If you’ve arrived here then it’s because you’ve been redirected from Krakatoa’s page entitled “Social Misconduct”, and the following associated signage scattered throughout the bar.
Krakatoa adheres to social (rather than liberal) egalitarian philosophy, which is predicated on fundamental (rather than political) correctness. The distinction being that fundamental correctness depends on respect and tolerance, whereas political correctness is an inherently authoritarian concept. Dive bars do not pander to the judgemental.
Criticism
There’s been a small amount of negative feedback in relation to this, all of it rooted in political correctness, and Black Cat would like to address each of these points:
C1) It appears to be gender biased towards women.
R1) That’s also true of sexual harassment. While there haven’t been many academic studies on this, the most credible one indicates a strong bias towards women. Here’s the summary table…
C2) The cartoon on the signage fails to address same sex harassment, or that targeted towards non-binary people.
R2) Surely it’s presumptive to apply gender norms in respect of the stick figures depicted on the sign? If you want to fully transverse the political correctness wormhole, then perhaps it’s worth noting the protagonists appear to be both able bodied, and of the same race…
C3) The gag with the blow up doll gives the impression that harassment is synonymous with dirty old men, and fails to take account of the deeper power dynamic.
R3) Is there a better way to reflect the power dynamic than to evoke the domination inherent in using a ‘love’ doll? These dolls primarily cater for those who want something compliant that is incapable of withholding consent. Yet here you are drawing misinformed conclusions around the fetishes common among ‘dirty old men’.
Closing Argument
The chief function of dive bar signage is to shame people. Humour is used to draw attention to an issue, summarised in the bluntest terms, whilst being fundamentally correct in its assessment. These signs are intended to ridicule and cause maximum offence to those they are targeted at, thereby acting as a passive deterrent in their own right. They exist to stimulate the critical faculties.