The Tide Is Turning But In The Wrong Direction: Law Student Women's Group Argues For All-Gender Restrooms

submitted by SophiaLoren from self.GenderCritical

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[–]Greykittymomma 10 insightful - 1 fun10 insightful - 0 fun11 insightful - 1 fun -  (5 children)

I just want several private unisex bathrooms. They are great for families, new moms, single dads with kids, handicapped (one less extra door to mess with) and could even benefit those trans people who really are "just there to pee".

Let them piss alone behind a locked door. I will take my chances with possibly pissing my pants with fewer public toilets if it means I can have some fucking privacy when I do find one.

What the fuck is with the door gaps???

[–]MarkTwainiac 8 insightful - 1 fun8 insightful - 0 fun9 insightful - 1 fun -  (4 children)

The vertical gaps allow people to see if a stall is actually occupied. They also permit parents/carers/others to see if someone in a stall needs help. The gaps at the bottom allow others to see if someone has passed out and fallen to the floor, and also to crawl underneath if the lock is broken or a child or someone else in the stall can't work the lock.

Private, self-contained loos for use by the two sexes have their own disadvantages. They make it much easier for (male) voyeurs to place spycams in and for (male) predators to push girls, boys and women into and abuse them. Also, males who stand to pee get their urine all over the floors and seats in such loos, which makes them much less pleasant and hygienic for female users.

Some males will also use self-contained, single-user public or communal loos used by both sexes to masturbate in.

Male menstrual fetishists will also constantly raid the sanitary bins in solitary unit mixed-sex toilets to acquire used tampons and pads.

Finally, mixed-sex, self-contained solitary loos will expose female people to many more pathogens. Coz research has shown that male people do not wash their hands after peeing or shitting the way female people customarily do.

[–]Greykittymomma 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

I don't want or need people looking in on me I don't really care what your reasoning is, bathrooms aren't like this everywhere.

We aren't guaranteed super clean places to cater to our whims. If a place can clean single sex bathrooms daily they can do this too.

I wash my hands and use paper towels to touch any surface after that and assume all surfaces are contaminated.

As an employee of several stores, restaurants and retail, the women's rooms I cleaned were just as gross if not worse than the men's. Many restaurants and grocery stores already have several family bathrooms and it works well.

Also, I would rather a guy wank alone in the bathroom and not right in the next stall. If they want to steal my tampon I hope they choke on it.

[–]MarkTwainiac 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

It's not necessarily my personal reasoning. I'm just pointing out some of the reasoning behind the setup you dislike, and a few of the issues with the setup you'd prefer. Personally, I see your points and agree with many of them.

But I was trying to get on record some of the rationale for current communal toilet arrangements coz in these convos people often speak about the built environment and public accommodations as if the way things are arranged is entirely arbitrary and came about by happenstance. When, in fact, usually designers, industrial psychologists and others have put a lot of thought into every detail. Their reasoning and solutions might be flawed; in fact, it might be downright wrong, dumb and full of blind spots. But some reasoning is usually there.

[–]Greykittymomma 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

I appreciate the response. I've thought about this a lot.

I also hate how they never make working sinks anymore, though I understand why they are designed to be low flow and no touch it still makes it maddening when they don't function.

[–]MarkTwainiac 5 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 0 fun6 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I've thought about this a lot too. There are many directions from which to approach it. Yes, there are many maddening aspects to how the built environment, including communal toilets, is/are designed. Traditionally designers have been mostly able-bodied male people who are unaware of the needs and wants of people different to themselves.

The ridiculous norms and "truths" of domestic kitchen design are another one of my pet peeves. Most of the people who came up with the standards for kitchen design that still prevail today (the height of counters & cabinets, the "kitchen triangle" setup) don't cook or bake, shop for groceries or put them away at home, wash dishes/pots, or even know how to use a dishwasher. Many of them are totally clueless about household appliances and what "housekeeping" involves - which is why in the UK it's now customary to put machines for washing and drying clothing in the same room where food is stored and prepared.

This seems to stem from the view that originated in the early 20th century for reasons of practicality in the eyes of home designers, builders and appliance manufacturers. In this view, all plumbed fixtures and appliances naturally go together. Which is why in some countries such as the USA, we've ended up with "bathrooms" that are dedicated to a bunch of very different bodily functions - from shitting & pissing on one end to bathing, cleansing, grooming, shaving and prettifying our bodies, brushing our teeth, looking in mirrors and styling our hair at the other end. Whereas in places like France, excreting waste from our urethras and asses traditionally have been kept separate from bathing, grooming and all the rest.

I think the lesson here is that more people should be consulted during the planning and design phase of toilet facilities. And the more people who have input should be made up of at least 50% female people, and that category should include girls & women of different views, ages, needs, cultures, etc.