Public toilets: Difference between revisions
→Restroom signs: Added a source.
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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 still be used to single out people who are expected to be able to pee standing up. | * '''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, "Here is what happens." ''Skysquids'' (blog). May 1, 2014. https://skysquids.tumblr.com/post/49345228676/so-here-is-what-happens-to-me-when-we-do-the Archive: 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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These kinds of signs have advantages: | These kinds of signs have advantages: | ||
* '''Pictograms of human figures''' are the most internationally recognized symbols for restrooms. It's familiar and effective to see unisex bathrooms marked with just two figures, the standard male and female pictograms. Three figures-- male, female, and a figure that is a mixture of both-- help clarify that these are not the only two genders, and that people who are gender nonconforming are welcome. Some unisex restrooms are marked with a single figure that is a mixture of both male and female pictograms. | * '''Pictograms of human figures''' are the most internationally recognized symbols for restrooms. It's familiar and effective to see unisex bathrooms marked with just two figures, the standard male and female pictograms. Three figures-- male, female, and a figure that is a mixture of both-- help clarify that these are not the only two genders, and that people who are gender nonconforming are welcome. Some unisex restrooms are marked with a single figure that is a mixture of both male and female pictograms. This mixed figure is based on the split costume from a Victor-Victoria burlesque stage act, which is maybe not the best choice for representing real people who are gender nonconforming, nonbinary, or intersex. | ||
* '''A pictogram of a baby or a baby changing table''' can be helpful to mark on a restroom door, where applicable. | * '''A pictogram of a baby or a baby changing table''' can be helpful to mark on a restroom door, where applicable. | ||
* '''"Unisex"''' is okay and common, so it is more recognizable to more people. | * '''"Unisex"''' is okay and common, so it is more recognizable to more people. | ||
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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:Carson Kitchen - Dec 2019 - Stierch 02.jpg|"Whatever, just please wash your hands." A joke restroom sign | 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. | ||
</gallery> | </gallery> | ||