# Pornography and pin-ups in men's restrooms **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 8, 2020, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pornography-and-pin-ups-in-mens-restrooms/846112 "2020-01-08T06:47:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2020, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pornography-and-pin-ups-in-mens-restrooms/846112/81 "2020-01-10T20:30:55Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > No more so than if you go to a 50’s style diner or a Hard Rock Cafe. Well, duh, yes, in the case of the Hard Rock, for sure. 50’s theme diner, it could vary, depending on how into the decor they get. Just red leather booths and rock on the jukebox, not so much. Prints all over the walls and bobby soxer/greaser themed bathrooms? For sure. Although at some point it stops being pretentious and just becomes kitsch. > [@](#): > > I really don’t see how Le Diplomat is somehow more guilty of such obvious pretense. I never said it was \*more \*guilty than other places. That’s just your own gloss. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2020, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pornography-and-pin-ups-in-mens-restrooms/846112/82 "2020-01-10T21:01:44Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > I never said it was \*more \*guilty than other places. That’s just your own gloss. Fair enough. It’s _no more_ guilty than any other of its type. If you’re ever in town, we can go for a meal and sneer in knowing contempt. _Salut._ ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2020, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pornography-and-pin-ups-in-mens-restrooms/846112/83 "2020-01-10T21:06:01Z")
I’ve been in several semi-high-end restaurants, especially those with a retro theme, that have had Forties and Fifties pinup-girl pictures framed and on the walls, and one that has a striking, mostly-shadowed B&W picture of a reclining nude woman. (No softcore porn, though). Doesn’t bother me. If the management wants to hang beefcake pics in the women’s restrooms, bless 'em. ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2020, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pornography-and-pin-ups-in-mens-restrooms/846112/84 "2020-01-10T21:40:00Z")
The only pictures of women I recall seeing were in a sportsbook in Las Vegas, and that was done for laughs, google “Las Vegas Hilton Bathroom Mural” ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2020, 9:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pornography-and-pin-ups-in-mens-restrooms/846112/85 "2020-01-11T09:41:31Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > Fair enough. It’s _no more_ guilty than any other of its type. > > If you’re ever in town, we can go for a meal and sneer in knowing contempt. > > _Salut._ No idea where do you get “sneering”. I said their food looks delicious. I also said I don’t take pretension \*seriously \*- as in, say, mistaking pseudo-edgy decor for actual porn like the OP - but \*amused \*is not the same as _sneering_ and \*awareness \*isn’t _contempt_. I think you’re projecting … _something_. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2020, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pornography-and-pin-ups-in-mens-restrooms/846112/86 "2020-01-11T17:49:00Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > No idea where do you get “sneering”. I said their food looks delicious. I also said I don’t take pretension \*seriously \*- as in, say, mistaking pseudo-edgy decor for actual porn like the OP - but \*amused \*is not the same as _sneering_ and \*awareness \*isn’t _contempt_. > > I think you’re projecting … _something_. I was going to offer to pick up the check, but now I’m thinking, dutch. ---
**Author:** ![Anny\_Middon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc79bd/32.png) [@Anny\_Middon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anny_Middon)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2020, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pornography-and-pin-ups-in-mens-restrooms/846112/87 "2020-01-11T17:53:09Z")
> [@xizor](#): > > The only pictures of women I recall seeing were in a sportsbook in Las Vegas, and that was done for laughs, google “Las Vegas Hilton Bathroom Mural” Mr. Middon reported that the men’s room in the casino at the Las Vegas Riviera had similar artwork over the urinals. Nothing even remotely similar in the women’s room. But although we thought it was amusing, we did wonder at the intent. Was it to make the men feel like they were big swinging dicks which would make them want to swagger by gambling more? Or was it to subtly make them feel inadequate and to compensate by gambling more? Because, Vegas, ya know – everything is always about the benjamins. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2020, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pornography-and-pin-ups-in-mens-restrooms/846112/88 "2020-01-12T00:05:00Z")
> [@Anny\_Middon](#): > > But although we thought it was amusing, we did wonder at the intent. Was it to make the men feel like they were big swinging dicks which would make them want to swagger by gambling more? Or was it to subtly make them feel inadequate and to compensate by gambling more? > > Because, Vegas, ya know – everything is always about the benjamins. From [this casino design article](https://io9.gizmodo.com/how-casinos-use-design-psychology-to-get-you-to-gamble-1667182023), although it doesn’t mention urinal murals, I’m guessing that the point isn’t so much to directly impact men’s feelings about their dick size as to provide them with the illusion that they’re whipping it out for flirty attractive young women, which makes them feel pleased and attended to, which doubtless makes them more inclined to keep gambling. ---
**Author:** ![MollyCatherine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bc79bd/32.png) [@MollyCatherine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MollyCatherine)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2020, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pornography-and-pin-ups-in-mens-restrooms/846112/89 "2020-01-12T01:00:42Z")
Geesh. I think the most interesting decor I’ve seen in a women’s room was a plastic houseplant that had been plunked down on a rickety end table circa 1992 and never been dusted since. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2020, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pornography-and-pin-ups-in-mens-restrooms/846112/90 "2020-01-12T02:54:16Z")
> [@Anny\_Middon](#): > > But although we thought it was amusing, we did wonder at the intent. Was it to make the men feel like they were big swinging dicks which would make them want to swagger by gambling more? Or was it to subtly make them feel inadequate and to compensate by gambling more? While some of the women looked impressed or shocked, one of them is examining the goods with a magnifying glass (although above a different urinal, the same woman is using at tape measure extended to 10 or 12 inches.)😃 ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2020, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pornography-and-pin-ups-in-mens-restrooms/846112/91 "2020-01-13T04:31:44Z")
The only posters I have seen above urinals lately are all **advertisements** for junk. I think I’d prefer sort-core porn. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2020, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pornography-and-pin-ups-in-mens-restrooms/846112/92 "2020-01-13T05:38:26Z")
> [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](#): > > The only posters I have seen above urinals lately are all **advertisements** for junk. Well, isn’t that the best place to be advertising your junk? ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2020, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pornography-and-pin-ups-in-mens-restrooms/846112/93 "2020-07-12T23:27:00Z")
Heh, this thread reminds me of the long-running but now-defunct Bourbon Street Bar and Restaurant in Bangkok. Their men’s room featured a variety of photos of various animals copulating, everything from elephants to frogs and snakes. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2020, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pornography-and-pin-ups-in-mens-restrooms/846112/94 "2020-07-13T03:09:36Z")
Some restaurants have a “secret menu” which may often be a “worst-kept secret”. Perhaps the artwork under discussion here actually is the secret menu? ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2020, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pornography-and-pin-ups-in-mens-restrooms/846112/95 "2020-07-13T13:40:19Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > I’ve been in several semi-high-end restaurants, especially those with a retro theme, that have had Forties and Fifties pinup-girl pictures framed and on the walls… This describes Shaw’s Crab House in Schaumburg, IL. The walls in the men’s room are adorned with framed images of **[Vargas girls](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alberto_Vargas)**. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2020, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pornography-and-pin-ups-in-mens-restrooms/846112/96 "2020-07-13T13:53:04Z")
I have seen pin-ups in some men’s rooms, but nothing that would qualify as porn, not even soft core porn. The typical Cosmo cover on full display at the checkout is closer to porn than those pictures. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pornography-and-pin-ups-in-mens-restrooms/846112.md?page=4)