Writings on the Wall

So I'm going to jump on the less "well-known" publications that I have listed, and prove that they are just as legit as the more formal types of publications everyone is used to.

I'll start with the Bathroom Stall.

I don't think there's a better way of publishing whatever the heck you want to say. Its free... It's fun... It's a release (PUN)... and you can do it all, totally anonymously if you wish. The identity protection the stall provides invites people's true feelings to come out in their fullest.

In the University of Utah's, Women's, Library's, ground level floor, bathroom's 2nd stall, was a charade of heated conversations, scribbled relentlessly one after the other very often. I lived in the library last year, and week to week... even day to day sometimes, I was astounded at the new comments and topics that appeared. Everything from politics, war, abortion, marriage, love, love to another woman, and writing awful research papers came up with many commenters back.

Creepy as this sounds... I thought (and think) this was so interesting, that I did a whole drawing project on it for my art class. I actually got in different stalls around and traced their writing and collaged them all together. I was known as the weird smelly girl who hung out in bathrooms stalls.

I researched many other blogs and sites for bathroom writing and found I'm not the only one who thinks this is funny. There were tons of sites that had thousands of entries of clever, crude and random comments they had read on stall walls. I'd link them.. . But they're all pretty dirty.

But I did find this good article on California State University's Online newspaper site, "the Orion" where the writer agrees with a lot of the same stuff as me.

http://media.www.theorion.com/media/storage/paper889/news/2003/05/07/Features/The-Writings.In.The.Stall-1511989.shtml

There was an interesting part in the article where the writer (a staff member) gets information about this topic, from no one more knowledgeable in this situation than the janitor. I found this quote of his rather profound, "Restroom graffiti really reflects the public from time to time". Isn't it true? I don't think stall #2 at the library would exactly be talking about assassinating Bush and how girls are better lovers.

Another section of the article talks of the protected identity I spoke of already. I think he put it a little better.


"The Graffiti Definition Web site said motivation towards scribbling on the wall includes a desire for recognition that is public in nature, and/or the need of certain public or private space for group or individual purposes.
It also said political graffiti could arise from emergency situations and crises or in response to current politics.
And restrooms could be the most comfortable and safe places to voice opinions without any threatening situations.
Dick said the restroom provides "dual anonymity" for those who vandalize the walls.
"In doing it in that sort of a private situation, they are guaranteed (anonymity) in their political views, and they are guaranteed (anonymity) in their behavior," he said. "They don't have to deal with counter-arguments, being labeled or something."
He said the anonymity provides freedom. But some people take care of such freedom."

One part I disagree with in this article is how he makes ya feel bad for the woman janitor who has to scrub it off. I do appreciate that someone is cleaning bathrooms at Universities, but at the same time, they're erasing culture's finest and truest public speaking utility. How cool would it be if the writings were never erased, so you could read into the past and discover what issues pissed off college students in the 60's? It'd be like the Universiy's culture journal. That would be tight.