Williams 1 Joseph Williams Mrs. Cordell English 11 03/16/23 Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder According to the saying "beauty is in the eye of the beholder," what is considered beautiful might differ from person to person (Laeng et al.). This adage has been around for a while and is still valid today. It implies that what one person finds attractive might not be the same for another. In Toni Morrison's book, The Bluest Eye, Pecola longs for blue eyes because she thinks they would enhance her beauty. She is not viewed as beautiful in her community due to her dark skin and unappealing features. However, Pecola’s desire for blue eyes is not shared by others as a feature to being beautiful. In fact, her friend Claudia described Pecola's eyes as "beautiful" and "alive," even though they are not blue. This eventThis illustrates how different people have different definitions of beauty. Additionally, Maureen Peal is described as having "the beauty of Shirley Temple," a child actress who was popular in the 1930s (Morrison). However, characters like Claudia and Frieda, for example, do not find Maureen attractive, and instead describe her as "the enemy." This demonstrates that beauty is subjective and can vary from person to person (Kimaro). Similarly, my own experiences have led me to believe that Williams 2 beauty is subjective. I have friends who find certain physical features attractive in a person, while I may not find those features appealing. In conclusion, I agree with the proverb “beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” Beauty is subjective and varies from person to person. This is exemplified in The Bluest Eye and my own experiences. Beauty is influenced by cultural and societal norms, and individual preferences. Therefore, it is important to recognize that beauty is subjective and to embrace individual differences in what is considered beautiful. Work Cited Williams 3 Kimaro, Epiphania. “Is It Really True That Beauty Lies in the Eye of the Beholder?” The Citizen, 3 July 2021, www.thecitizen.co.tz/tanzania/oped/is-it-really-true-that-beauty-lies-in-the-eye-of-the-be holder--3459890. Laeng, Bruno, et al. “Is Beauty in the Face of the Beholder?” PLoS ONE, edited by Manos Tsakiris, vol. 8, no. 7, July 2013, p. e68395, doi:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0068395. Morrison, Toni. The Bluest Eye. Vintage International, 2007.
