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Public toilets: Difference between revisions
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==Advocating for gender-neutral restrooms== | ==Advocating for gender-neutral restrooms== | ||
There has long been a common misconception that having separate restrooms for men and women helps prevent assault. However, facts don't support this assumption. For preventing assault, a single-occupancy restroom is more effective. There is no reason for a single-occupancy restroom to be only for a certain gender. A gender-neutral, single-occupancy restroom makes public places safer for everyone.<ref name="trans bodies 576" /> | There has long been a common misconception that having separate restrooms for men and women helps prevent assault. However, facts don't support this assumption.<ref>{{cite book|chapter=Bathroom Bouncers: Sex-Segregated Restrooms|title=Beyond Trans: Does Gender Matter?|year=2017|first=Heath|last=Fogg Davis|publisher=New York University Press}}</ref> For preventing assault, a single-occupancy restroom is more effective. There is no reason for a single-occupancy restroom to be only for a certain gender. A gender-neutral, single-occupancy restroom makes public places safer for everyone.<ref name="trans bodies 576" /> | ||
Most public places only offer baby changing tables in the women's room, which can be a problem for fathers, and for any other caretaker who feels out of place in a women's room. Caretakers of babies, children, or other dependents want gender-neutral, single-occupancy restrooms. People who have disabilities want accessible, single-occupancy restrooms. Transgender, nonbinary, intersex, and gender nonconforming people can unite with these groups to organize and advocate for these improved public restrooms more effectively.<ref name="trans bodies 473">Laura Erickson-Schroth, ed. ''Trans Bodies, Trans Selves: A Resource for the Transgender Community.'' Oxford University Press, 2014. P. 473.</ref> | Most public places only offer baby changing tables in the women's room, which can be a problem for fathers, and for any other caretaker who feels out of place in a women's room. Caretakers of babies, children, or other dependents want gender-neutral, single-occupancy restrooms. People who have disabilities want accessible, single-occupancy restrooms. Transgender, nonbinary, intersex, and gender nonconforming people can unite with these groups to organize and advocate for these improved public restrooms more effectively.<ref name="trans bodies 473">Laura Erickson-Schroth, ed. ''Trans Bodies, Trans Selves: A Resource for the Transgender Community.'' Oxford University Press, 2014. P. 473.</ref> | ||
These are some resources for people who want there to be gender-neutral restrooms in public places. | These are some resources for people who want there to be gender-neutral restrooms in public places. | ||
* Transgender Law Center. (2005). ''Peeing in peace: A resource guide for transgender activists and allies.'' http://transgenderlawcenter.org/issues/public-accomodations/peeing-in-peace | * Transgender Law Center. (2005). ''Peeing in peace: A resource guide for transgender activists and allies.'' https://web.archive.org/web/20160505212347/http://transgenderlawcenter.org/issues/public-accomodations/peeing-in-peace | ||
* Sylvia Rivera Law Project (Producer) & Mateik, T. (Director). (2003). ''Toilet training: Law and order in the bathroom'' (DVD). United States: Silvia Rivera Law Project. | * Sylvia Rivera Law Project (Producer) & Mateik, T. (Director). (2003). ''Toilet training: Law and order in the bathroom'' (DVD). United States: Silvia Rivera Law Project. | ||
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How to find gender-neutral public toilets anywhere, and how to handle situations where these aren't available. | How to find gender-neutral public toilets anywhere, and how to handle situations where these aren't available. | ||
* [http://www.refugerestrooms.org/ Refuge Restrooms] is a replacement for Safe2pee. It also has an iOS app available. | * [http://www.refugerestrooms.org/ Refuge Restrooms] is a replacement for Safe2pee. It also has an iOS app available. | ||
*[http://safe2pee.org/ Safe2pee] is a crowdsourced world map of public toilets that are | *[https://web.archive.org/web/20170515190319/http://safe2pee.org/ Safe2pee] is a crowdsourced world map of public toilets that are gender-neutral and/or accessible. There is an iPhone app that uses the information so that you can find places when you're out and about, called [http://transquat.tumblr.com/ Transquat.]{{dead link}} | ||
==Restroom signs== | ==Restroom signs== | ||
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These kinds of signs have disadvantages: | These kinds of signs have disadvantages: | ||
* '''"Family restroom" signs''' can be seen as excluding people who are not being a caretaker of babies, children, or other dependents at that moment. Sometimes people who are by themselves get told they are not allowed to use them. | * '''"Family restroom" signs''' can be seen as excluding people who are not being a caretaker of babies, children, or other dependents at that moment. Sometimes people who are by themselves get told they are not allowed to use them. | ||
