Shared, genderless restrooms

[bcla]

It was a first for me. We went to an art museum last week and when we had to go we had to go. Only we were trying to figure it out. There was a little sign saying that all restrooms weren't gender specific, although urinals were only available in one room. There was also one single/family restroom.

The sign was in English. Over each door was a blank triangle, so that was kind of confusing. As a practical matter it looks like all they did was change the signs. The urinals all had standard partitions and the stalls were all pretty standard ones with visible cracks. Outside of getting over hangups of being in the same room, I don't think anyone was shocked. I guess All McBeal covered this 20 years ago, but I'd never been to a restroom in a public place like this. On top of that there were some foreign visitors who might not have been able to pick up on it. Even those who understood some English might not have been able to understand the signs.

I'd been to a dorm restroom years ago where it was all gender. However, it had no urinals and the stalls were all designed to cover the cracks, with the doors and partitions all the way down to the floor and about 8 feet high. This one last week seemed to be more of a "mind your own business and you'll be OK" thing.

 

[shoney]

Went to a restaurant in manhattan recently that had one bathroom. 2 stalls and one small sink.

Years ago we were at a play and curtain time was coming and the line for the women's room was still long. They took half the line to the men's room. The guys used the urinals while the women used the stalls.

 

[rastahomie]

I will never understand American restrooms and their weird partitions that leave visible cracks everywhere. And I'm American!

Japan and elsewhere have these little "closets," and as long those are in use, who cares who's behind the door?

That would solve the transgender restroom debate once and for all, btw. Convert those silly partitions to closets and problem solved.

 

[amberpi]

I've been to a lot of interesting bars and clubs where its definitely "mind your own business."

 

[disneychrista]

Counties are passing laws that there must be gender neutral restrooms.

Sonoma county did and in some cases it means there is a Men's room and then a gender neutral, but no women's room. Because of the way the law is written, single stall, locking doors, etc. men's room don't qualify because of the urinal & stall.

 

[ronandannette]

It may take a little while to work out a new system of symbols for all the different variations of washroom facilities there are now: Gender-unspecified, M & F, Family, Disabled. And then there's those cutesy/cheesy ones:

 

[wenrob]

DD just transferred to UNLV and said that the there are gender neutral bathrooms all over the place. She thought it was pretty awesome. I'll have to ask what kind of symbols they have on them. I've noticed a lot of the newer hotels and restaurants here have the closet like stalls rastahomie describes. (hey, when I type ras- rastahomie pops up in my suggestions. You're now iPad famous rastahomie!)

 

[bellebud]

It was a first for me. We went to an art museum last week and when we had to go we had to go. Only we were trying to figure it out. There was a little sign saying that all restrooms weren't gender specific, although urinals were only available in one room. There was also one single/family restroom.

The sign was in English. Over each door was a blank triangle, so that was kind of confusing.

so what's a blank triangle?

 

[dotfurio]

We were told by our district that all single stall restroom are now designated gender neutral and they have the blank white triangle symbol. Ticked off one of the male teachers as the single stall had previously been designated a men's room. Not that that ever stopped any of the women from using it if the women's was full.

 

[bcla]

so what's a blank triangle?

There seem be variations on it. Often there's a triangle with some symbol on it representing a man/woman/wheelchair. This one was just a triangular shaped piece of plastic mounted on the door. Here's one photo I found of a white triangle in a blue circle:

I found an article on the New York Times on this subject. They have a photo with several signs.

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/08/style/transgender-restroom-all-gender.html

The place I went to was the de Young Museum at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. There were a lot of visitors who didn't speak much English, and I think even some who can speak conversationsl English might have difficulty understanding the text. That sign had zero symbols. Also - the urinals in the one that was previously a men's room didn't exactly have "privacy stalls". They had partitions, but they stuck out maybe 1.5 feet from the wall and didn't really block much. The one thing I noticed was flowers. Definitely not used to that. Guys usually don't care about that kind of thing.

