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@article{191841,
        author = {AMUTHU.A and DR. D. PRADEEK},
        title = {REFLECTIONS OF PAIN: BEAUTY, RACISM, AND THE LOSS OF SELF IN THE BLUEST EYE},
        journal = {International Journal of Innovative Research in Technology},
        year = {2026},
        volume = {12},
        number = {8},
        pages = {8284-8285},
        issn = {2349-6002},
        url = {https://ijirt.org/article?manuscript=191841},
        abstract = {Toni Morrison’s debut novel, The Bluest Eye, remains a seminal text in American literature, offering a profound critique of how internalized racism and Eurocentric beauty standards dismantle the psyche of African American children. This paper explores the intersection of societal oppression, gendered trauma, and the quest for selfhood as depicted in the tragic life of Pecola Breedlove. By synthesizing recent scholarship, this study examines how the "white gaze" functions as a destructive force, leading to the fragmentation of identity. It further analyses the role of community and family structures in either perpetuating or resisting these harmful constructs. The conclusion emphasizes Morrison’s call for a re-evaluation of cultural aesthetics to protect the psychological integrity of marginalized individuals.},
        keywords = {White Gaze, Internalized Racism, Eurocentric Beauty Standards, Gendered Trauma, Identity Formation.},
        month = {January},
        }