What do you think about a gender neutral washroom?

As long as it’s clean.
In my travels i’ve come up on these kinds of things on more than one occasion… The most memorable being a unisex locker room at a health club in Vienna. While most people didn’t bat an eye there was more than one tourist in the place who seemed enthralled by the lack of inhibition.

Here’s the thing: guys fart a lot more than ladies do. Out of kindness, I usually hold them in in front of girls, but that can get uncomfortable. If you take away the privacy of the male only bathroom, where will I fart?

as long as I don’t have to follow the guy code :P

One word: urinals.

@jeffgoldblumsprivatefacilities

You can always flush the toliet if you are farting so you can cover that noise. I don’t know if men fart more than women do, but men definately enjoy talking about it more than most women generally speaking.

Oh I guess you can have a urinal in a private stall too, most men wouldn’t want to pee sitting down, its gross, you can squat but it will make the seat dirty and you have to make sure to clean it afterwards.

I like the idea of having them separate.
I want to be able to ask a stranger for a tampon without men hearing me, to touch up my makeup without my date being in the same bathroom, to adjust my boobs in front of the mirror, and to have random, completely frivolous “I love your shoes!” chats with strangers without being overheard by men.

The bathroom is an intimate, safe place for women of any sexuality. We do things in there that men just don’t need to see or even know much about.

I love talking about farts

@Dr_C, in Germany, the sauna is unisex… and nude.

They even get mad at you if you try to keep the towel on.

(Ah, being 15 was fun back then… just walking by the sauna was good enough for an eye full).

In most locales there is a “family” bathroom. It’s nice and roomy and a very private bathroom for anyone that needs extra privacy!

I love the “family” bathroom, is it a bad idea to use the room or stall designated for disabled people? I mean, its more spacy but if there are no disable people around, what is the harm?

I know its bad, its like parking in a space reserved for people with disability.

I think the potential for women to be raped would increase in a unisex bothroom. Bathrooms are usually well insulated and in places like department stores, often hidden in a back corner of the store.

Well, I mean, there’s a difference between replacing the bathrooms we have now with “omnisex” ones and simply adding that option. I would be for the latter, but I wouldn’t be for the former so much.

I don’t foresee this overturning the institution (err) of segregated bathrooms any time soon in America but it could be an option. I would be happy to share a public restroom with women. I think. I don’t remember ever being in a women’s restroom so maybe there’s some secretive stuff going on that I wouldn’t want to partake in. But I’m pretty sure I’d be okay with it.

I live with two girls in a suite-style dorm right now and we’ve shared the bathroom before. Not at the same time, though, so it’s a little different still….

@hookecho Hurrrmmmm…. if a man were to want to do that, wouldn’t a unisex bathroom actually make that more difficult since there would be more people using the room? There’s nothing aside from social convention stopping a man from entering the womens room as a it is.

How about women’s and men’s wings for stalls and urinals and a shared sink area? This would also ease mothers’ minds when their boys want to use the guy’s bathroom and the same for fathers and daughters.

My bathroom at home is uni/omnisex/gender neutral.

@robmandu

I don’t like the idea of mandatory nudeness at a sauna , i think that is extreamly unfair!

@robmandu

Yeah, but how many bathrooms at home have multiple toilets? That would be kinda wonky.

I would advocate for a unisex washroom as long as it was individual washroom or gender segregated was available. I am fine advocating for having all options in fact that seems best to me (or individual rooms). However I would not feel comfortable and am unlikely using a multi-room unisex washroom. For safety reasons. Even with locks on the stall doors that does not keep people safe.

Pro Unisex washroom & unisex dressing room; It’s the 21st century for crying out loud.

Really, it comes down to the fact that you’re getting partially naked. You need real walls and a real door (not simply stalls) for most folks to feel comfortable knowing that the opposite sex (not gender—the whole gender discussion is to accommodate a tiny fraction of population – most of whom wouldn’t change the status quo anyways) is safely separated from you.

Now, like at home, if you have a single occupancy room, it can be gender-neutral. Stalls are not sufficient for most of us. Urinals even more so.

—

Any dude who says he won’t ogle some hot chick getting nekkid is lying to you. 21st century or no.

I have no problem with this. As the question points out, segregating them presumes two perfectly dichotomous sexes, which isn’t true to reality. I don’t want men to see me pee, but then again, I don’t want women to see me pee, and that’s why we have stalls.

Maybe they can have completely private stalls with real wall like separation so people can’t climb on top of the toliet seat and look over at another stall? meh. Maybe its not worth it? I don’t know!

It’s very common where I live. It’s to prefer I think. But it wouldn’t work in night clubs and bars.