 

[NHdisneylover]

The symbol on that sign in the top row in the middle of bcla's post above is what i see most places----especially in Paris there are more gender neutral restrooms than segregated ones these days. I prefer it. I doubt any of those signs are more confusing than the many cutesy signs that so many places have.

Funny, Germany still tends to segregate---but as long as we'v lived here it is common to have people of the opposite gender in cleaning, or parents of the opposite gender bringing the children into the restroom that matches th child'S gender. No one seems to care, but we'Ve had visitors who get startled to come out of the stall and see someone of a gender they do not expect.

 

[ronandannette]

There seem be variations on it. Often there's a triangle with some symbol on it representing a man/woman/wheelchair. This one was just a triangular shaped piece of plastic mounted on the door. Here's one photo I found of a white triangle in a blue circle:

I found an article on the New York Times on this subject. They have a photo with several signs.

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/08/style/transgender-restroom-all-gender.html

The place I went to was the de Young Museum at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. There were a lot of visitors who didn't speak much English, and I think even some who can speak conversationsl English might have difficulty understanding the text. That sign had zero symbols. Also - the urinals in the one that was previously a men's room didn't exactly have "privacy stalls". They had partitions, but they stuck out maybe 1.5 feet from the wall and didn't really block much. The one thing I noticed was flowers. Definitely not used to that. Guys usually don't care about that kind of thing.

It doesn't matter at all to me who uses which washroom, but that white triangle symbol is useless. How many people would know that even was a washroom?

 

[gillep]

I see these all over the SF/San Jose area, with all different types of signs, and agree that the triangle is the most useless and confusing.

 

[elphaba91]

It's proven that it will actually be faster for women if bathrooms are all gender neutral, so I'm all for it! It's not like in our homes we have specific bathrooms for different genders, so why does it matter in closed stalls when we're out in public?

 

[bellebud]

It doesn't matter at all to me who uses which washroom, but that white triangle symbol is useless. How many people would know that even was a washroom?

to me the triangle looks like a caution sign, like in a hospital, radiation in use or something.

It's proven that it will actually be faster for women if bathrooms are all gender neutral, so I'm all for it! It's not like in our homes we have specific bathrooms for different genders, so why does it matter in closed stalls when we're out in public?

I think one of the issue is the stalls with huge gaps, like we find all over America. There's just no privacy in there.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

I thought this was going to be about resorts

 

[bcla]

It's proven that it will actually be faster for women if bathrooms are all gender neutral, so I'm all for it! It's not like in our homes we have specific bathrooms for different genders, so why does it matter in closed stalls when we're out in public?

Well - the deal was that one of the rooms had urinals with "barely there" partitions, which were right across from the stalls. I don't suspect many women will be using them, but the general idea was that women are allowed in there to get to the stalls.

I don't think it's a big deal. We already have too many hangups about who uses what restroom.

 

[anniemae]

I will never understand American restrooms and their weird partitions that leave visible cracks everywhere. And I'm American!

Japan and elsewhere have these little "closets," and as long those are in use, who cares who's behind the door?

That would solve the transgender restroom debate once and for all, btw. Convert those silly partitions to closets and problem solved.

I know! My goodness who builds these stalls??? Some bathrooms have such wide gaps, I have actually made eye contact with people. Awkward. It is such a treat to find a restroom with an actual door that closes, locks and has no gaps.

 

[bcla]

I know! My goodness who builds these stalls??? Some bathrooms have such wide gaps, I have actually made eye contact with people. Awkward. It is such a treat to find a restroom with an actual door that closes, locks and has no gaps.

I've never seen a public restroom where the stalls didn't have gaps. The only stalls I've ever seen that didn't were in a college dorm. Back then it was a novel idea.

 

[Kitty 34]

I thought this was going to be about resorts

Me, too. I was thinking for a small or large "fee" to go potty I would get drinks and meals, too!!