* '''Urinal signs''' that are only on restroom doors that have urinals can seem like a solution for making restrooms gender-neutral without changing the facilities in them. However, they can still be used to single out people who are expected to be able to pee standing up. People end up treating them as if they were still labeled as a men's room. As one trans woman, eva embers, said that a urinal sign "becomes an opportunity to out me, make assumptions about my genitals, essentialize my gender according to my birth sex, and push me into the men’s room."<ref>eva embers | * '''Urinal signs''' that are only on restroom doors that have urinals can seem like a solution for making restrooms gender-neutral without changing the facilities in them. However, they can still be used to single out people who are expected to be able to pee standing up. People end up treating them as if they were still labeled as a men's room. As one trans woman, eva embers, said that a urinal sign "becomes an opportunity to out me, make assumptions about my genitals, essentialize my gender according to my birth sex, and push me into the men’s room."<ref>{{cite web|author=eva embers|title=Here is what happens|website=Skysquids (blog)|date=May 1, 2014| url= https://skysquids.tumblr.com/post/49345228676/so-here-is-what-happens-to-me-when-we-do-the |archive-date=August 23, 2014 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140823034105/https://skysquids.tumblr.com/post/49345228676/so-here-is-what-happens-to-me-when-we-do-the}}</ref> In her experience, urinal signs did not reduce sex discrimination against her. | ||
* '''A transgender symbol''' is not a familiar symbol to everyone, and is not an international pictogram for a restroom. Restrooms need to be marked with an international pictogram, so that people who do not read the local language can recognize them without having to ask for help. | * '''A transgender symbol''' is not a familiar symbol to everyone, and is not an international pictogram for a restroom. Restrooms need to be marked with an international pictogram, so that people who do not read the local language can recognize them without having to ask for help. | ||
* '''Heart or moon symbols''' are traditional for outhouse doors in the Western world, but they are not common on public restroom signs. Maybe they should be, but at this point, they would be less recognizable as a restroom sign than human figure pictograms. | * '''Heart or moon symbols''' are traditional for outhouse doors in the Western world, but they are not common on public restroom signs. Maybe they should be, but at this point, they would be less recognizable as a restroom sign than human figure pictograms. | ||
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File:Gender inclusive restroom sign Dartmouth College Hanover NH August 2016.jpg|"This is a gender inclusive restroom" | File:Gender inclusive restroom sign Dartmouth College Hanover NH August 2016.jpg|"This is a gender inclusive restroom" | ||
File:Gender Inclusive Restroom.JPG|"Gender inclusive restroom," with lengthy explanation | File:Gender Inclusive Restroom.JPG|"Gender inclusive restroom," with lengthy explanation | ||
File:Gender-neutral bathroom Göteborg Sweden.jpg|A bathroom sign in Sweden, with rainbow pattern and [[gender symbols|transgender symbol]] to indicate inclusivity. | |||
File:Gender Neutral Bathroom.jpg|A large white triangle and the word "Restroom". Might not be understood as gender-neutral by all viewers. | |||
File:Universal Bathroom Sign - vgm8383.jpg|Stylized human figures: the left one has breasts and the right one has a penis. Referencing anatomy like this is in questionable taste. | |||
File:Carson Kitchen - Dec 2019 - Stierch 02.jpg|"Whatever, just please wash your hands." A joke restroom sign. The reclining alien is in questionable taste. | File:Carson Kitchen - Dec 2019 - Stierch 02.jpg|"Whatever, just please wash your hands." A joke restroom sign. The reclining alien is in questionable taste. | ||
File:25hours Vienna Restroom Sign.jpg|A joke restroom sign in bad taste, because it suggests unisex bathrooms are for peeping toms. | File:25hours Vienna Restroom Sign.jpg|A joke restroom sign in bad taste, because it suggests unisex bathrooms are for peeping toms. | ||
File:Beings sign - Cory Doctorow.jpg|A restroom sign labeled "Beings". | File:Beings sign - Cory Doctorow.jpg|A restroom sign labeled "Beings", which appears to depict a 3-headed person. Can be considered dehumanizing to transgender/nonbinary people. | ||
</gallery> | </gallery> | ||
==Further reading== | |||
*{{cite journal|first=Heath|last=Fogg Davis|year=2017|title=Why the "transgender" bathroom controversy should make us rethink sex-segregated public bathrooms|journal=Politics, Groups, and Identities|doi=10.1080/21565503.2017.1338971|url=https://heathfoggdavis.files.wordpress.com/2018/05/politics-groups-and-identities-article.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230621005230/https://heathfoggdavis.files.wordpress.com/2018/05/politics-groups-and-identities-article.pdf|archive-date=17 July 2023}} | |||
==See also== | ==See also== | ||