Having accidentally ‘gone’ into the Men’s room at a posh hotel after having a few too many, I can say that I REALLY wouldn’t be able to go in a unisex bathroom. I was finished when I heard the male voices and almost passed out! Talk about sobering up quick! I unlocked stall, with head down, excused myself and went to the Ladie’s room to wash my hands! I can say for sure that I would have stage fright and it would just be better to keep holding it until I found a Women’s room.

I think it’s just one more step in trying to make women and men the same. They simply aren’t the same. We are not identical robots who need only think of efficiency. Everyone comes from a different background and a different culture. A unisex washroom isn’t compatible with this diversity. (IMHO)

College after the game. Drinking. Drinking Drinking. 2:30 a.m. and only Malibu Subs is open with a bathroom. Girls end up in the men’s room for the shorter line. Stage fright at the urinal with immense gotta-go pressure. Eventually finding the back of a dumpster for relief.

(Ah, being 21-ish was fun back then.)

A lot of my regular bars have unisex toilets or if not then a unisex entrance area with sinks etc.

and do you know what, it totally encourages people to wash their hands after they have been, no one wants to look like a dirty scratter in front of the opposite sex

I think it’s fine in most places, I wouldn’t like it in the office as there are only 25 of us and if the girls had to sit in the trap next to me while I was pinching off a loaf I would feel bad for them, or if I heard one of them plopping away, nah thanks.

I’m thinking that by unisex you mean both genders using it simultaneously.. lol… a unisex, one stall, bathroom is an entirely different matter. XD

Am I the only one who thinks “unisex” is a goofy term? It should be “omnisex”. “Uni” means “one”. One sex. That’s the system we currently have. “Omni” means “all”. All sexes. Makes more sense to me…

Where I live, the law is that multiple-stall restrooms are divided, and single units are unisex. A lot of the bars have one or two single restrooms, and men and women all stand in the best line. That’s probably the best answer. One place had a mens room one one side and a womens room on the other, divided by a wall at shoulder height. I’m not really observant and I was probably drunk, plus both sides looked basically identical. I was washing my hands and looked up into what I thought for a split second was the mirror, and there was a guy there. It really startled me.

@DominicX Yes makes more sense to me your way as well.

@robmandu now you see why i loved my time in european boarding school… traveling helped me “experience” all these “cultural” differences. Awesome for a teenager.

The staff bathrooms at school used to be gender specific by alternating floor (4 floors-2 stall rooms) so that I had to run down the hall and up or downstairs during the 5 min passing period. Someone made a smart decision to reconfigure them into 2 gender non-specific bathrooms on each floor with a sliding lock when occupied.

I should have pointed out that a lot of the bars I go to are either GLBT or GLBT friendly bars, that might be the difference

All for it. I think it’s dumb they we have seperate ones now. It would get rid of women taking their sons into women’s restrooms, which I hate.

@tinyfaery

hehe…my mom did that with me when I was little… :)

Little is one thing. But a 10 year old? Ick.

Prefer not, if for no other reason than the men’s bathrooms are disgustingly dirty most of the time, where as the women’s aren’t. Besides, all public bathroms have stalls where a person could hide if they were uncomfortable with how they look.

@tinyfaery

Yeah, that’s too old in my opinion. Kids are going to have to learn to go into the public bathroom properly eventually. I think that if I ever went into a public bathroom at that age, I would go in with my brother most often. And even if I didn’t, it’s just a bathroom.

I think it’d be unfortunately impossible to get rid of single-gender bathrooms due to the conventions of our society (not to mention that I do personally prefer womens’ rooms as they tend to be cleaner).

However there should also be the option of gender-neutral single-person bathrooms that should be large enough for mothers with children, and appropriate for people of all genders. It’s ridiculous to think that transgendered, genderqueer and intersex people should have to risk abuse using gender binary public restrooms because they are all that is available.

Well, they have signs up at WalMart that tells of “family bathrooms” at the back of the store….

One person can be a family, I suppose.

Is it clean? Is there an attendant? Then I don’t care.

It wouldn’t work in public, since children and I would think pre-pubescent girls and boys would want to be separated.
As adults, it’s not a big deal. But, I do prefer being separated. Men just don’t follow the proper etiquette..especially when it comes to pooping, from what my husband tells me. I couldn’t handle that.

@casheroo I have to ask, what do you mean about the pooping? Didn’t understand that.

@oratio lol even @judi mentioned it in another thread. The whole “no noise” rule in the woman’s bathroom. It’s just how it is.

@casheroo Oh. Right.

I really really want to ask WHY women’s bathrooms are cleaner than men’s! And do men even know this fact? (I’ll bet more women use the men’s room in an “emergency” than men use the women’s—men would rather take it outside behind the building than go in a sissy girls bathroom! LOL!) Men’s bathrooms smell bad, there is usually toilet paper on the floor, even the walls are dirty. What’s up with that? Ok, the smell could come from “missing,” but shouldn’t they make some attempt to clean it up?
But…I’m out of questions. Used them all up on drunk questions instead of important questions like pooping and peeing.

