Since its publication in 1987 in Chicana Creativity and Criticism: Charting New Frontiers in American Literature, Helena Maria Viramontes's short story "Miss Clairol" has given an insight into Chicana culture, and also sparked criticism of standards of beauty and femininity for all women, and especially for women of color "Miss Clairol" follows the brief day of Arlene and her daughter Champ. As the story begins, the two men are walking around a K-Mart thinking about what color to dye Arlene's hair and what makeup would look good with a borrowed dress for Arlene's date later. in the evening After leaving K-Mart, Arlene returns home and immediately begins the long process of getting ready for her date, while she leaves Champ alone to entertain herself and make herself dinner. . Get a custom essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an Original Essay Although there isn't much action in the story, Viramontes allows readers to get inside the heads of Champ and Arlene. Champ is ten years old and she has not yet reached puberty. Champ is a very imaginative child and she seems mystified by her mother's beauty rituals and femininity, although Arlene vows to teach her how to be pretty one day. On the other hand, when in Arlene's head there is a dichotomy or duplicity between appearances and reality, romanticism versus realism in Arlene's life. Arlene dreams of a better life for herself, regardless of the “constraints” of her economic status, race, and single motherhood. In fact, Arlene is so removed from reality that she essentially ignores her children and lives in her own fantasy world. Through “Miss Clairol,” Viramontes explores multiple facets of femininity: beauty standards, puberty, whitewashed Eurocentric ideals, but also the patriarchal sexualization of women. The characters of Arlene and Champ illustrate the endless cycle of women who are and always will be stuck in the throes of patriarchy and the Eurocentric world. Throughout the text, there are constant references to specific beauty products, which allude to the fact that for women to be beautiful in whitewashed patriarchal society, they must literally put on makeup masks and adhere completely to the consumerism of beauty. industry, because they have virtually no other choice. Almost from the first words of the book, Champ begins with a discussion of his mother's different hair colors: "in recent months she was a 'Light Ash' platinum blonde, before that a Miss Clairol 'Flame' redhead, before this Champ I couldn't even identify the color, somewhere between orange and brown, a "Sun Bronze". The only way Champ knows the true color of his mother’s hair is through its roots, which, like death, inevitably rise toward the truth” (Viramontes 1301). Arlene's black roots, "like death," rise "inevitably" toward "truth," the roots of her culture as a Chicana woman, in which she kills or disguises herself to essentially whiten herself and conform more to the American beauty standards. Here, hair color becomes an identity for Arlene, in which she can become whoever she wants and try on different personas. Arlene uses hair dye in an attempt to fit in with American beauty standards of beautiful "Light Ash" blonde women, and she also uses it to literally "hide" her roots, which also double as cultural roots. Dying her hair a ridiculously light shadefrom blonde, Arlene literally kills her hair (crop), with the peroxide, which ultimately means that she aspires to identify more with American beauty standards than with those of her Chicana culture. hair color, Arlene asks Champ for help in choosing a nail color: "She ultimately settles on a blackish-purple color, Ripe Plum, which Champ says resembles the color of Frankenstein's nails" ( 1301). First of all, the color purple/black is repeated throughout the work, perhaps as an allusion to the old anecdote "beauty is pain", or it could also be a nod to past relationships of Arlene and the physical and mental bruises they left on her. Second, the fact that Champ references the color of her mother's nails in Frankenstein implies that she is quite imaginative, but naive. Additionally, Champ is not specific when referring to Frankenstein, she could either be talking about Doctor Victor Frankenstein who created the monster, or she could be referring to Frankenstein's monster. The analysis of this quote could go either way: either Arlene is Dr. Frankenstein and she is about to fashion a sexualized, "whitewashed" female monster out of Champ once she reaches the As an adult, Arlene is Frankenstein's monster - a construct stitched together from parts of dominant Anglo-culture. In the book “Tapestries of Space-Time: Urban and Institutional Spaces in the Short Fiction of Helena Maria Viramontes,” authors Gutierrez and Muhs state that “Viramontes carefully lists several brand names: Aqua Net lacquer, Maybelline “makeup rack”. in the store, Jean Nat bath crystals and Calgon advertisements imitating Arlene's afternoon bath. By providing such a detailed list, Viramontes parodies the cosmetic industry's relentless targeted marketing strategies” (Gutierrez