Romero, RachelJones, Morgan2018-05-232018-05-232018-05Jones, M. (2018). The willful blindness of bubblelife: Painting an autoethnographic account of privilege and inequality (Unpublished thesis). Texas State University, San Marcos, Texas.https://hdl.handle.net/10877/7249Is the accumulation of wealth an immoral action? Willful blindness is the legal concept that liability cannot be avoided by intentionally striving not to see certain information or facts. Through autoethnography and arts-based research, I explore the social norms of an affluent society and their perpetuation of inequality and privilege through willful blindness. Using personal memories, site observations, theoretical frameworks, and social media images, I create paintings that connect images of social inequalities to the actions of the wealthy. By indicating the codependent relationship between wealth and poverty, the privileged and the working class, and persisting social stratification, I hope to draw attention to the willful blindness that is generally accepted in American society.Text39 pages1 file (.pdf)enarts-based-researchprivilegeinequalitywillful blindnesssocial stratificationpaintingautoethnographywhite privilegewealthHonors College