@Val123 Because men are dirty.

Umm… I hear plops all the time in the women’s bathroom. No girl code here.

@Facade My husband would not consider himself dirty. Most men I’ve known personally were not dirty people….which makes me wonder if they realize the shape men’s rooms are in compared to women’s….maybe I’d reword the question to read, “Men, do you even know how much dirtier men’s rooms are than women’s? And how does that make you feel?”
But I DO have to admit, none of my men have ever put the premium on all around cleanliness that I have. My husband will wash floors, but not walls and refridgerators, wash dishes, but not the splash guard behind the sink, clean the bathroom, but not down on his hands and knees with a washcloth behind the toilet, things like that.
Ask a question about men being dirty, will ya??!! Doesn’t have to be about bathrooms. I want to see the response!

I was half-way joking

Men, do you even know how much dirtier men’s rooms are than women’s?
Yes.

but my daughter says the same thing, and to a certain extent, it may be true. I never really thought of it, but, yeah. No man I’ve ever known cleans the way I do, with attention to detail, and I am FAR from the most fastidious house cleaner in the world! I hate housework!

@oratio And you know this how?? Tell me! Tell me!

@Val123 I could vouch for one. My Shnookums is a bit cleaner/neater than I. He’s the one getting on me about leaving my stuff around <3

@Val123 I have cleaned bathrooms in many places. I worked for some years bar tending. And a few times I happened to walk into the wrong one. I don’t claim to know why this seems to be the case. I just know that often there is a difference.

Night club and bar toilets are more easily explained I think, but it might apply generally. In my opinion, people care more about picking up after themselves if a place is fresh and clean. Women don’t pee on the floor or ring of the only reason that they sit down, and often pick up after them.

If a guy stands up there is always some spraying no matter how much he tries, and when a bathroom gets dirty after a number of visits, people just don’t care much about cleaning up after themselves.

This goes for both men and women, but the mess of mens bathrooms escalate quite easily it seems. Also, it seems to me that women tend to make a fuzz about unsanitary conditions whereas men might not care as much.

I own a bar…Both sexes are utter pigs!

When out with my son, we only visit the family bathroom. The public is way to loud for him, as he despises the high pressure toilets flushing.

I have wondered for years why we don’t have omnisex bathrooms Good on ya @DominicX because it just doesn’t make sense to me. We both poop, we both pee, hell, we both puke. The way I see it, any other actions that are not necessary you undertake at your own risk. When I do my makeup in a public bathroom or change clothes or whatever, I don’t like doing it when other people are in the bathroom, regardless of sex. I suppose the only way to ease in to the idea would be to put three bathrooms in a place, one men’s, one women’s, and one omnisex.

Just to put a spin on the cleanliness thing. My hubby has to clean bathrooms as part of his job (i know, that sucks). He hates the way women dispose of their monthlies because it can be a nasty hassle for him if they do so improperly. So men may be dirtier in some ways but I can testify to my husband’s complaint as well. Some women just don’t dispose of things properly or leave “spots” on the seat, and frankly that is just nasty.

@KatawaGrey Hm. I’m a thinkin we should identify ourselves as male or female when we answer this question!
@RedPowerLady Ew! Totally agree!!

Our local bakery is run by a couple from France. As a matter of course the two bathrooms in the cafe section are both “omnisex.” Both have a toilet and a urinal and a sink, and both have a sturdy lock on the door.

I must admit as a female I really am not a fan of having to use the toilet right next to a urinal that seems to always have a bit of an odor no matter what is done. However, it is also nice to be able to use either bathroom if one is occupied. I often feel frustrated when the womens’ bathroom is occupied, the mens’ is not, but others would be appalled if I used the mens room.

The owners of the bakery tell me that “omnisex” bathrooms are common in restaurants in France.

@Darwin I have gotten far less “sensitive” about using the “men’s” room in the last 10 years than I was, say in my 20’s and 30’s, not to mention in my teens. Any more it’s like I’m thinking, “We have 5 women (and 8 children) waiting in line, the men’s room is not in use, hasn’t been for the last five minutes”….I’ll finally snap and say “HEY! Will you guard the door?!” to the lady in front of me. Invariably I start a stamped and have to take my turn at guard duty.

And at most places like that they don’t have urinals, (because not much toilet business) just regular toilets, like, single room places (no stalls—convenience stores) but the men’s rooms STILL stank.

Are women’s bathrooms really cleaner than men’s most of the time? This has not been my experience at all…

Anyway, being genderqueer, I’m all for gender neutral bathrooms. When I can even manage to get myself out in public to begin with, I often find myself having panic attacks in bathrooms because I have a miniature existential crisis every time I have to choose which one to use.

