Graffiti and Social Movements

Being an activist on a campus with mostly apathetic students often leaves me wondering “how can I get the word out to the largest number of students?” In order for a campaign to be effective, it must be heard loud and clear by whomever the decision makers may be—the administration, the city council, etc—and the more people speaking up, the louder the demands are. 

Using social media is typically the first step student groups take in this mobilization process, but it is far from the most effective medium. Anytime a new group forms or an event is planned, a new page on Facebook is sure to be made and personal posts are pretty much guaranteed. Social media is the necessary floor from which a movement can build in today’s world. However, organizing is about the extent of the usefulness of social media. Engaging in public debate on these forums solves very little if anything at all. They are what Michael Hart calls a “zero institution,” a place for political actors go to feel like they’re doing something ultimately letting their ideas die if they do not make their way out of the interwebs. 

The article on the geographies of resistance has me thinking about potential alternative mediums for ideas to proliferate, momentum to build, and voices to be heard. And what better way to resist than breaking the law with art that all can see? I find graffiti to be incredibly fascinating, even when the extent of the political intent is to simply display your name. Members of the student organization I am a part of must also find it interesting, because we’ve paintedthe graffiti wall on Richland Avenue a couple of times this year. We deal mostly with ongoing mass atrocities, which continue to exist in large because nobody cares enough to do anything about them if they have no direct connection to the violence. 

Fall semester, we painted gENDer-based violence in order to increase the relevance of this perspective in the public sphere. Earlier this semester, we painted something that allowed concerned passer-by’s to act. From this we learned that graffiti itself can mobilize, and hallelujah for hashtags. We figured out a way to get people to act by painting:

“2 million displaced

70,000 deaths

2 years

0 solutions

#syriasly?!”

I was incredibly surprised by how many people stared at it as they walked by, but more importantly how many people used that hashtag on Twitter and engaged in the conversation. From Twitter, people were directed towards syriasly.org where there is a petition to sign and information to access. This was a unique intermarrying of social media and the public sphere that I think has been largely overlooked. The lesson: graffiti can reach people social media may not have otherwise reached and direct them towards taking further action on geographically far away issues with geographically far away solutions. These movements are necessary in order to end mass atrocities across the globe, and social media may not be the epitome of the detriment to the democratic process that Mitchel suggest in “The End of Public Space?” after all.

Challenging Gender Construction

I grew up as the perfect tom-boy type, I liked to play in the dirt, and got excited whenever I caught worms. My parents never held me from doing those actives that seemed so odd for a girl. After reading about the geographies of fear I felt enlightened and aware of the distinct differences in gender, when it comes to fear, as too the avoidance issues for women and the aggressive issues of men. There are many theories we can study and reflect upon.
http://www2.cnr.edu/home/bmcmanus/socialization.html
For me, what it comes down to is the enforcement of gender construction, and the limits we place upon children, that is the best way to change social constructs of gender. We as humans haven't been a developed society for very long in contrast to how old the planet is. If children are not guided to be gender appropriate, then they can feel and be any gender they want. This is where things become tricky, it is the biological (physical) aspect that we can not change... well we can now, there has been development of hormone treatments for years, that allow you to actually change your body. But if gender wasn't constructed in the first place maybe self image wouldn't be so tightly related to gender. In all reality challenging gender construction, starts with the very basic level of acceptance of people on a human level.   

Graffiti in Athens

Graffiti in Athens

 Athens is by no means a large or densely populated city, but one can come here and find a rather interesting assortment of graffiti art. Likely due to the fact that the majority of the population is made up by the University Students; young, artistic and ever looking for ways to express themselves. Fortunately however, the graffiti isn't as big of a problem as it could possibly be. Yes, there is illegal graffiti done upon the walls and back alleyways of many of the buildings, but it's relatively minimal in comparison to other cities. Mostly the cause, I'd say, would be that Athens has locations such as the graffiti wall (as seen above) to act as places for people to freely express themselves without fear of punishment. It definitely does it's job at channeling graffiti onto specific places. Though, it seems that the wall is more used for advertisements, but it can be freely painted over by anyone.

 Athens being a college town, and a very liberal college town at that, the city is filled with people and students who need avenues to express their opinions on either world, social or political events. Rather than causing vandalism or damage to property, the wall allows for that avenue.

 This being said though, there is still a problem with illegal graffiti in Athens, as well as a clash between residents of Athens on whether or not graffiti is considered vandalism or actual public art.

http://thepost.ohiou.edu/content/drawing-line

The line as to whether it is art or vandalism, I suppose would be narrowed down to the intent of the graffiti "artist." If it is done in an improper location or with a design around offending somewhere, or simply being destructive, than I think it would be pretty hard to consider it art on any level.

The Gulabi Gang: Spatial Revolutionaries

Sampat Pal Devi is a spatial revolutionary. Women in her village are isolated, to say the least. One would think they were virtually powerless in such a rigidly patriarchal society. Wives and daughters subjected to abuse have nowhere to turn and little to hope for. Sampat Pal Devi changed all of this. Through her strong, rebellious presence in public space she has been able to improve social conditions not only for women, but all marginalized groups in her village.

One of her strategies to empower women is by giving them a strong presence in the public sphere. Traditionally, Indian women are taught to be shy and self-effacing and similar to western culture, are typically confined to the private sphere. Sampat Pal Devi contradicted this norm by creating a band of women to confront problems faced by marginalized groups in her village. She encourages these women to “speak their minds and not hide behind their veils.” She calls this band of women the “Gulabi Gang.”

Each woman is required to wear a bright pink sari. This uniform is essential—it distinguishes them and gives them a dramatic presence in public space. She confidently marches women around the village to draw attention and exhibit authority. Through direct action and confrontation this uniform has come to symbolize justice and hope.

She has made her cause legitimate through courageous, public rebellion against inequality. People (both men and women) have come to respect her and turn to her when indifferent government officials are of little help. For example, when a man is reported to have been beating his wife the Gulabi Gang will confront the perpetrator. If the husband refuses to comply they will resort to public shaming, and aren’t afraid to defend themselves with their lathis (bamboo sticks). They even hijacked a truck full of grain when Sampat Pal Devi found out corrupt officials were taking it for themselves.

Before Sampat Pal Devi women and their interests were invisible. I think her cause demonstrates the importance of public space when initiating social change. Through her demand of public space she has given her cause legitimacy, visibility and respect.