By: Andrea Cruz, Estefanie Herrera, Ving Lee, and Llesenia Villalobos
Artist Statement:
In the past week, we have discussed eugenics and anti-miscegenation sentiments. The idea of white supremacy and maintaining a ‘pure’ blood line has been crucial to the advancement of Eurocentric values. Many people have justified this racism through scientific explanation and the manifestation of higher beings. Thus, creating a hierarchical scale of those that deserved to be at the top of the pyramid with power (white) and those that should be below them (people of color). This translates in today's world as a guide to say who is attractive based on physical characteristics.
This comic strip was created to showcase humor and how people judge a person based on what race they identify with. In our comic, Lina has joined a dating website and received a message from her ideal man, Marcelo. Since dates arranged on the website are based on superficial things, such as job position, attractiveness, and similar interests, Lina and Marcelo are compatible. However, since Lina omitted the fact that she’s mixed race, she and Bronte, her best friend, are worried about whether or not the gentleman will accept her for being part white. It is a sarcastic remark on society, in which having the right job, salary, looks, etc. is not enough to win over people. Notably, there is still some stigma attached to interracial dating. To put this back into the context of the theme of week, our comic reversed the assumptions of race, by assigning Caucasians to the bottom of the social status totem pole; therefore, in the comic, Lina concerned with how her love interest will think less of her since she’s half white.
We, as artists in the context of mixed race dialectic, inevitably transform into advocates for social justice, and critics of transnational mixed race hegemonic bias; our sarcasm and ridicule of multi racial caricatures (the paradigmatic sexual desires of Marcelo for a Black woman, Lina’s perfect guy, and Lina’s hypercritical friend) through sensorial mediums accentuate our cries, laughter, and desires for higher understanding of the human race. Through the aesthetic assemblage of critical mixed race theories from Cynthia L. Nakashima, we have chosen to highlight the seemingly obvious flaws of mixed race sexuality that has pervaded both public and virtual domains.
First of all, very nice art for the theme. It reminds me of those funny meme I usually see on Facebook. And since you are doing a sarcastic theme so the art is a good match. This piece points out a very key aspect that we didn't really discuss in class. This notion of mix race and "purity" in terms of marriage. The notion that if you are "pure," no matter what race you are, you are accepted in marriage when in comes to marrying someone within your own race or ethnicity. But if you are mix race, it puts more pressure on you because no matter who you marry, there is a lost "purity." So it's harder for mix race to be accepted due to this notion of "purity".
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ReplyDeleteIt seems as though dating is a common theme when trying to explain the fall-outs of being mixed race. It's nice that your group was able to reverse the class/social hierarchy and placed whites at the bottom. Your statement definitely reflects that what was presented in the comic. It was both comedic and intelligent. I wonder, though, since black and whites have now experience being at the top and bottom of the hierarchy, according to your comic, will other groups be able to do the same? There is no need to correct anything in your statement. Good job!
ReplyDeleteVery cheeky and intelligent cartoon turning accepted norms about ideal standards of beauty on its head. Artists clearly intended for the twist to throw readers off their socially constructed racial centers. My only suggestion is to maybe put in a clue that this is a make belief world like thinking of a clever name for the coffee shop, say, "Flip Flop Cafe" or "Bizarro World Cafe"...
ReplyDeleteThis is cute! I wonder how the message would or wouldn't change if the woman was on a more generic dating site and instead she omitted that she was half-black. The artist statement is clear and concise and doesn't need any further development and the comic itself is good!
ReplyDeleteThis comic strip presents the theme of identity being a mixed race and accepting the two cultures. This has been a problem with society that people are afraid of accepting of both cultures. Using the idea of a dating website to portray society's perspective of mixed race and the problems was a great idea. The artist statement does match with the project.
ReplyDelete(LOL). I like the exaggeration that the artists put in about the importance of providing racial information especially in dating. It is very comical, yet very true and relates much with the recurring themes in the comic strips presented in class. I like that it is short and precise.
ReplyDeleteI thought this piece was extremely funny and well done, I loved the satire. This piece has some elements of this weeks readings and discussion. The artist statement did a wonderful job at describing the piece, how it related to this weeks information, and their inspiration. I don't think the artist statement needs any more work.
ReplyDeleteI like how the piece is very cute cartoon! The art project incorporated the idea of eugenics and getting expressed in a sarcastic way. Using white instead of other colors to portray the one-drop rule is very new and showing how double standard we are as a society. The artist statement are very well constructed, explaining the idea of how people in mixed race are experiencing identification issue. The artist statement is written very well. Great job!
ReplyDeleteI really like this comic strip! It is short yet still makes an impact on the reader. The comic definitely reflects the theme and readings of this week. It has an intelligence twist and humorous. The artist statement is well written and matches with the art piece. No improvement is needed.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed rereading this comic! :Do similar to another group, this comic presents the issue of superficiality in dating scenes, bringing emphasis on physicality and racial composition rather than personality. "Every drop counts!!" This statement rather depicts the issues of hybrid degenerate and hybrid vigor that are mentioned in Nakashima's article and the point of the class's past discussion. Overall, I love the simplicity and exaggeration that this project highlighted. Great job and very impressive creativity!:)
ReplyDeleteThere is great social commentary in this piece, and it succeeds in addressing the problematic nature of eugenics and anti-miscegenation. The projects matches with the statement, some suggestions would be to reorganize and start with what inspired you.
ReplyDeleteThis comic strip was wonderful! The statement really elaborated on the struggle that mixed raced people face when thinking about how they are perceived by society. This is correlated to the quote "don't judge a book by its cover" because even though a person has all the qualities that men look for such as occupation, interests, hobbies, etc., their race still holds a high pedestal in choosing a significant other.
ReplyDeleteThe comic strip and artist statement work together to show the eugenicist, systemic origins of racial preferences in dating. I enjoyed the artists' dialectical idea of placing white people on the bottom of the totem pole to critique the myth of color blindness.
ReplyDeleteI liked how your group added a twist to the comic strip by reversing the common notion that mixed race people are perceived as attractive and beautiful when being partially White. By doing so, your technique allows people to pause and question why you did what you did since it opposite from the usual stereotype. Your artist statement was in parallel with your comic strip and has little improvement.
ReplyDeleteI like the reaction that the artist has put in about the “one-drop rule.” By turning the tables on whites with the one-drop rule sheds flips the table around of what we think about the “one-drop rules” with whites. The project clearly touched on topics such as the eugenics and their mixed-race identification. The artist statement is concise and clear in explaining the idea of mixed race and identification issue. The artist statement is good. There is no need for further improvement on the statement. Good work!
ReplyDeleteI like the touch of humor this comic strip had that took a sort of light hearted approach at an actual current issue. The issue being that people always seem to judge and have certain things in mind already based on another's race and/or ethnicity. The incorporation of the one drop rule at the end was a nice touch at the end that was hard-hitting along with being humorous as it represented the racial hierarchy that exists in our society.
ReplyDeleteThis comic strip is really cute and funny! I like how the artist statements described the artwork very well and how everything is related to this week’s reading. I don't think there is anything to be improved on.
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