Argumentative Essay On Graffiti Art

Elder Illegal Art

Graffiti has been around for centuries. It can be seen on buildings, cars, and anything that can be painted with a spray can. Since graffiti came to exist, there has been much debate on whether it is an art form or an illegal activity. While it has been banned and deemed illegal all over the world, it still persists in today’s society. Along with the controversy that comes with graffiti, many commonly known stereotypes are apparent within the act of graffiti. Stereotypically, graffiti is seen as an urban act done by younger people. Typically, since this act is considered illegal, it is mostly done in the middle of the night, and the people partaking are usually wearing dark or black clothes. The picture, “LATA 65 IS A CREATIVE

WORKSHOP TEACHING STREET ART TO SENIOR CITIZENS, LISBON, PORTUGAL, MAY 2015,” is a perfect example of an anomaly towards the cultural stereotype that correlates with graffiti and how society reacts to the act of it. The filmic elements, scholarly articles based on graffiti, and the cultural norms surrounding it further confirm this claim.
The photograph shows two elderly women: one in the foreground, out of focus, and one in the background, as the main focus of the photograph. We can tell that the women are elderly not just from the background context of the photograph, but the grey hair and wrinkles that appear on their heads. Like the grey hair, other colors play a very important factor in figuring out how this photograph defy the stereotypes within their actions. It can be told from the photograph’s lighting that this was taken in the daylight. That by itself is enough to make anyone question this photograph since graffiti is usually done at night or in the dark. The bright and vast amount of colors found on the ladies clothing, along with the wall that they are graffiting, creates a very eye-popping image. Immediately the eyes are drawn to the image, which could create an even more controversial reaction to when it is viewed due to cultural norms set in place.
The controversy on whether graffiti is an artform or illegal activity’s foundation lies within the norms in that have been placed by the culture. In peer reviewed article by Normann J. Jorgensen, Jorgensen gives the basic history and meaning behind graffiti. This sets the foundation for building on what can come of graffiti. Throughout the whole article, he writes of how much culture is affected by graffiti. Specifically, he talks about how graffiti breaks cultural norms. Jorgensen writes “Graffiti shows many of the linguistic characteristics of youth language, including playfulness and, first and foremost, polylingual languaging” (237) Since he explains using words such as “playfulness,” and “youth,” it clearly shows that graffiti is indeed urban, and how most young people consider it more of a way of expressing their language, rather than damaging property. This can easily pertain back to the elderly women in the photograph and how the simple act of her graffiting is breaking the social norms. When most cultured people think of graffiti, in Jorgensen’s context, most would think of youthful people, not of an elderly woman. Even the title of the essay has the word “urban” in it, meaning modern, which is the opposite of the elderly. Seeing an elderly woman graffiting a wall is an anomaly when it comes to cultural norms that it affects cultural norms by breaking them in two ways: the act of graffiti itself, and having an elderly women do the act.

In Thomas Hine’s article, “Goths In Tomorrowland,” Hine talks about teenagers and how they try to be accepted into American culture. He also talks about the subcultures these teens create for themselves. In turn, these teens end up being stereotyped into these subcultures. Since it is a cultural stereotype that teenagers are usually the culprits behind graffiti, it further misidentifies these teens, stereotyping them as “bad” or “deviants to culture.” Even these teens would react shockingly if they saw an elderly lady tagging a building or wall with spray paint because it is so far from the usual stereotype that they, themselves are “supposed,” to fill. This further complicates the argument on whether graffiti is actually art or not. Since the teenagers are thrust into these stereotyped subcultures, in order to feel accepted, they go along with “extreme” actions, such as graffiting (Hine, 280). This can appear “scary” to the elderly who see this as more than just a way of expressing themselves in the subculture they belong in (Hine 280). Thus, creating an invisible barrier of youth culture and elder culture, who seem to not collide in any way. So it could be said that the picture of the elderly woman graffiting could be baffling to those who fall into the stereotypical cultures, because it is not something usually seen in the larger culture.
Similar to Jorgensen’s peer-reviewed article, Donald Richard’s article, titled, “Is Graffiti Art?” attempts to analyze the question asked in the title.

