Bride—— A Victim and Perpetrator of Microaggression

余思璟（云南大学外国语学院，云南 昆明 650500）

Microaggression is an unintended discrimination based on race, gender, social class, economic condition, age,disability, or any other factor that can make a group“socially marginalized.” Expressed verbally, nonverbally, and environmentally in people’s daily communication, it is so slight that the perpetrators are unaware of their committing,but the targets, whether realize it or not, have been the victims of insults and disdain, which would do harm to their sense of self. Undoubtedly “microaggression” provides us with an excellent perspective to understand the interpersonal relationships of literary characters. As the heroine in Toni Morrison’s God Help the Child, Bride made her black skin stand out to achieve her successful career by wearing white all through. In fact, the white people’s standards of beauty had been aggressing her self-consciousness subtly. This was one of the racial microaggressions imposed on Bride. Another was a male friend’s white parents’ contempt for her.Moreover, she was philandered by many boyfriends, whose gender discrimination revolted Bride despite their dissemblance.Besides being the sufferer of microaggression, Bride was the executor of it. To some extent, the city girl despised the poor retired couple, Steve and Evelyn, but in reverse, this couple changed her a lot. Under the guidance of the theoretical concept, “microaggression”, this paper analyses Bride’s four experiences to facilitate our comprehension of her sense of self.

First of all, Bride suffered white people’s racial microaggression towards skin color, but she was unconscious of it because her mind had been encroached by the white people’s aesthetic values. In 21st century, cultural turn made“black sells. It’s the hottest commodity in the civilized world”(36). Bride’s blackness became a beauty of commercial value. Designer Jeri informed her “black is the new black”(33)and she should wear “only white and all white all the time”(33) so as to highlight her blackness, just like “Hershey’s syrup, whipped cream, chocolate souffle, Oreos, Bonbons”(33) or“a panther in snow”(34). She followed his suggestion and it worked. Her black skin turned into great charm which enabled her to succeed in working as a regional manager of a cosmetic brand. However, what lay behind this cultural turn was that white people’s aesthetic idea and definition had predominated black people’s direction and choice. Thus, subconsciously,in order to pander to the white people’s seeking novelty psychology, Bride confined her dressing style to a single color,white, which dramatically reflected her black beauty, a kind of beauty more commercialized, feigned, and morbid than natural.Further, under such microaggression of white society, Bride could not perceive it but just indulged in her illusion and blind confidence. What if black were not welcomed by white people, would Bride still appreciate her own blackness from her heart? Black skin was the origin of her childhood trauma as well as her adult triumph. This paradox represented American remarkable cultural shift in the past twenty years. In Toni Morrison’s eyes, it was a seemingly positive phenomenon that covered up the reality of racism. She revealed the truth with the help of Booker: “It’s just a color...a genetic trait——not a flaw, not a curse, not a blessing nor a sin”(143). This opinion could also find expression in Rain and Evelyn’s conversation: “ ‘ Why is her skin so black?’ ‘For the same reason yours is so white’ ”(85). Hence, white people and black people were naturally equal. The real racial equality was that people would not even notice the black skin of a black person when he or she appeared. That meant dark skin was no longer a trigger of all sorts of racial segregation and discrimination.In short, white American microaggression rooted in skin color enslaved Bride’s perception of her blackness, inculcating her a false sense of self-worth.

What’s more, the treatment Bride got from the medical student and his white parents could be attributed to racial microaggression, too. When Bride was introduced to the nice old white couple, they were frightened stealthily, but they still pretended to treat Bride kindly. Actually, Bride knew “what the mother did with ［her］used teacup”(37). The acting skill of the white male friend was shabbier than that of his parents.“ ‘Isn’t she beautiful?’ he kept repeating. ‘Look at her,Mother? Dad?’ His eyes were gleaming with malice”(37). The three perpetrators believed they disguise their microaggression well, but Bride felt it clearly. It was what Bride called “faked warmth and charm”. In this experience, after penetrating the white man’s racist joke, Bride did not feel irritated nor selfabasement as she did in childhood. Instead, she showed a kind of relieved self-mockery. This manifested that adult Bride had became confident with a strong race-awareness. Her immunity to the white family’s racial microaggression was a symbol of her adjustment and advancement towards the cruel reality of racial discrimination.