Well @MacBean I would like to hear of your experiences, as they have been quite different from mine. As I mentioned earlier, I truly think one has to identify with male or female gender when answering this particular question, because it really is quite polarized. If you are neither, that’s OK. BUT on the other hand can you really sympathize with one or the other?

PS. You can use my bathroom, no questions asked (except “knock, knock, “anyone in there”?) anytime you like. Because (WHAT kind of questions would we ask of someone who simply had to go to da bafroom???)

Most of the time bathrooms are bathrooms and people of any gender aren’t as careful in public ones because they’re not the ones who are going to have to clean up. So they’re all at least a little gross (though I’m sure there must be exceptions). But the only time I’ve ever seen truly disgusting bathrooms, it’s always been the ladies’ room. A few times it’s been diaper-related, which… I guess is somewhat understandable; there’s no way of knowing how much of a rush the person was in, or why…

But most of what I’m thinking of when I say my experience doesn’t match with yours comes from when I was in high school when I worked at a Walmart/K-Mart type store. I was in charge of the jewelry counter, which was right near the bathrooms, so every time there was a problem in either of them, I’m the one people would report it to. I can only recall one incident with the men’s room, when someone took a dump in a urinal. (Whyyyyy!? The toilets are right there!)

But there was major drama in the women’s room at least weekly. Big urine puddles on the floor, explosive diarrhea that missed the bowl, overflowing toilets from improper disposal of pads/tampons/what-have-you… Once it was actually a pair of bloodied panties. What the hell did they leave the bathroom wearing? Maybe they had someone with them who bought (or stole) underwear from the store for them… I don’t know.

One summer for about a month and a half we had one person—it had to be the same one, or I have no faith in humanity at all anymore—who would come in on a weekly basis, take an enormous crap, smear a bunch of it all over the walls, and then leave it all for someone to find. Of course, I got in trouble about this. Since I was the only person who could see the bathrooms from where I was working, I was supposed to keep an eye out for the serial poop painter. I swear I did but I never saw anything…

Ugh. It was so gross. :(
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P.S. I would think identifying with only one gender would make it harder to answer this question objectively. People who identify with neither or both would have sympathy for neither or both and therefore would judge more fairly. Don’t you think?

@MacBean Ugh! I bow to the expert! I think I’m gonna frow up! But, truly, in my experience men’s room are dirtier than womens.

As far as identifying with one gender making it more difficult to answer, my logic was that it’s quite the opposite. Simply put, even if you feel yourself to be gender neutral, chances are you’ll use either the men’s room or the women’s room. You won’t just go in to either/or at random. So, if you go into the women’s room 99% of the time, and into the men’s room only 1% of the time, and every single time you use the men’s room you can’t help but notice that it’s always dirtier than the women’s room that you use 99% of the time. Conversely, if you use the men’s room 99% of the time, perhaps you might take note that the women’s rooms are always cleaner than what you’re used to.

@Val123 – Actually there is another reason I am hesitant to use the men’s room. Once I was in a club in Miami where the line for the women’s room was incredibly long, but the men’s room line was non-existent. A couple of women ahead of me decided that they had enough and went in and used the men’s room. They were arrested when they came out. Apparently there is some law there that doesn’t allow folks to use the restroom not assigned to their sex.

I have no idea if such a law exists where I live now but I would prefer not to test it. Besides, the women’s room is generally the cleaner of the two.

@Darwin Huh! You know, I bet that law was really meant to be enforced against men using the women’s restroom. For obvious reasons.

@Val123 – Probably, but that wasn’t how it was written, or, in this case, enforced.

@Val123 That might be so, but it could also be for men and women to refrain from going into either bathroom to have sex. That wasn’t unusual in the bars where I worked.

@Darwin LOL! That’s what the BAR is for, right?? :)

I once went to a club where the ladies room had a sign that said if two women were found in a stall together, they would be removed. I wonder if either there was a high incidence of lesbian sex at that club or a high incidence of cat fights.

Or coke snorting.

^^That’s what I was going to say.

That was my immediate thought as well.

That makes so much more sense. I prefer the lesbian sex.

How do you need two people to snort coke? (I don’t know nofing about this stuff…)

If you snort alone, you’re a drug addict. If you snort with a friend, you’re just having fun.

@KatawaGrey Ah. I see.

@Val123: Yeah, there’s a similar idea with alcohol and college. See, no matter how much you black out, how many times you go to the hospital, how much your grades/job/relationships suffer, it’s not alcoholism if you’re in college.

@KatawaGrey Oh man!

Unisex bathrooms are a blessing for me, because I don’t look female enough to use the womens, and I don’t look male enough to use the men’s. No matter which I pick I will get someone telling me I’m in the wrong one. I would like to see more unisex ones in addition to segregated ones.