# Unisex bathrooms: Yay or Nay? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [January 14, 2004, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unisex-bathrooms-yay-or-nay/224460 "2004-01-14T22:00:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![T.Mehr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@T.Mehr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/T.Mehr)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2004, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unisex-bathrooms-yay-or-nay/224460/21 "2004-01-15T12:25:00Z")
> [@SirRay](#): > > Men’s rooms during very crowded concerts at the Nassau Coliseum automatically become unisex during band changes and intermissions, whether the coliseum management knows it or not. This happens at lot’s of crowded parties. And right so, why would the girls wait in line at their place with 90% of the guys stalls empty anyhow? Also at public soccer fields, there are no separate locker rooms - I assume as members of a team would either all be male or female. So at those occasions when both girls and guys are playing (e.g. at some tournaments) they also share the shower room. Doesn’t seem to bother anyone. (And those who do mind go home sweatty.) ---
**Author:** ![Neurotik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/91b2a8/32.png) [@Neurotik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neurotik)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2004, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unisex-bathrooms-yay-or-nay/224460/22 "2004-01-15T15:33:07Z")
Screw unisex bathrooms. I want my short line. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2004, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unisex-bathrooms-yay-or-nay/224460/23 "2004-01-15T15:33:13Z")
> [@even sven](#): > > In high school drama, boys and girls changed into constume in the same room. It wasn’t a big deal at all. It wasn’t any sort of deal at all. I don’t know where you went to high school but at mine the drama people didn’t strip down to their underwear in front of the opposite sex. > [@](#): > > And I just think it’d be good for all of us to stop freaking out about gender and sex so much. For trans people, this is really really important, and I personally know some people whoes biggest fears of living as their identified genders is the bathroom issue. They basically don’t want to feel like freaks, and the whole gendered bathroom thing garentees that they will. While I’m sympathetic to the plight of transgendered individuals I don’t see why we should change in order to cater to a tiny minority. What about all the other people who would feel extremely uncomfortable with unisex public restrooms? Marc ---
**Author:** ![Homebrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Homebrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homebrew)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2004, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unisex-bathrooms-yay-or-nay/224460/24 "2004-01-15T16:13:09Z")
I think you’re missing her point, **MGibons**. **even sven** is postulating that the gender-specific stalls helps foster that uncomfortableness about our bodies. She seems to believe that eliminating such barriers would help eliminate the self-consciousness we have towards our bodies and bodily functions. Her point is that perhaps people wouldn’t feel so uncomfortable with unisex bathrooms if they were the norm. Afterall we’re conditioned to be that way, it’s not inate. ---
**Author:** ![YoudNeverGuess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a587f6/32.png) [@YoudNeverGuess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YoudNeverGuess)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2004, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unisex-bathrooms-yay-or-nay/224460/25 "2004-01-15T16:53:44Z")
I see your point about fostering uncomfortableness with our bodies and maybe it’s true, but maybe it isn’t either. Maybe it’s natural not to want to make unpleasant smells/ noises in front of people you might potentially want to flirt with. When you’re looking for someone it’s natural to use a little artifice to try to create the best impression. Also true with your boss or employees. There’s that barrier of formality there which you could consider important. I have no problem with this stuff when it’s with someone you are socially very comfortable with like a boy/girlfriend, close friends or family but I would feel a little embarrassed in a unisex bathroom - especially as others have mentioned, if I have to get tampons/ condoms. Also while women’s bathrooms are actually (and shockingly!) LESS hygenic in terms of bacteria and microbes than men’s (due to the presence of sanitary bins - Cecil wrote about this), men’s definitely smell worse and it’s a smell I could do without. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![scule](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@scule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scule)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2004, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unisex-bathrooms-yay-or-nay/224460/26 "2004-01-15T16:55:54Z")
While I can understand the desire for unisex bathrooms in small businesses where the bathroom is that same as you would have at home, I really don’t support the idea beyond that. Public bathrooms are disgustuing enough to begin with, and I really don’t think women want to have men joining them (have you ever seen a men’s bathroom, ladies?). I’m a guy, through and through, and I can barely stand it myself. I never, ever, ever, do a number 2 in a public restroom, because they’re too gross, and I will leave the bathroom and hold it in if I see that someone is in a stall “making noises”. I, of course, know that this is my problem, but I think there are probably a lot of people who are not very comfortable with bathroom stuff to begin with, and unisex bathrooms are more likely to amplify their discomfort than settle it. ---
**Author:** ![Adjustable\_Beavis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Adjustable\_Beavis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Adjustable_Beavis)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2004, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unisex-bathrooms-yay-or-nay/224460/27 "2004-01-15T19:06:52Z")
I think there will always be a place for all 3. I have no problem with the unisex ones and have used them. I think they are a good idea. But, I’ve also accidently walked into enough women’s bathrooms and had enough women accidently walk into the men’s room while I was there to see how some people simply are not comfortable in that environment. Ok, going to digress with a minor rant here. My times accidently walking into the ladies room occurs when the builders arrange the bathrooms on floor 1 as “Men Women”. But, on floor 2 they have switched them, “Women Men”. So, in a hurry, you walk in the wrong door. For me it usually goes like… “WOW! This is a nice, clean bathroom! Its huge! Not like that cess pool on the first floor. Hmmm…where did they hide the urinals?. Oh - Hi Ms… I… ummm… ooops…” So to any builders reading…keep the bathrooms in the same order on every stinkin’ floor!. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2004, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unisex-bathrooms-yay-or-nay/224460/28 "2004-01-15T19:28:38Z")
