Lexi Mason

Abstract

As part of my Image and Survey Project for Women & Art (ARHI 3400) with Professor Cadero-Gillette, my project -- “Who Are We?” -- addresses issues surrounding stereotyping in our society. This study has been a two-fold project. The first half of the study was my final project for Professor Cadero-Gillette’s class “Women & Art.” This class took place during the fall of 2016 when the presidential election was in full swing. My initial study consisted of two online surveys focused on perceptions of gender, especially as they pertained to ethnic affiliation. In the surveys, I attached black and white, de-identified portrait photographs to each question. The goal of the survey was to see if people responded to questions differently depending on the photographs that accompanied them. I was so interested in the results of the first project that my professor and I decided to extend the project this semester with a directed study. This most recent phase of the project has been expanded to address stereotypes of race, religion, gender, and sexual orientation. My current survey, the third and final survey of this project, is posted here. My goal is to examine the results of all three surveys as one large project. Overall, I hope that this project makes people question: our personal places within society, the place of those we perceive as the “other” in society, and the ways we might start to reconsider the idea of “otherness.”

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  • As part of my Image and Survey Project for Women & Art (ARHI 3400) with Professor Cadero-Gillette, my project -- “Who Are We?” -- addresses issues surrounding stereotyping in our society.

    The “Who Are We?” Project is being offered here, within Canal, as an opportunity for our readers to participate in a study that will be written about for the 2018 issue. Participation is completely anonymous; please remember to respond as honestly as possible. All questions must be answered for the survey to be counted.

    Consider, for example, the following questions:

    1. You have submitted an ad to find a babysitter for your child. These people have answered your ad; all have references with glowing reviews and the candidate is CPR-certified. Who do you hire?
    2. Your car battery has died in a shopping plaza parking lot. This person has offered to help you jump-start your car. Do you accept the help?

  • Lexi Mason is a rising senior at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. She has a History major and an Art History minor.