Graffiti with a Purpose: Sexual Violence & Social Justice Conversations in University Bathroom Stalls

Authors

Rachel E. Green, Stanford University, Indiana University
Miriam Northcutt Bohmert, Indiana University
Amanda N. Gesselman, Indiana University
Rasul Mowatt, Indiana University
Jennifer Maher, Indiana University
Justin R. Garcia, Indiana University

Abstract

In 2014, our university began posting educational fliers in bathroom stalls across campus in order to share resources and policies on sexual violence, which spurred numerous forms of graffiti commentary about sexual violence prevention and response. Since some scholars have argued that bathroom graffiti can be a unique form of social commentary and even resistance facilitated by the tension of doing semi-private things in semi-public spaces, we examined 429 bathroom stall fliers across 11 heavily trafficked campus buildings, and a total of 177 graffiti comments/images. We then analyzed the relationships between comments in order to answer research questions about the content of messages, if symbolic support was provided therein, and whether these messages about sexual violence suggested a need for further structural change at the university level.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.

Recommended Citation

Green, Rachel E.; Bohmert, Miriam Northcutt; Gesselman, Amanda N.; Mowatt, Rasul; Maher, Jennifer; and Garcia, Justin R. (2018) "Graffiti with a Purpose: Sexual Violence & Social Justice Conversations in University Bathroom Stalls," Qualitative Criminology (QC): Vol. 6: No. 1, Article 4.
Available at: https://dc.swosu.edu/qc/vol6/iss1/4