The issue of bathrooms

*tw for assault, I suppose- still learning how tw work. I think I keep forgetting about them... although I'm not sure how much it matters given that I know all the people who read this blog and to my knowledge none of them consider assault discussions to be a trigger* *but hey you still never know so here is the warning anyway*




I read an article in a the newspaper the other day about trans people needing non-gender specific bathrooms. This brought up a couple of thoughts

1) YAY THIS IS RECEIVING MAINSTREAM MEDIA ATTENTION

2) But it raises other issues.

Do I support the idea of creating bathrooms that aren't gender specific? Of course I do. The violence that trans people face, which I have not experienced but which I have heard about over and over and over and over and over is not acceptable. I see no problem in providing a bathroom that is non gender specific, that is just "a bathroom," and furthermore, I fully support taking the gender signs off of single-user bathrooms. It's ridiculous. You have two single-user bathrooms, with one toilet, but one has a female sign, and the other a male one. Why? There is no point to this. The bathrooms are exactly the same. This is ridiculous.

But note that I still support having separate bathrooms the way they are, just with the additional one added. I don't like the idea that I might go into a bathroom- a room in which you really can't install security cameras- and a man could follow me in there, that he could lock the door, assault me, and leave. I still want a bathroom space where I can go in and only see other women.

I know a lot of people might say "THAT'S RIDICULOUS AND STEREOTYPING OF ALL MEN" but you know what, I really don't like being alone in small, confined spaces with only one exit and no security cameras with a random man who I don't know who is probably physically larger and stronger than me. That doesn't sit well with me.

The one possible solution the article did offer was the idea of the washrooms being sort of... visible to the outside world. The stalls are private and closed off- obviously- but the rest of the bathroom can be seen by everyone outside the bathroom. I really like that idea (although you would need to provide the baby-changing station in private, I'd think... or maybe not, I don't know)- the only time you're alone is in the stall, and even if you are the only person in the bathroom, other people can see in. That, I think, would end violence in bathrooms period, because everyone around would be able to see if something fishy was going on, and my understanding of people who have the intent of harming other people is that they try to corner people when they're alone. If you're in a public place, other people will see and go "HEY THAT IS WRONG STOP I AM CALLING THE POLICE" and intervene. The only kind of crime I can think of in a large crowd is pickpocketing. Well, and terrorism, but that's a different topic.
Anyway, these bathrooms solve that issue of making that public space visible and not closed off. I think there is a bit of a privacy issue, but really, if you're just washing your hands and checking your hair and your clothes or whatever, does it matter if strangers see you? Other people already see you do those things if you're in the bathroom with them.

Anyway, those are just some thoughts. I think one can quickly point out that the idea of 3 bathrooms would probably be a costly solution to the problem, which is why I favour the second idea.

yer pal,
swegan