While the article stays seemingly unbiased, it is no secret that the target audience for this article is youthful and urban people. That is mostly because the first thing a culture thinks of when graffiti is mentioned, are young people, most of the time, connecting back to Hine’s article, teenagers. The photograph, though, is showing an illegal act, it is softened by the presence of an elder woman. This makes the photograph stand out, whereas if it were a photograph of teenagers, it would be normal according to culture. While some authoritative figures say they are lightening up on the punishment because youthful people should be able to express themselves, why is it only limited to youthful people and not elders? In the photo, it is seen that both of the elderly women are wearing masks, and going back to the bright colors, and the setting being in broad daylight. With the context of the photo, knowing that it was an organization for the sole purpose of having these elders graffiti, somehow brings a lighter mood to the photo. Viewing the photo through this lens easily shows that based on the stereotypes that are already in place, the photo does not seem wrong, however, it is strange, and

unexplainable.
Jeffrey Cohen creates seven theses that are all rooted in the ideology of monsters within cultures in his article “Monster Culture (Seven Theses).” Basically, these monsters are the outcasts of society, that only exist because the majority of society creates them. These monsters are seen as “bad,” and outlandish. It could be argued that the monsters, who are usually depicted as literal monsters, would be the most logical when it comes to blaming someone for graffiti. The elder lady could technically be a monster by Cohen’s Monster theory. It is so off the wall to see what’s depicted in the photo, in the culture, that it would be considered illogical and undefinable to the majority groups. Cohen says, “the monster resists any classification… demanding instead… a mixed response… and resistance to integration” (7). Since the elderly women is, in fact, breaking these cultural norms, she qualifies for the role of the monster within this photograph. Which reflects back on to how the youth culture that is usually the culprit of graffiti, as it shows how society views them, as monsters. Not only that, but the photograph begs to be viewed to entice a response that could not be considered within the barrier of “normal” according to the norms. The reason this photograph is so interesting is because it cannot be explained by logic due to the strange occurrence of the elderly woman being in that place, at that time, doing that act.
Media can have a huge effect on how society views things that are presented within it. Considering the photograph, because it is a type of media, the message that the author of this piece could have intentionally taken the photo, not just to broadcast what was going on, but to evoke new messages and feelings within cultures. In Michael Omi’s article, “In Living Color: Race and American Culture” he touches on the discrimination in media, and how it can have a huge affect on culture. Specifically, he talks about minority groups and their struggle to fit into culture. This can create stereotypes within these minority groups in comparison to the majority groups. Since Omi talks a lot about misrepresentation, this can pertain to graffiti as well. Where it is seen that minorities are usually stereotyped as the “bad guy outcasts,” it is culturally stereotyped that they would be the ones who would partake in graffiti, or other illegal activities. Omi could argue that because the elderly lady is considered a part of the majority group, just because she is elderly, that she wouldn’t be as sanctioned off from the culture, even for doing something illegal. This breaks all cultural norms, while, at the same time keeping them intact. Like Cohen argued, the monster of the photograph being the elderly lady goes beyond the stereotypical boundaries that have been set in place for her. At the same time, since she is considered, culturally, as a majority group, even the sanctioned and illegal act of graffiti is over-looked, according to her stereotype, in order to keep peace within the culture.
The photograph of this elderly lady is rare and interesting. Rare, because it is not expected in cultures to see an elderly woman graffiting, not just because it is illegal, but because it breaks stereotypes. Furthering that, it is interesting in that aspect because it allows the viewer to think. How cultures view graffiti plays a huge role into how people view this photo. Since it is illegal, it is practically crazy to think that any elder, known for being culturally respectable, would be doing a culturally disrespectful (or potentially damaging to a property) act. Looking past the stereotypes, it raises the question of why there are these stereotypes in place in these cultures, and why could this picture be deemed as anything out of the ordinary? Due to these predispositions on graffiti, this photograph brings light to not only the stereotypical problem faced in everyday life, but shows that it is so instilled into the norms of that culture that they go unnoticed. Stereotypes going unnoticed only creates more issues and injustices for everyone within the culture and can lead to barriers, subjective groups, and even discrimination. Building the foundation on the subject of graffiti which is already on shaky grounds due to the on-going debates on whether it is an art form or not, only makes any future buildings on that foundation to be shaky as well. Adding stereotypes and the potential dangers of the stereotypes can has the potential to destroy the foundation completely. While this photograph may be surprising for its face value, it is also equally as shocking when it is looked at through multiple lenses, allowing the viewer to get a better look at the photo itself, and how much it affects cultural norms.
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