on. This truth influences Margaret, and she is torn between the world of white and black, deep down she does not accept her status as a black

(Grau, 1964, p.85). When her grandmother died, she believes that her black blood goes to the grave along with her, leaving Margaret only with her ‗white blood‘. This is portrayed in:

―Flesh and blood,‖ the ghost mourned. ―I buried my blood with you,‖ Margaret said recklessly. ―I‘m using

only the other half now. ‖ (Grau, 1964, p. 103)

Although her white beauty obsession is not shown as profoundly as the one in The Color Purple , her desire to be white is clear enough. After the death of her grandmother, she starts to behave like a white woman. In the 20 th century, it was popular for a black woman to behave honorably to get the honorable treatment from the whites. When Will first met Margaret, according to his opinion she has the movement of a white woman. He expects her to act like any other black woman whom he ever encountered, only she does not: ―she turned around. Not spun around, not jerked around as he expected her to. Turned slowly, curiously. ‖ (Grau, 1964, p. 76). Yet, Margaret is not described in that way. She moves slowly with curiosity, like any other white woman. In addition, Margaret does not address him with adding ‗sir‘, as many black women will do. Most probably, due to her half-blood and she still thinks that she is white, thus she does not need to do the addressing.

As explained above, black women were not only obsessed with the white beauty, they also obsessed with white femininity. Thus they imitated white women ‘s behavior and how they dressed. This white beauty obsession could be tracked from

Hooks (1981), in order to look ladylike, the female slaves wanted to wear feminine dress like what their mistress wore, not masculine clothes they wore for working in the field. The changing of sensual and practical attire into the appropriate attire for woman was done as one of the Black Madonna movement of making respectable black women.

Based on the image of ―good‖ black woman they tried to promote in the early

20 th century, almost all black women had the same dress code they should wear, in the house or in the field and for the public use. A dress and a head rag would be the fittest dress code, with unattractive color. This is the dress code Celie will always have to wear, as stated in, ―…. Plus a new dress old won‘t help none with my notty head and dusty headrag, my old everyday shoes and the way I smell. ‖ (Walker, 1982, p. 51). The dress code tactic was to make sure that the society would not have negative stereotype for black women. Black woman tendency of avoiding attractive clothing, in color and in style was the reason that they should remain to look passionless and appropriate. When Celie and Kate (Mr. ____ ‘s sister) go to shop to buy cloths, the choice of cloth portrays how woman should suppress their passion. Celie chooses red or purple is rejected because it might look passionate and attractive:

She go with me in the store. I think what color Shug Avery would wear. She like a queen to me so I say to Kate, Somethin purple, maybe a little red in it too. But us look an look and no purple. Plenty red but she say, Naw, he won ‘t want to pay for red. Too happy lookin. We got choice of brown, maroon or navy blue. I say blue. (Walker, 1982, p. 29)

―… black women across classes embraced a new sexual identity of passionlessness‖ (2006, para. 16). Black women should be careful with what they wear because it

would be disastrous to wear something sexually attractive. Sexually-attractive attire would only attract unwanted attention and bad image such as prostitute or whore would be attached to those who wore these kinds of attire.

Some black woman might be lucky enough to have some fine dresses to wear in some special occasions —though this was unlikely. Mr. ____‘s sisters wear fine dress when visiting his house. In the other hand, Celie only has fine dress to be worn in the church, she even claims that it is the first time she has her own dress. She says that, ―I hate the way I look, I hate the way I‘m dress. Nothing but churchgoing clothes in my chifferobe ‖ (Walker, 1982, p. 80).

In the early 20 th century, woman and man had a big gap between them. There were things that man could do while woman could not, things that they could and could not wear. When Celie and Shug talk about Celie ‘s working dress, Shug thinks that she should wear something comfortable to move around like pants. However, Celie rejects the idea because she thinks pants are meant for men:

Well, she say, looking me up and down, let ‘s make you some pants. What I need pants for? I say. I ain ‘t no man. Don‘t get uppity, she say. But you don‘t have a dress do nothing for

you. You not made like no dress pattern, neither.

