Who Looks Like a Millionaire?

The activities below are based on,
Who Looks Like a Millionaire.
To read the article online or print it out, click here.

Before You Read

Instructions: Type your answer in the spaces below each question. Click on the underlined words if you don't understand what it means.

Take a look at a magazine, newspaper, or TV program and notice the images of the people shown.

Do most of the people look like you? Are they the same age, race, gender, weight as you?

What type of person is missing from the pictures? (e.g., race, gender, weight) Why?

Look out for stereotypes about race, age, gender and weight. What are the people doing? Who is shown working in high status jobs? Who is shown caring for children? Who is shown working in low-paying jobs?

What TV programs, websites, and magazines do you know that show images of people that are similar to you? Which ones show people different than you?

After you read the article

Look at one periodical, website, or TV program. Use a tally sheet to count the number of people from different races that are shown in those media.

Asian	Black	Hispanic/Latino	Native American	White	Other

To calculate the percentage of each category, divide the number in that group by the total number of people you tallied, and multiply by 100.

For example, 15 Asian people divided by 86 total images = .1744

.1744 x 100 = 17.44% or about 17% when you round it off.

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Other activities

Cut out pictures from magazines that you like and dislike to discuss with your class. Write captions for each one.

Bring in your own photos from home. Write an essay about one of your favorite family photographs.

Take photographs of yourself and the people around you the way you would like to be seen in the media. Share them with your class.

Write a letter to a TV program or magazine that does not show representative images of people. Tell them what you would like to see more of and why.

Web sites to check out:

A collection of photographs of a variety of people
http://www.humanistic-photography.com/

An article about the impact of negative images of African American people in the media
http://www.studentadvantage.com/lycos/article/0,4683,c1-i38-t0-a16716,00.html

A collection of positive and negative images of women in the media
http://www.about-face.org/

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Definitions

Shown: past participle of show Back to the reading

Gender: sex, male or female Back to the reading

High Status: position that is important and respected Back to the reading

Tally: count Back to the reading

Periodical: magazine or newspaper Back to the reading

Captions: words written near a picture to explain or describe it Back to the reading

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This page was contributed by Melina Gallo