The piece of graffiti pictured is in the Accolade West washroom on the second floor. The washroom area is always busy and while classes are switching over there is usually a line up (sometimes out the door). I found this graffiti to be particularly interesting because of the conversation aspect of it and the irony or the whole conversation. The initial comment of feeling isolated and alone was followed up by a stream of comments of people supporting her and giving her encouragement, something that  shows she really is not alone. I visited this particular washroom three times, the second attempt was to get the video clip of the stall which I mistakenly forgot to take the first time. This was not as easy task as it is hard, and sometimes weird and creepy to wait for a particular stall while there are a line up of women waiting to use the restroom. I tried my best to seem casual about going into multiple stalls and looking at the back of the door to find the right washroom with no luck, at last I gave up and returned another day to find that the conversation had been expanded upon. On my third visit I picked the right stall and noticed that there was another girl who had written “get over it and learn to be on your own!!!”, to this someone else responded in defence of the original commenter. This is something that is discussed by Sibley and it also speaks to how a private space like a washroom can feel like a public space when there are other people who support you and surround you with positivity. The original comment spoke to a public space (Keele Campus) feeling like a private space in that the feeling of being alone and isolated makes a space less inviting and less welcoming therefore making it less public.

I feel like with the larger a campus is the more opportunity there is to feel isolated and alone, this graffiti not only breaks down those constructs but allows a space for support and compassion. Although the singularity of a bathroom stall is not the most constructive place for this kind of message. Instead a community wall can be made in order for people to support one another, a shout-out wall would allow for students to come together and anonymously offer up support and well wishes for anyone who needs it. The graffiti itself is not artistic in anyway nor does it enhance the space it is in, it instead enhances those who read it and who are exposed to it, in that way I believe that it should remain present but in a larger format like a shout-out wall. There was very little impact of the graffiti to the space around it because of the nature of the graffiti. Instead it simply gave you something to read while using the restroom, and maybe even engage considering the amount of people who had already made a comment, it seemed as if graffiti became acceptable in this instance, and there was no consideration as to if this was morally correct or legal because it was about that one girl instead of a political message or a gang tag. This is evident by the additional graffiti posted around the conversation like for a fun time call this number which has been blacked out of  2 and 3.

From a perspective of an outsider who did not participate the space did not feel more or less safe or welcoming, however that perception may differ from those who engaged in the commenting especially the initial girl. She may have returned to the stall to see more people supporting her and telling her that it is ok to feel the way she is feeling and to keep her spirits up; because the washroom is the only multi stall washroom in the building there is a chance that she may have frequented the same stall and seen the responses to her comment. In this washroom in particular I notice girls primping more than other washrooms because the sink area is very large. There is space to set up make up, and fix your hair and outfit without the feeling like you are in anyones way. This is something interesting to note, most of the hair make up and outfit checks are done alone and there is not really any interaction between any of the other girls in the washroom. This one stall however is a contrast to what is happening just outside the doors. There is a miniature support group of girls that rallied behind someone feeling down, when just 5 feet away there may be girls looking in the mirror changing their hair style/make up because they are not happy with the way it looks and with no support being offered by anyone else, saying “No. keep your hair like that it looks nice” or  “I love the colour of your lipstick it looks great on you!”. If there was a space where positivity could be expressed freely then that positivity could channel into other forms of peoples lives and overall would improve the community as a whole at York.

This graffiti and the space it occupies needs to stay in a larger format, it needs to be represented in some other way so that the public space feels public and like a community. Not all graffiti needs to be artistic in order for it to have an impact on someone. It may or may not have brought support directly to the original girl, it did however rally girls around her in support as well as give voice to how we are not all alone and there are others who are in the same situation as us and are willing to be supportive. It may sound very optimistic and maybe a little naive however in my opinion positivity breeds positivity, and the more there is at York, the more it feels like a community and that stigma of  York being unsafe and unwelcoming can be chipped away at by pieces of graffiti like this one.

Video of Washroom Stall

References:

Sibley, David. 2005. “Private/Public” in Cultural Geography: A Critical Dictionary of Key Concepts. Edited by Sibley, David, Peter Jackson, David Atkinson, and Neil Washbourne. NY: I. B. Tauris. p. 155-160