I don‘t know, I say. Mr. ____ not going to let his wife wear pants. (Walker, 1982, p.150)

most of other black and white women in Deep South believe that each gender has its designed clothes. Woman is supposed to wear dress, and pants are for men. It should not be changed. Mr. ____ agrees by saying ―men and women not suppose to wear the same thing, he said. Men spose to wear the pants ‖ (Walker, 1982, p. 270), simply because woman and man are different. It was the set of rules the society build among the community. This was supported by Black Madonna movement, the code that dress was the most appropriate attire for women, was necessary for the creation of the image of respectable feminine black woman.. In order to follow the rules of femininity, woman should wear dress, since pants was regarded as masculine attire.

Leaving Mr. ___ ‘s house and thinking that she is already free, Celie believes that she does not need to follow the respectable woman codes anymore about in the way she dresses. As stated in ―… Got on some dark blue pants and white silk-shirt that look righteous. Little red flat-heel slippers, and a flower in my hair. …‖ (Walker, 1982, p.218) Celie does not wear dress and headrag anymore, she wears pants — which are previously designed attire for men —and shirt from silk with attractive accessories which she previously can not wear because it is considered as seductive. When finally Celie makes her living by making pants, she does not care about how appropriate or inappropriate pants are when worn by women. She even makes pants from attractive colored-cloths. If the concept of supposed man attire and attractive- colored cloths are combined, then Celie has made the most inappropriate attire. Celie Leaving Mr. ___ ‘s house and thinking that she is already free, Celie believes that she does not need to follow the respectable woman codes anymore about in the way she dresses. As stated in ―… Got on some dark blue pants and white silk-shirt that look righteous. Little red flat-heel slippers, and a flower in my hair. …‖ (Walker, 1982, p.218) Celie does not wear dress and headrag anymore, she wears pants — which are previously designed attire for men —and shirt from silk with attractive accessories which she previously can not wear because it is considered as seductive. When finally Celie makes her living by making pants, she does not care about how appropriate or inappropriate pants are when worn by women. She even makes pants from attractive colored-cloths. If the concept of supposed man attire and attractive- colored cloths are combined, then Celie has made the most inappropriate attire. Celie

The way Margaret dresses is not explicitly stated in The Keepers of the House. Similar to Celie, Margaret does not have much option for her attires. That she is not from a wealthy black farmer family might be one reason why she does not have a lot of clothes. When she first came to the Howlands, she only brought two clothes — including the one she was on —and she had to sew her own night gown from spare curtain clothes. Margaret follows the codes of Southern black woman of which dress is their main attire. Moreover, since she works as a housekeeper, it will make sense if she wears the typical dress and head rag, just like the black women in The Color Purple , and the black servants in the early 20 th century.

Abigail says that she buys her clothes with Margaret. As Margaret takes care of Abigail since the death of her mother, most probably she applies her typical fashion style to Abigail. Margaret might buy the modest-looking clothes for Abigail in order to look decent and appropriate. Their style is commented by Annie Howland as ―appalling‖. She thinks her style was miserable-looking, and by saying ―how could Willie let you go around looking like that? ‖ (Grau, 1964, p. 178), she implicitly says that it is not appropriate to wear in the public places. However, for Abigail who is raised by a black woman, she unconsciously adapts the lifestyle, like choosing something cheaper, which is unusual to be done by a white woman: Abigail says that she buys her clothes with Margaret. As Margaret takes care of Abigail since the death of her mother, most probably she applies her typical fashion style to Abigail. Margaret might buy the modest-looking clothes for Abigail in order to look decent and appropriate. Their style is commented by Annie Howland as ―appalling‖. She thinks her style was miserable-looking, and by saying ―how could Willie let you go around looking like that? ‖ (Grau, 1964, p. 178), she implicitly says that it is not appropriate to wear in the public places. However, for Abigail who is raised by a black woman, she unconsciously adapts the lifestyle, like choosing something cheaper, which is unusual to be done by a white woman:

―It‘s kind of expensive,‖ I told her. (Grau, 1964, p. 179)

Unlike the black women in South who chooses comfortable dress to move around like Celie, Sofia, or Margaret, white woman tries to look good in fancy expensive dresses. It was true that black woman through Black Madonna movement tried to imitate white women ‘s attires, but they still focused on the ―respectable and appropriate ‖ dress rather than on how they would look fancy in expensive dresses. Thus, rather than wearing white woman attires —as she is practically William‘s wife and lived among the whites —Margaret keeps the traditional black woman attire with dress and probably, head rag.