News Oct 10, 2012 at 4:00 am

City Hall Is Frowning on the People Who Are Painting Seattle Pink

Kelly O

Comments

1
"Their messaging is idiotic," says a graffiti artist calling himself BOOBZ (who was spray-painting "BOOBZ" across the 11th Avenue mural when I approached him). "It's just a bunch of unrelated PC bullshit scrawled on a wall, in pink. There's no thought behind it."

Ha.... that's it, that's all you get. No second ha.
2
Anything that fouls up PosterGiant is fine by me.
3
Boring. Old. Tired.
4
I wonder how comfortable they would be - as far as the politics of public space use is concerned - if I went out tonight to deface all of their ads in misogynist ways?
5
I think this is so incredibly awesome regardless of the legality. I can't tell you how happy seeing these walls makes me.

6
Grrrl Army FTW!
7
"For instance, the group only targets buildings that have been wallpapered by posterGIANT or tagged past the point of recognition" <-- Not true in the case of the store on 12th.
It had only recently closed down and was a pretty clean store front that had only had its windows boarded over for obvious security reasons. And the paper box and phone booth outside the place were also entirely painted over. Then someone tracked the pink paint down the sidewalk as they left.
8
@4, so feminism and misogyny are morally equivalent?
9
Thanks for shedding a little more light onto the women behind these messages. I agree with what they're saying. Sex = sales, and that unfortunate.
10
I feel like the message is important however the execution feels pretty sophomoric. It definitely feels like the work of teenagers or 20 somethings.
11
shitty paste job.
12
Grow up and find a way to do actually good. Painting the town pink is vapid and useless
13
"Rape culture is where rape + sexual violence is an accepted and expected norm."

This is the culture we live in? No hyperbole going on here.

I'm with BOOBZ
14
waste of time.
15
I hereby pledge not to use images of semi-naked women to promote my music where my own beauty will suffice.
16
I think its pretty awesome what they are doing!
www.UA-Privacy.tk
17
Drove on Aurora yesterday and they have new work up on the condemned motel near 65th (not sure of the name). HUGE and awesome.
18
Meh. I have enough self-esteem that I don't find "hot women" used in advertising to be demeaning or demoralizing. (I'm a woman) Guess what SGA, there are also hot *men* on fliers. Clubs advertise with sex, because that what clubs are… somewhere to get laid.

At best, SGA are just another gang shoving their way of life down our throats with illegal graffiti. If you're going to put something on an art wall - do something ARTISTIC, and be respectful of other people's messages and art up there. Posters aren't the only thing on the walls you're covering.
19
#18, Wait a minute, how often are hot men used to advertise for straight clubs, let alone rock show posters?

I call total, complete bullshit.

The issue isn't about the sexiness itself. The issue is that unless it's being done purposely to make a point, as with last week's "Men Who Rock" feature, hot, nude men are rarely to never used to attract women in these posters.
20
Re: "She and her friends were sick of staring at naked women being used to advertise concerts on telephone poles. "A friend of mine and I used to print out stickers that said 'This demeans women'..."

Ah. So you did that. This isn't my story, but I'll tell it anyway:

A few years back some friends of mine had worked very hard to become big in the burlesque scene--which isn't easy. When they finally felt ready to headline their own show they hired a photographer, had pictures taken in costumes they'd made themselves that they were proud of, printed flyers at their own expense, and spent hours puttting them up around Capitol Hill.

No sooner had they done this than someone defaced all their posters with stickers that said "This insults women".

Not all forms of sexual self-expression are demeaning. People also need to be recognized as gendered, sexual people. That can also be a way of respecting someone.

All I'm saying is, show discernment. Vandalizing other people's stuff is a form of censorship and petty bullying. Just make sure you're only doing it to people who really deserve it.

(BTW My friend was good natured about it. She peeled off one of the "This insults women" stickers and put it on her bathroom mirror. ;-) )
21
When you call everything you do not like about gender politics "rape" and "sexual violence" you demean actual victims of rape and sexual violence.

22
I think this is absolutely awesome!
23
I look forward to the day that the Stranger gets off of this "OOOH LOOK AT THE GRAFFITI WALL OUTSIDE OF OUR WINDOW!" tired-ass story. Why not devote some more space to focusing on people and organizations who are actually sacrificing their lives (and not just a bucket of paint and 5 minutes of their time) to make a difference in people's lives?
24
'"Their messaging is idiotic," says a graffiti artist calling himself BOOBZ (who was spray-painting "BOOBZ" across the 11th Avenue mural when I approached him). "It's just a bunch of unrelated PC bullshit scrawled on a wall, in pink. There's no thought behind it."'

As he paints the word 'BOOBZ' across the wall. Yeah, your statement is sooo much more profound and intellectual than a pithy aphorism like '"No" does not mean "convince me."'
25
Wymyn! Can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em!
26
I spent a lot of time and money making and putting up big awesome posters to promote our show, which was a benefit for Gay City Health Project. The day after I put them up (not over anyone else's posters or art) they were all painted pink. With no message over them - just destroyed. Thanks Grrl Army!
28
@ 18 ROCK ON.
29
I prefer the Grrl Army stuff to the advertisements everywhere. At least GA respects the notion that the people reading their work will be literate and thinking.
30
@27

Is that an accusation of being all those things, because I can assure you SGA are none of those things, except feminist, obviously.
31
I love poster art and grass roots advertising. I like thoughtful or just talented graffiti but as a general rule advertising seems to me to be borderline evil. I see no problem with shoving back for a change.
32
I'm not gonna say I am opposed to political graffiti or scandalized they broke the law, because I'm not. I happen to think their message is as someone called it sophmoric and their "art" an eyesore. These are mostly upper class white early 20s women who have never experienced real adversity in life. So they embrace a ridiculous ideology they learned in college which says theres a rapist after them around every corner and all men are somehow guilty for it. If they dealt with real adversity and discrimination in their lives they would see how silly it all is, but they don't. If you read what "feminists" have to say these days rape is the one and only problem in the world. That ironically lets men who are still sexist but don't go around raping off the hook. Despite their much vaunted radicalness saying all we care about is no more rape is actually surprisingly moderate. I went to college, 90 percent of what we learn in college is total crap.
33
So naming your group after violent women and deliberately defacing property is OK as long as you accuse men of hurting women? I'm sure that the SGA is happy to overlook all the harm women cause to society. I understand now, I'm a man so I'm bad, thanks for enlightening me. Thanks SGA, you rock! I'm glad the SGA is able to not take responsibility, both legal and moral, for their accusations and vandalism while putting men in the default position of being guilty of whatever the SGA accuses them of. Radical groups like the SGA are thugs with a socially harmful agenda. The SGA would never admit that women harm society as much as men do. I'm one man who is no longer willing to let a woman tell me I'm bad.

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