Caucasian characteristics have been perceived as beautiful throughout history and are continuously being reinforced in media. The media has influenced individuals across the globe to accept and adopt these standards.

For example, skin bleaching, eyelid surgery or nose reconstruction are all practices that demonstrate how acceptance of white beauty standards creates fear of being perceived as ugly. These fears lead people to believe they cannot be beautiful unless they conform.

In the 1940s, social psychologists Kenneth and Mamie Clark conducted a series of experiments known as “the doll tests.” African American children between the ages of 3 and 7 were presented with four dolls, identical except for skin color, and asked which one they preferred. All of the children interviewed chose the whitest of dolls as their preference. The results of Clark’s study were used to prove how segregation, prejudice and discrimination have caused internalized racism for young black children.

Toni Morrison’s novel, The Bluest Eye, published in 1970, concerns itself with a similar stance on the ideals of beauty: “Adults, older girls, shops, magazines, newspapers, and window signs, all the world agreed that a blue eyed, yellow haired, pink skinned doll was what every child treasured,” writes Morrison.

This exceptional novel tells the story of a young African American girl, Pecola Breedlove, who grows up in Lorain, OH, in 1941. She grows up in extreme poverty and an abusive household, struggling with wanting to be loved, but is faced with loneliness. Because Pecola has witnessed so much abuse and violence within her home, she begins to blame all the harmful things that happen to her on her ugliness.

In white society, Pecola has observed that those with blue eyes and blond hair are cherished, not abused. Pecola begins to believe that if she were perceived as beautiful — with blue eyes and yellow hair — all the violence she witnesses and experiences would subside.

These European beauty standards are destructive to many lives, provoking self-contempt for other races across the globe. However, with more recognition and appreciation of the beauty of other races, these effects can be reversed. With racial pride and acceptance of all appearances, the globe would consist of more harmony and self-confidence, and would enhance equality within communities.

As Cesar Chavez once said, “Once social change begins, it cannot be reversed. You cannot humiliate the person who feels pride. You cannot oppress the people who are not afraid anymore. We have seen the future, and the future is ours.”