# Minor things (maybe) I didnt realize I was doing was sexist **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 30, 2018, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-things-maybe-i-didnt-realize-i-was-doing-was-sexist/807788 "2018-01-30T09:43:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2018, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-things-maybe-i-didnt-realize-i-was-doing-was-sexist/807788/41 "2018-02-01T04:04:54Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > That’s a bunch of crap. I am a woman and I don’t need extra heat. Most offices are too hot for me. And probably the reason they need more toilets is because more women work there. Just saying. I worked with a woman back in the 80’s who wore a parka in the office year round. Most of the time she had the hood up. :eek: Oh, and at the last company I worked at (in an actual office anyway), it was absolutely amazing how often the women’s restroom on our floor was out of commission for repairs. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2018, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-things-maybe-i-didnt-realize-i-was-doing-was-sexist/807788/42 "2018-02-01T04:12:45Z")
I’ve never once seen men waiting for particular fixtures. In the few instances I’ve seen of a line at the men’s room, it was just one line with everyone waiting for whatever fixture became available. In addition to the inefficiency of separate lines for each fixture, where would the lines even be? Most restrooms don’t have very much floor space that isn’t being used for fixtures, so if there’s a line, it has to be outside of the room. As for female urinals, I’ve seen at least one men’s room that had one. My guess is that the plumbers who installed it didn’t know what it was. I’m not sure what the benefit is supposed to be; it took up as much space and used as much water as a standard toilet. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2018, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-things-maybe-i-didnt-realize-i-was-doing-was-sexist/807788/43 "2018-02-01T06:49:38Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Oh, and at the last company I worked at (in an actual office anyway), it was absolutely amazing how often the women’s restroom on our floor was out of commission for repairs. The most common reason for that? Women flushing pads. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2018, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-things-maybe-i-didnt-realize-i-was-doing-was-sexist/807788/44 "2018-02-01T07:12:45Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > The most common reason for that? Women flushing pads. :dubious: Women flushing pads has been the cause of the last 3 leaks from the upstairs tenant into my datacenter below. The last one resulted in me having to pour out many pints of water out of a couple very expensive IBM servers (That amazingly were running fine while sopped in water and put back into production with no probs after they dried out!) ---
**Author:** ![Bad\_News\_Baboon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5fc32e/32.png) [@Bad\_News\_Baboon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bad_News_Baboon)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2018, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-things-maybe-i-didnt-realize-i-was-doing-was-sexist/807788/45 "2018-02-01T12:20:45Z")
[Table 403.1](https://codes.iccsafe.org/public/document/code/550/9793343) The IBC is adopted by almost all American cities. Cities can make amendments, but I have yet to see one modifying this table. ---
**Author:** ![Bad\_News\_Baboon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5fc32e/32.png) [@Bad\_News\_Baboon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bad_News_Baboon)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2018, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-things-maybe-i-didnt-realize-i-was-doing-was-sexist/807788/46 "2018-02-01T12:33:29Z")
One thing to note is that cities can be under different years of the IBC. It used to be that most of the stores I drew would require 2 toilet rooms, whereas newer versions of the code only require 1. Code checking can be tedious and time consuming. It doesn’t help that many smaller cities do not clearly post requirements online. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2018, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-things-maybe-i-didnt-realize-i-was-doing-was-sexist/807788/47 "2018-02-01T14:01:20Z")
The one and ONLY thing my wife liked about Rush, the one time she went to a concert with me? No lines for the ladies room. ---
