The Testosterone Subculture

Growing up in what is commonly referred to as a “male dominated society” one often finds themselves surrounded by many of the tribal symbols and ritualistic incantations which make up what can be called the testosterone driven masculine subculture. It often seems that nearly every aspect of our small world has been, in some way, adorned with the primitive markings with which many male members of society, ranging from children to adults alike, use as proof of their existence. The value of such stated “existences” is open to debate and is often proven by the very nature of the markings themselves.

To put things a little more simply, the male ego requires of the man certain activities and exercises which, upon proper completion, allow the participant to feel a certain strength, confidence, and overall power in their abilities. These psychologically vital activities may include, but are not limited to, inflicting varying levels of pain on other men, the destruction of any piece of public property which isn’t securely fastened down, the leaving floaters in all public toilets, the theft of small insignificant items from offices or places of business, throwing aerosol paint cans into bonfires, the ruination of a neighbors lawn through the use of driveway salt and/or gasoline, farting, and lastly, as will be addressed in this article, the scrawling of minor insignificant and often offensive messages in public areas including bathroom stalls, phone booths, and schoolrooms.
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The Gratification of Graffiti

The most base and foundational form of vandalism has always been that of graffiti. Chosen for its ease and simplicity the art of graffiti can be viewed most commonly in bathroom stalls, cafeteria tables, school desks, on the back of chairs, on the walls of elevators, study areas, bookshelves, signs or public notices, and anywhere else a man may find themselves idly standing around unsupervised. Graffiti vandalization is unskilled, readily available, relatively safe, cheap, and fast. It is attractive to many unoccupied men because it can be exercised almost anywhere, at anytime, and uses only the items found readily available in one’s own pocket. Perhaps the most rewarding feature of the act of graffito is the voice of anonymity which it renders to the author. The man is now given freedom the freedom to speak his profound thoughts regarding bands, bosses or teachers, and even ex-girlfriends with little fear of reprisals.

The Tools of a Scrawler

The Pencil

The pencil is the most temporary form of scrawled vandalism and also the most widespread. Graphite markings will show on almost any surface commonly encountered in many public buildings and lower rent office blocks. Pencil graffito is commonly seen on school desks, chairs, paper signs, and materials made of textured plastic(like calculators or some linoleum walls). The pencil can be used for easily and effectively scrawling anything from a simple message, such as “gent bent,” to the depiction of such renowned literary characters as Homer Simpson or Bevis and Butthead. Pencils are cheap, fit easily into ones pocket, and generate very little suspicion thanks to their overall commonality. The major drawback of using the pencil is that one’s messages can easily become smeared or erased. In addition, messages of a specific message can be easily changed to convey a very adverse one. For instance, a message reading, “Smashing Pumpkins Rulz!!” can very simply be changed into “Smashing Pumpkins Sux!!” with almost no difficulty at all.

The Pen

An upgrade from the pencil, the pen can be a much more permanent utensil for the scrawling of graffiti depending, however, on the material. Pen is most often used on wooden materials, paper signs, and some plastic surfaces. The use of pen offers a much more bold statement, lending a high contrast black ink as opposed to the faded, gray hue of pencil lead. Pen is more commonly restricted to simple messages but more skilled scrawlers have been known to draw pictures and images using the pen. Furthermore, the pen serves a dual purpose when used to vandalize a soft, yielding material such as a particle board desk or chair or low grade plastics. The pen will write on such surfaces, but more importantly the hard metal tip of the pen, when substantial pressure is applied, will carve into the weaker material creating a permanent message on the author’s canvas. This is extremely attractive to a dedicated scrawler, for while the ink may smear, the indentation is permanent. A huge drawback of the pen is that it smears easily. If the author is not careful, they may smear their own work. Should the ink dry, it often can be easily washed of from many plastic type surfaces when a soap and sponge are applied.

