- from : Faculty of Cultural Sciences, UGM
This study aims to describe the shifting perspective of African- American society on black women?s beauty in the end 20th century up to the early 21st century in Morrison?s God Help the Child, to reveal the background of the shift reflected in the work, and to explain Morrison?s view in the novel. This study is qualitative in nature. The source of the data is Morrison’s novel God Help the Child. The data are words, sentences, paragraphs, and expressions relating to the African-American society’s perspective on black women’s beauty in the novel. This study was conducted by following some steps: reading and rereading the novel, collecting and categorizing the data, interpreting and describing the data. This study has three findings. Firstly, in the last decade of twentieth century, the Whites? standard of beauty still dominated the African-American society. Darker tone of black skin was considered the absence of beauty. However, the African-American society of the 21st century celebrates the quality of beauty possessed by black women. Secondly, the shift of the perspective is due to the social dynamics that influence the African Americans in viewing themselves. Thirdly, Morrison underlines that black women’s distinctive qualities of beauty can be an alternative standard of beauty reflecting Afrocentricity and the African Americans? self-respect. Keywords: beauty, Morrison, novel, African-American
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