**Author:** ![Billdo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/billdo/32/315_2.png) [@Billdo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billdo)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2018, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-things-maybe-i-didnt-realize-i-was-doing-was-sexist/807788/48 "2018-02-01T18:52:18Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > The question of fair allocation of restroom facilities is a difficult one. Do you equalize by floor space, by number of fixtures, or by expected wait time? And if the latter, do you take into account the proportion of men and women who are expected to be using the facilities? That last can get complicated: More men than women are likely to attend sporting events, but if you put in a mix of bathrooms that leads to equal wait times during a football game, then what happens when there’s an Indigo Girls concert in the stadium the next week? At a number of venues I’ve been to (Madison Square Garden, for one), some of the rest rooms have signage that can be flipped to designate it as a men’s or women’s room depending on the expected gender balance of the event. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2018, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-things-maybe-i-didnt-realize-i-was-doing-was-sexist/807788/49 "2018-02-15T03:03:38Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > …BTW, is it true that men are more likely to line up at each individual stall or urinal, whereas (and I never noticed this until this cliche was pointed out) women form a single line and when they get to the front, use the first open stall? IME it depends on the layout in the restroom; some floorplans just naturally lend themselves to a single queue. > [@kanicbird](#): > > …As for the sexist part, they do have female urinals which men can easily use also, and should provide disposable funnels to make it easier. To make it equatable as you state, but not penalize anyone, this would have to be a option, though women would most likely still take longer at the urinal stations, but it’s a big leap culturally as you say. My understanding is that female urinals are less practical for women wearing trousers as opposed to skirts. Plus if women insist on them being placed in stalls as opposed to out in the open you’d have something that takes up just as much room as a toilet, but is only half as useful. > [@Broomstick](#): > > Keep in mind how some women dress - there are women’s fashions that bare a lot of skin, use thin fabrics, and so forth so the attire is simply less insulating than then suits the men are wearing. _Of course_ there will be a debate about the thermostat in that circumstance! Also men tend to have more body fat and muscle mass on average than women. > [@Bad\_News\_Baboon](#): > > One thing to note is that cities can be under different years of the IBC. It used to be that most of the stores I drew would require 2 toilet rooms, whereas newer versions of the code only require 1… Building codes can be weird. The local code may only allow unisex bathrooms if they’re single user. They may are require an establishment with 2 single-user bathrooms to designate one for each gender, but require an establishment with only 1 single-user bathroom to make it unisex by default. I was once at a clothing optional campground that had separate male & female changing rooms & showers attached to the pool area (the one area were clothing was forbidden, not optional). When I asked about it I was told it was because of the building code. > [@Billdo](#): > > At a number of venues I’ve been to (Madison Square Garden, for one), some of the rest rooms have signage that can be flipped to designate it as a men’s or women’s room depending on the expected gender balance of the event. Yep, it’s extremely easy to just change signage for an event. Men will put up with using bathrooms without urinals if need be; women will use bathrooms with urinals without a second thought. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2018, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-things-maybe-i-didnt-realize-i-was-doing-was-sexist/807788/50 "2018-02-16T04:44:34Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > Building codes can be weird. The local code may only allow unisex bathrooms if they’re single user. They may are require an establishment with 2 single-user bathrooms to designate one for each gender, but require an establishment with only 1 single-user bathroom to make it unisex by default. > > I was once at a clothing optional campground that had separate male & female changing rooms & showers attached to the pool area (the one area were clothing was forbidden, not optional). When I asked about it I was told it was because of the building code. > > Yep, it’s extremely easy to just change signage for an event. Men will put up with using bathrooms without urinals if need be; women will use bathrooms with urinals without a second thought. I’ve noticed more and more places around here (Southern Ontario) dropping the “man” and “woman” icons entirely on single-person washrooms, and replacing them with either “WC” or an icon of a toilet. To me, the icon is more obvious, because using “WC” or “water closet” for a washroom is extremely rare here. Edit: but the general icon for “washroom” on maps, etc, is still the “man” and “woman” icon side by side. The differences kind of remind me of the difference in railway-crossing signs between Canada and the UK: in Canada, the sign has a representation of the track crossing the road (often showing the angle of crossing), while in the UK, the sign has a symbol of a train. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-things-maybe-i-didnt-realize-i-was-doing-was-sexist/807788.md?page=2)