Is It Philosophy or Pornography? Graffiti at the Dinosaur Bar‐B‐Que

Abstract

Have you ever wondered what it is about a bathroom wall that compels people to express their innermost thoughts, desires, fantasies, hatreds, and philosophical attitudes when they would not reveal these same secrets to those nearest and dearest to them? Perhaps it is because the graffiti (or little scratchings) that adorn bathroom walls are forms of communication exempt from the social restrictions that prevent the unlimited display of sentiment. These often give great insight into the psyches of the authors and the society to they belong. An examination of bathroom graffiti, or latrinalia, located at the Dinosaur Bar-B-Que, a Rochester, New York, eatery, reinforces this concept. The restaurant, which describes itself as a genuine honky tonk rib joint, caters to an eclectic crowd. Everyone from bikers to brokers frequents the establishment; they come for the surroundings as well as for the North Carolina-style ribs. As a part of the dining experience, customers are encouraged to write their opinions about the food or anything else on the graffitiladen walls of the restaurant's bathrooms. At a time of ever-diminishing bathroom graffiti, the restrooms at the Dinosaur Bar-B-Que are a cornucopia of both social dogma and sexual come-ons. On any given evening, one may enter the restroom and discover the philosophy of Nietzsche, the location of Kilroy, or political statements tinged with feminism (Proietta 1). Moreover, international and regional issues are, on occasion, debated and resolved within a single restroom stall. This article examines the Dinosaur Bar-B-Que's unique collection of latrinalia. This exploration into a traditionally neglected form of expression will provide understanding of the social environment from which the graffiti originates. It will reveal, unlike several previous studies, that the content and amount of graffiti does not vary between the restrooms of males and females. Given encouragement and free and equal opportunity for expression, women produce the same amount of explicit graffiti as men. Finally, it will validate the supposition that graffiti are an informal but legitimate gauge of the moral and cultural values of the observed community. Historical Background The word graffiti (singular form, graffito) is derived from the Greek term graphein [to write] (Grove's Dictionary of Art). At one time it was defined as inscriptions of figures, designs or words, on rocks or walls or sidewalks or the like, or on artifacts made of plaster, stone, or clay (Reisner v). Of late, graffiti have come to suggest any wall writing or pictures or symbols or markings of any kind, on any surface, no matter what the motivation of the writer (Gadsby 2). Robert Reisner suggests that the first examples of graffiti date back to primeval times. Drawings of bison and deer found in European caves demonstrate prehistoric man and woman's need to proclaim their existence (Reisner v). Writing on walls was a common practice in ancient times. Carved into a rock in the ancient Egyptian town of Abu Simbel, for example, are Greek graffiti dating from the sixth century B.C.E. At a popular resting spot on the trail from Palestine to the Catherine Monastery in the Sinai peninsula, rocks bear at least 263 Greek, Latin, and Nabatean versions of the infamous inscription, Kilroy was here (Rensberger A2). There is now even evidence of wall graffiti on the east wall of a grotto located in the cliff north of the upper terrace of the Deir el Bahri temple of Egypt's Eighteenth Dynasty (c. 1450 BCE) queen, Hapshepsut (Wente 47). In the Italian city of Pompeii, scribblings still visible on the facades of excavated buildings recount everything from the pleasures of good food to advice on friendship. The most prominent theme of the Pompeiian graffiti is love. Amatory comments are in both verse and prose. It is surprising how close in subject matter Pompeiian graffiti and modern American graffiti are: Anyone could well stop the winds from blowing and the water from flowing as stop lovers from loving. …