In addition, gender microaggression from Bride’s boyfriends was perpetrated upon her. In their interactions,Bride could see through these men’s contempt and false affection clearly. On the one hand, they treated Bride as a tool to satisfy their lusts: pursuit for beauty, enjoyment in sex, easy gaining of money, desire to conquer. Bride was materialized because her “sex life became sort of like Diet Coke——deceptively sweet minus nutrition”(36), her salary was like subvention, and her love was a medal to testify their heroism. On the other hand, they cared for Bride’s pretty appearance instead of her real thoughts, regardless of her right to speak. Therefore, these men’s attitudes towards Bride were sexual microaggression, which was in sugar-coating, just as Bride narrated, “joking or baby-talking to me”(37), whereas conveyed male chauvinism actually. Their perfunctoriness and oppression led to Bride’s disgust and distrust of males.“Such was the landscape of men”(37), she scorned. At the same time, her disappointment about these men strengthened her over reliance on the considerate Booker, whose subsequent departure stirred up her puzzlement and self-doubt, whether she would change back into a little black girl. In this way,gender microaggression did influence Bride’s cognition of the relationships between males and herself.

Last but not least, Bride is not only the patient of microaggression but also the agent of it. As a successful businesswoman, Bride showed her economic microaggression to the poor retired couple, Steve and Evelyn. They lived a real life with “slop jar, outhouse toilet, metal washtub, brokedown scratchy couch”(89), “under a filthy skylight”(92) and without electricity. The living condition here was so bad that Bride questioned Steve, “ ‘By real you mean poor?’ She smiled to hide the sneer”(91). Her words and facial expression delivered a mild and indirect indignity to Steve. It also implied how proud and confident Bride was of her fortune and city life. What’s more, although this couple saved Bride and offered her food, “her gratitude and embarrassment were short-lived” and “she wondered on occasion if they were planning something. Something bad”(90). This indicated Bride judged the couple solely by their appearance and economic condition, with a prejudice that the poor were incredible even malevolent. However, time will tell everything. When the couple’s warm care presented a striking contrast with Bride’s microaggression, she began to observe and reflect, which brought her a series of value transformation: from grasping the simple pleasures and happiness of the couple by watching their singing and chatting with Evelyn, to eliminating her superiority and just confused about why these folks chose this country life, then to caring less about job and money. Rich material and money didn’t necessarily mean joy and felicity.Bride was “relieved about her progress and in a fairly relaxed mood”(168). As a result, Bride’s economic microaggression towards Steve and Evelyn demonstrated her whole mind-change about the meaning of love, happiness, and life.

In conclusion, microaggression is closely related to Bride and supplies the readers a wonderful point of view to explore the character’s self-awareness. In Bride’s four typical experiences, racial microaggression secretly occupied her sense of self-identity as well as tempered herself to get stronger;sexual microaggression shaped her attitudes towards males;economic microaggression helped her find the essence of life.Meanwhile, it’s obvious microaggressions are so pervasive with lots of negative influence on the victims, hurting them both physically and mentally. Therefore, reducing microaggressions is an urgent affair. Toni Morrison expressed her hope for racial integration, gender harmony, and class equality through literature work. Some scholars claimed for the multicultural education for children and reeducation for those with established biases. For all of us, we should be open-minded to interpersonal diversities.

Works Cited:

［1］Morrison, Toni. God Help the Child. London: Vintage,2015.

［2］Torres, Alec. Microaggression http://www.nationalreview.com/article/370078/microaggression-alec-torres