Private or Public?

Our class discussion today brought up some was very interesting thoughts about public writing. From NEU bathroom stalls to Trimbur’s reading, public writing is everywhere. I got to hear different opinions as to whom in the class thought that Kluwe’s main purpose was to either sham Emmett Burns or raise the awareness of a same-sex marriage. I think that by writing about such a topic to a public figure shows that he wants to spread the awareness of same-sex marriages and believes that it is something that needs to be brought to the general public. I personally think that Kluwe wrote this letter to sham Emmett Burns as his main purpose, however his argument is solely the trying to change the people’s opinion in legislation that vote on these kinds of matters. One must also realize that this letter has been taken out of context, as there are letters prior to this letter.

The argument between private vs. public is very interesting in its own ways. Nowadays, almost everything is public from newspapers to the Internet. Coming back to the letter, the title is “An Open Letter to Emmett Burns,” this already states that its not going to be a private letter between two people. It is an “open letter,” indicating that it appeals to different audiences of different backgrounds. The audiences that Kluwe was trying to achieve were Emmett Burns himself, sport fans, politicians and more. This relates to public writing and its seven steps. The one that I found most interesting for this instance is a relationship among strangers and either it being personal/impersonal. The use of Huffington Post makes it even more accessible for the general public to look for it, which then again appeals to the public as a whole and not just solely to Emmett Burns himself.

Graffiti, a way to express oneself through art even though it is illegal. In class the writing of “Fuck NEU” in the Holmes Hall men’s bathroom is very intriguing to me that it has different audiences. Initially it is restricted to be to people that attend that specific bathroom, men, making it slightly semi-private. However, I personally think that it is public cause everyone will hear about it either through a conversation, a text, or photo and each individual will have their own view on it and what it means to them. Public writing has an initial audience, however tends to grabs other audiences as well either through the shared level of interest or a photo. For example, when I post on Facebook, I post with the intention that it is going to be read by my closest friends. However, I need to be careful as to what I say as it can be shown to my friends of friends and their friends of friends and so on. Facebook may say it is private, but in reality it is all out there for people to see.

I personally think that almost nothing is private except specific occasions where technology is not involved. There is no balance between privacy and publicity. Overall, the purpose is that almost everything is publicized and we must always consider the context that it is written in otherwise it can create havoc.