and Muhs 126). Referencing all of these different beauty products in such a short story highlights the fact that women are expected to buy into this consumer culture of the beauty industry shaped by patriarchy. Although not listed by specific names, the reader is overwhelmed by another excess. list of beauty products when Champ goes looking for a hairpin, Champ: “go into the steamy bathroom, check the drawers. Hairbrushes jump, curlers, locks of hair. He searches through bars of soap, combs, eye shadow, finds nothing; opens another drawer, powder, empty oil bottles, manicure scissors, kotex, crumpled and botched dyeing instructions, finally a few bobby pins” (Viramontes 1302). This long list of beauty products refers to the ridiculous beauty standards imposed on women by society. To be considered "beautiful" in the eyes of society, one must constantly alter and/or dye one's hair, and essentially apply a mask of makeup in order to hide "ugly" natural features. For Champ, "although makeup and femininity seem foreign and strange to her, Champ realizes that her mother is not only trying to sexualize herself, but, more to the point, trying to conform to white beauty standards that dominated and that she still manages to conform to the white beauty standards that dominated. dominate American culture” (Gutiárrez and Muhs 125). Not only are beauty standards terrible for all women, but they are especially terrible for women of color in a whitewashed world, forcing them to adhere harder to the industry and essentially ignore their culture in order to to feel pretty in the eyes. of a society dominated bymen. Although Arlene tends to be more romantic, she tries very hard to sexualize herself to make herself more palatable to men, and therefore attempts to conform to the dominant Eurocentric female beauty standards of the time. . One of Arlene's first descriptors is when she's shopping in K-Mart with Champ, and she's "wearing a strapless pink tube top." Her belly spills over the tight jeans. (Viramontes 1301). The color "pink" for a tube top screams femininity, as pink is culturally associated in America as an incredibly feminine color. Additionally, the image of Arlene's belly spilling over her jeans implies that they are too tight and constricting her female body. As Viramontes describes Arlene's outfit, we can't help but compare it to that of a teenager. Arlene is desperately trying to be sexually attractive, even though her body doesn't fit the perfect Eurocentric cultural construct of what beauty is, but because she's desperate to conform, she squeezes herself into pants two sizes up. too tight where she is unable to even bend over. The next sexualized and significant detail Viramontes gives Arlene's readers is that "she has a tattoo of purple XXXs on her finger like a ring" (1301). It is significant that the tattoos on Arlene's finger are a "XXX purple", purple, which is a recurring color throughout the play, nods to the domestic violence that Arlene has endured in previous relationships with men and the bruises she had to show. bankrupt unions. “XXX” is a common cultural symbol for adult content or pornography, and as it is wrapped around “her finger like a ring,” it is implied that Arlene is wedded to the overt patriarchal construction of female sexuality. Another example that illustrates Arlene's uncomfortable conformity. to feminine beauty is when Arlene slips into her friend Pancha's dress: the dress is made of chiffon, with a satin lining, so that when Arlene tried it on for the first time and s she strutted, she rustled sounds of elegance. The dress is too tight. Her plump arms slide, her hips inhale and hold their breath, the seams do everything to contain the body. But Arlene doesn't care as long as it sounds good. (1302). The "crumpled rings of elegance" dress, implying that Arlene doesn't care if she is uncomfortable, because her dress looks like silver. But, again, the garment is “too tight” and keeps her body constrained, essentially to the mold of attractive femininity. Appearance versus reality becomes an important theme throughout the play. None of these clothes she slips into allow her to breathe, she is physically constrained by her clothes, and she is metaphorically constrained by the patriarchy. This quote is also a nod to Arlene's underclass, she doesn't have enough money to afford her own disguises, but instead has to slip into her friend Pancha's dress. to appear rich and live the whitewashed American dream. But in reality, Arlene is a Chicana woman who can never conform to Eurocentric notions of femininity. In his article “Are you talking about “Merican?” ": class, value and social production of difference in Under the Feet of Jesus by Helena Maria Viramontes", Dennis Lopez argues that in "Chicano nationalist discourse, Chicanas can only occupy one position, that is, as women renouncing herself, lamadre abnegada (suffering mother), the passive virgin, or the incarnation of feminine betrayal and sexual promiscuity” (Lopez). In “Miss Clairol,” Viramontes breaks this Chicana stereotype through the character,?