Degendered Toilets :rolleyes:

MissyC

Hi all, just been out with friends, and heard a story on the radio, about a college in the UK, that are making all of thier bathrooms "degendered". They'll be removing the "Ladies" & "Gents" signs and replacing them with signs saying "Toilets" and "Toilets with Urinals".

Fine I thought, sure why not, ever since Ally McBeal, I've wondered, what the big deal is.... why not just have Unisex - Toilets. But my friend was not of the same opinion! He figured that this was pandering to the few, rather then the masses. That this was to satisfy the needs of the transgender community, and to hell with the rest of society! ... what do you guys think?

I'd like to know who decided that men and women should wee beside eachother in the first place?! If its a sexual thing, then surely we shoudl have Gay & Lesbian loos too?!?

Rev Hellfire

Why wouldn't women and men share toilets, its a more efficient use of space.
Those who are shy or lack the superior male ability at peeing while standing can use the cubicals.

Stark

Seems to be the norm in France to have the urinals in a shared section along with sinks and separate sections for male and female cubicles. Presumably the separate cubicles are so the ladies don't have to listen to you crap out last night's Guinness.

Goodshape

Having urinals in the ladies or unisex toliets seems a bit crude and unnecessary.

If it's all cubicals then I don't see a problem.

(I'd be surprised if there'd be many woman opting for the "Toilets with Urinals" option).

Stark

Goodshape wrote: »

(I'd be surprised if there'd be many woman opting for the "Toilets with Urinals" option).

Seems to happen quite a lot in busy pubs when there's a large queue for the ladies actually.

Boston

Doesn't harm the masses and may benefit the view

rainbow kirby

I don't see what all the complaining is about. If you want to take a leak in a urinal, use the one with urinals, otherwise it doesn't really matter once you're in a cubicle. And if it helps make trans people feel more comfortable then that's a good thing.

hatful

The Kremlin in Belfast has a toilet for both male and females and it didn't make me feel comfortable. For such a 'posh bar' the toilets in the front lounge and the george are atrotious- broken locks that make you perfect the one hand on the door technique. Also and I know this might piss some people off but I don't like toilet attendants, it's like having a beggar in the bathroom and sometimes they get involved in incidents that are better handled by the bouncers.

The Dragon toilets are great, enabling the patron to hold onto some semblance of dignity

Stark

hatful wrote:

Also and I know this might piss some people off but I don't like toilet attendants, it's like having a beggar in the bathroom and sometimes they get involved in incidents that are better handled by the bouncers.

I hear you there.

Boston

Attendants piss me off.

anotherlostie

I don't know anyone who likes toilet attendants or who is glad that they can use their wares after they do their business!

Spraying on aftershave after the person before you used it without washing their hands? Yuk.

shoegirl

Have to say its usually because of a lack or space or due to massively large queues. Flux in Cork have unisex loos and they are horrible, but I'd rather that than a massive queue for the ladies faced with the usual detrius of bog roll blocking the wash hand basins.

That said, I don't think its a sop to the trans community. Most M2Fs happily use the ladies without any trouble. Anybody stopping them would be subjecting them to needless humiliation. That said, I do recall one M2F lady being forced to use the disabled toilets in the George some years ago. At the time it was offensive and spiteful, but her being a lady at the time she didn't whinge as much as she could have.

Of course, I suppose a minority of women are probably a bit upset at transfolk using the ladies, but most are too PC to openly object. It doesn't bother me at all, a loo is a loo and by its nature is sexless!

Stark

shoegirl wrote: »

Have to say its usually because of a lack or space or due to massively large queues. Flux in Cork have unisex loos and they are horrible, but I'd rather that than a massive queue for the ladies faced with the usual detrius of bog roll blocking the wash hand basins.

Sounds like something unique to the pub because speaking as a guy, I've never noticed that in the men's toilets elsewhere.

shoegirl

Its gross. Women can be filthy.

Amnesiac_ie

An "attendant" in a bathroom makes me much more uncomfortable than a patron of the opposite gender.

I don't want to wander off topic but bathroom attendants really are a pet peeve of mine. I despise being eyed up as I wash my hand and having tissue paper or soap thrust in my face. I have about as much respect for them as I have for street chuggers.

markw999

I had one in the Academy who kept trying to shake my hand. I mean, FFS, we're in a toilet, I'm not really up for shaking your hand. And it wasn't just the once, but every time I went in there. I actually turned around and said "I'm not going to shake your hand" - he seemed to get the message. I find toilet attendants very, very intrusive. I have no idea what purpose they have to serve.

white apples

It's a good idea in theory but it would raise safety issues for me considering what happened a few years ago in a unisex bathroom in a dublin pub/club. If men & women can openly wander into the same toilets it's a prime place for sexual assault to take place as it's hidden away from the main and there normally is no security.

hatful

white apples wrote: »

It's a good idea in theory but it would raise safety issues for me considering what happened a few years ago in a unisex bathroom in a dublin pub/club. If men & women can openly wander into the same toilets it's a prime place for sexual assault to take place as it's hidden away from the main and there normally is no security.

Agreed, groups of straight lads come into gay clubs sometimes to cause trouble.

DubArk

shoegirl wrote: »

Its gross. Women can be filthy.

I as a kid I use to work in a bar in Ireland and the womens toilets we a fcuken disgrace, all that hovering over the seat and bowl, cause they won’t sit! You know what I mean.

Dirty beggars!

seahorse

white apples wrote: »

It's a good idea in theory but it would raise safety issues for me considering what happened a few years ago in a unisex bathroom in a dublin pub/club. If men & women can openly wander into the same toilets it's a prime place for sexual assault to take place as it's hidden away from the main and there normally is no security.

+ 1

No way would I use these free-for-all bogs for this reason alone.

The_Minister

Booo to unisex toilets.


Men are far more efficient at using the jacks - we enter, deposit, and leave.

If you look at a nightclub, the mens never has any queue, but the ladies does. Why should men have to start queuing?

Boston

white apples wrote: »

It's a good idea in theory but it would raise safety issues for me considering what happened a few years ago in a unisex bathroom in a dublin pub/club. If men & women can openly wander into the same toilets it's a prime place for sexual assault to take place as it's hidden away from the main and there normally is no security.

Having separate toilets creates the illusion that this is less likely to happen.

white apples

Boston wrote: »

Having separate toilets creates the illusion that this is less likely to happen.

Good point, but if a man wanders into a womens toilet there's a better chance of him getting kicked out, being slagged / shouted / laughed at by women already in there. Which means that he's immediately noticeable and out of the ordinary and therefore more visible than if they were unisex toilets.

Boston

Depends on the place. In a lot of night clubs you'll get people shagging in cubicles regardless of the gender on the door.

LegacyUser

Are the attendants paying tax? Do the pubs pay them?