1. Indie Presentation: Racial Stereotyping in the Media
Rachel Butkiewicz
ARE6641

2. About myself
Currently, I teach middle school art in Round Rock Texas (North of Austin).
I have Illustrated for 3 books
Favorite mediums that I like to work with are
Watercolor, Acrylic, and Oil Paints
Metal Sculpture
Printmaking

3. The Minstrel
I created a monotype print of a blackface minstrel with another print on top saying “Whose puppet are you?” The repetition of the art work is supposed to resemble that of poster advertisements that are seen in a city. “Whose puppet are you?”is a saying from the movie Bamboozled, when a character played by Jada Pinket Smith confronts an actor from a black face television show.
I got my artwork inspiration from Mark Steven Greenfield who does artwork that involves blackface minstrels.
I want the viewer to look within themselves and ask if they are living a lifestyle that is based on false perception and who is really the one being played in the bigger picture, the audience they entertain or their self?

4. Racial stereotypes within the Media
Our history with of racial stereotypes in the media
The reinforcement of stereotypes in the media today and how it targets certain audiences.
The effects that it has on youth and how they relate to it.
The importance of educating our youth to read the fine line of what the media is portraying to them from fact to false.

5. Most relevant information I found
Industry targets these stereotypes to certain people the unrealistic expectations and the targeted audience believes and relates to them.
In reading Cinderella ate my daughter, author Peggy Orenstein interviews executive Andy Mooney from Disney talks about how they target age groups that are easily influenced. “We simply gave girls what they wanted…It’s a rare case where you find a girl who has every aspect of her room bedecked in Princess, but if she ends up with three or four of these items, well, then, you have a very healthy business” (p. 15, 2011).
In Before Media Education gets to school: Understanding Adolescence and Education by Allison Butler, she interviews students and how they view certain stereotypes. In an interview with a young overweight black girl, she talks about how she relates to Queen Latifa and Monique. Butler states “These artists are popular culture icons within, not subversive of, mainstream media: their experiences and behavior may very well be real, but are also highly profitable”(p.401, 2009).
Money is made for industry, audience gets what they want, both are happy.

6. Remaining Questions
How can we, as art educators , increase awareness of racial stereotyping in the media?
How can we break the cycle of “not everything is as it seems” to youth?
How can we lead them to be proactive in reaching out to their families, friends and communities of stereotyping in the media?

7. ButkiewiczArt Web Address