Boy or girl. Women’s or Men's. To most people going to the bathroom isn’t given a second thought. If you are female, obviously you go in the girls’ bathroom. The opposite gender does the same. Easy and simple, right? To most it is not even sexist. I was in that category until I went to a restaurant at the local mall. It was jungle themed, which was not my favourite. That I could ignore. The bathrooms, on the other hand, really ticked me off. They were labelled “Tarzan” and “Jane”. Instantly I got the “Me Tarzan, you Jane, me protect Jane” idea in my head. Naturally that sounded extremely sexist and I hated that.
This experience got me thinking. Have bathrooms always been gender segregated? What was the reason for it? Like for most things I get curious about, I turned to Google. My search, however, came up almost empty. The results showed almost entirely debates on the idea of unisex bathrooms. The only historical information I found was about public baths in Japan and Greece; where getting clean was a social event.
Looking at the debates, the consensus were mixed. Some thought one gender was less likely to make messes. Others thought it would scar your kids to walk in on people using the facilities, which, in my mind, makes absolutely no sense because that could be remedied by stalls, though in reality, there shouldn't be any scarring from someone going to the bathroom. Even children do it. A small portion of the debaters say that they wouldn't care either way.
“Even children do it.” Segregated bathroom presents trouble for most parents of the opposite gender. Which bathroom can they use? Older children can obviously go by themselves, but not the little ones. There is no difference in using an unisex bathroom and bringing a young child into the opposite sex bathroom. Most changing tables are still in the women’s bathroom, making it difficult for the male relatives. That alone is extremely sexist and unfair to both genders.
Another difficulty that segregated bathrooms bring is for the disabled community. Partners who need help often have to wait until they find a family bathroom, which is still fairly new to society, or hold it. In some societies the physically challenged aren’t meant to live productive lives and raise families. In result, accommodating them is a foreign idea.
Another difficulty that segregated bathrooms bring is for the disabled community. Partners who need help often have to wait until they find a family bathroom, which is still fairly new to society, or hold it. In some societies the physically challenged aren’t meant to live productive lives and raise families. In result, accommodating them is a foreign idea.
There is also the minority of transgender people. Changing the body in any way is never easy. To be forced to use one room just because you currently look like one gender is downright cruel. It is forcing them to deny their true gender to avoid others’ discomfort. Of course, there are all the people in between; androgyny, cross dressers, and drag queens.
In my opinion unisex rooms would make a lot more people happy and give them the ability to just go pee.
In my opinion unisex rooms would make a lot more people happy and give them the ability to just go pee.
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