Paper Topic

 Title: Bleached Aesthetics: How American Media Sets the Standards for Beauty

 Bibliography:
1.  Cohen, Colleen B.,ed., with Richard Wilk and Beverly Stoeltje
       1996  Beauty Queens on the Global Stage. New York: Routledge.
2. Craig, Maxine L.
      2002  Ain't I a Beauty Queen?. Oxford University.
3. Goldsmith, Arthur H., with Darrick Hamilton and William Darity, Jr.
      2007  From Dark to Light: Skin Color and Wages Among African-Americans.
      The Journal of Human Resources 42(4):701-738.                                                                            4. Hunter, Margaret L.
      1998  Colorstruck: Skin Color Stratification in the Lives of African American Women.
      Sociological Inquiry 68(4):517-535.          
5. Milkie, Melissa A.
       1999  Social Comparisons, Reflected Appraisals, and Mass Media: The Impact
       of Pervasive Beauty Images on Black and White Girls' Self-Concepts. Social
        Psychology Quarterly 62(2):190-210.
6. Walker, Susannah
       2007  Style and Status: Selling Beauty to African American Women, 1920-1975.
       Pp.143-168. University Press of Kentucky.                                                                                     7. Watson, Elwood, and Darcy Martin, eds.
       2004  "There She Is, Miss America" The Politics of Sex, Beauty, and Race in
       Americas Most Famous Pageant. New York: Palgrave Macmillian

 Elevator Pitch: With its roots planted during the days of slavery, the notion of the ideal American beauty has become a detriment to society. This research will examine how the media's depiction of white skin and straight hair beauty negatively affects the black community. From Disney animations to Miss America beauty pageants, the standards for beauty help maintain racial hierarchy in America.

 Theory: The first theoretical approach I plan to take is based on the notion of a "preference for whiteness" from the literature of Arthur Goldsmith. This theory evaluates why blacks would prefer to be light skin and how there is a separation between the light African American and the dark African American. This research will also take a look at Darwin's theory of beauty and the idea that modern beauty is based off of natural selection.