The Sharpie Permanent Marker

The Sharpie permanent marker is the master key as far as utensils go. The marker will write on nearly anything, anywhere. The writings of a permanent marker are thick, loud, and bold. When a scrawler really wants to make a point, he uses the Sharpie. The marker is mainly used to write short, simple phrases and sometimes can be used to create simple cartoons. Some drawbacks of the Sharpie marker are that it is big, obvious, and indiscreet. If a scrawler is caught with a Sharpie there is little room for explanation and the message is often to big and obvious to hide. Furthermore, many people do not regularly carry permanent markers on their person making its very presence suspect. Most importantly, on some plastic or linoleum surfaces the permanent marker can be rendered completely erasable through the use of a dry erase marker. To explain, after the graffito has already been applied using the permanent marker, trace over the markings using a dry erase maker and then simply using a dry rag wipe the desk clean, and the markings will be completely gone. ²

The Car Keys

The final, most permanent and most destructive means of scrawling. By using car keys, scrawlers can carve into nearly any material their desired message. This method is often used on the finished wood of desks, chairs, or railings, on plastic desks, linoleum walls, on metal shelves, and even on the side of cars. Because of the tools simplicity, relative lack of detail, and time requirements car keys are mainly used for carving simple two or three word phrases. Key scrawlings are often offensive in nature, as the author wanted his message to be permanent and went to a whole lot of trouble to say it. The major drawback of the car keys is legality. Carving into a surface, be it a desk or the hold of someone else’s car, is seen as a flagrant and heinous act of vandalism. The carvings made be keys almost always cost someone money, and most scrawlers generally shy away from their use.

The Message

It now comes to the meat of the issue. With their many locations and methods of vandalization, just what are these men writing? As was stated earlier, the purpose of graffito is the gratification of the male ego. Due to the relative anonymity which the scrawler is given these messages can range from being a basic statement of ones ideals to an extremely gratifying attack on an unsuspecting person. The message can range from a silly little poem comprised of verse and rhyme to a coldhearted and simple attack on a person’s sexuality. Whatever be the messages intent or aim, certain guidelines are present to maintain a level of maturity across our nation’s many walls and desktops.

The Epithet

Ranging from confident proclamations of an individual’s own value meant to malicious denunciation on the conduct or manner of other certain individuals, the epithet is probably the most common message type used by scrawlers. Requiring little creativity or thought, it is a simple statement of opinion or fact impressed upon the author. The epithet is always made regarding a specific, and named, person. For example “John Richards rules!” or “Jason is a queer” are common forms of the epithet. Due to the direct nature of the epithet, this message form often falls prey to the contradiction, which will be discussed later on.

The Hyperbole

The hyperbole is a gross overstatement of facts or opinion expressed by the author. The hyperbole can be made in geniality, expressing an unbelievable and often humorous event, such as “I pooped a hammer.” Conversely the hyperbole statement can be made in intense emotion, ranging from anger to joy. Many of such messages merit a certain level of censorship, but the reader can surmise the basic nature of said statements.

Statement of Truth

The statement of truth is normally a little bit of a misnomer, as the truthful statement is made, solely from the point of view of the author and more often than not comes under attack of the contradiction. In fact, the point which makes the statement of truth distinguishable is that, in actuality, it is a statement of the author’s opinion as fact. Statements of truth can be very plain in nature, for example the very simple, “Aaron was here” is an all too common graffito found in many classrooms. Another graffito common to classrooms is a statement of belief, for example “Professor Crandell is an arrogant jerk”. The statement of belief is perhaps the most common statement of truth ranging from, as before, teachers, music “I love Punk Rock”, politics “I hate Jimmy Carter”, sports “Seahawks suck”, entertainment “Tom Cruise is gay”, literature “Frodo lives”, and other such important and insightful topics.

The Band Name

While it is not entirely a statement of truth, the band name is a scrawling of a musical group which the author has a certain affinity for. However, unlike the statement of truth, no further information is provided by the author other than that of the band name. Scrawlings of this nature include “AC/DC”, “Ozzy Osbourne”, or “Radiohead”. It is important to recognize that no information originally proceeds or follows the band name. It is because of this nature of the scrawling that it is often the target of the contradiction, as will be addressed later on.