In my college dorm, the bathrooms were unisex. Each had two stalls. What ended up happening, practically speaking, was that if a bathroom was in use by one person (which we could tell by whether the light was on), then nobody else would enter unless it was an emergency. Ed ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2004, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unisex-bathrooms-yay-or-nay/224460/29 "2004-01-15T19:53:02Z")
Very good suggestion, Beavis. I’ve gone into the wrong one before for that very reason. Luckily, I escaped with nobody the wiser. No to unisex bathrooms. It’s enough to have to share at home with my wife. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2004, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unisex-bathrooms-yay-or-nay/224460/30 "2004-01-15T20:02:49Z")
Like **even sven** , my high school theater was pretty casual about this sort of thing. Some people made a big deal out of it, but most folks figured out it was more trouble than it was worth. Nobody was ever _stark naked_ but underwear was common. I don’t know where **MGibson** went to high school, but that wasn’t my experience. I also don’t know if this was peculiar to my class, and if the practice was continued by students that followed my year. In any case, later, in post-high-school theater (ranging from amateur to fringe to semi-pro to fully legit), it was and is common to be backstage with completely naked people. Or onstage, even. 😉 Further, and more to the point of the OP, my college had unisex bathrooms in the theater wing. Perhaps it’s because it was an art crowd, which tends not to be particularly shy and gets over the body embarrassment stuff pretty fast, but it wasn’t unusual to have a chick in a stall with a dude using the urinal next door, and somebody else at the sink. There was a brief period of adjustment for new students, but we all got over it pretty fast, and recognized the utility of the arrangement. So, in summary: I don’t think it’s “sexist,” exactly, insofar as that generally means an _enforced_ arrangement designed to reduce a perceived-as-inferior group’s social/political power. I do think people take this stuff way too seriously and we’d all be a lot better if we reduced our culturally ingrained Puritanism. I would be perfectly happy if there were three bathroom options in public places (M, F, and “either”), as pragmatically this would take some of the pressure off the typically long line to the women’s room (though the government meddling , and I personally wouldn’t have any problem sharing. However, at the same time I wouldn’t negatively judge anybody who, for whatever personal reason, wasn’t comfortable using a facility that might or might not have been previously used (or would be used immediately following) by someone of the opposite sex. Cultural change takes time. ---
**Author:** ![Lisa-go-Blind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Lisa-go-Blind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lisa-go-Blind)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2004, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unisex-bathrooms-yay-or-nay/224460/31 "2004-01-15T20:19:39Z")
The following does not apply to individual bathrooms found in small businesses, which I’m fine with: I like my women’s restroom, though I think **ava** ’s 3-restroom plan is a good deal, too. I don’t see it as sexism, I just think some things should be kept private. I’m already a person who experiences “public bathroom anxiety,” and a unisex restroom would kill me. Especially if there were shady men about, or a potential date. The unisex bathrooms I have been in tend to be smellier and nastier than women’s restrooms as well. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2004, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unisex-bathrooms-yay-or-nay/224460/32 "2004-01-15T23:28:03Z")
I don’t suppose I mind all that much, although I can’t see any advantage for anyone. Why not keep the pink room and the stink room separate? In busy locations such as theatres, the queues would need to be managed - I don’t want to find myself in the position of appearing to push past a queue of women (who are waiting for a stall) in order to use a row of vacant urinals. ---
**Author:** ![syncrolecyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@syncrolecyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/syncrolecyne)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2004, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unisex-bathrooms-yay-or-nay/224460/33 "2004-01-16T01:15:30Z")
I always thought that unisex restorrms had lockable stall doors and walls that went from ceiling to floor, and no open urinals…basically several indiviual mini-bathrooms with a common sink area. ---
**Author:** ![Rodrigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4af34b/32.png) [@Rodrigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodrigo)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2004, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unisex-bathrooms-yay-or-nay/224460/34 "2004-01-16T04:29:32Z")
I can’t pee if MY WIFE’s looking at me. When I broke my arm in six parts I couldn’t hold “it” and my wife had to help me I had to concentrate like a Buddhinht monk to block out everything. No way Unisex bathrooms. Like many, I feel for Transsexual/transgendered folks, but you’ve gotta draw the line someplace ---
**Author:** ![Daikona](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8baadc/32.png) [@Daikona](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daikona)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2004, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unisex-bathrooms-yay-or-nay/224460/35 "2004-01-16T06:03:55Z")
> [@matt\_mcl](#): > > (It will, no doubt, only confuse the issue to point out that not all trans people consider themselves as belonging to either of the traditional gender categories, nor do many ‘present’ well enough as one or the other to avoid hassles and worse when attempting to use either bathroom.) Exactly. I seriously fear for what would happen to me if I tried to use the men’s room in some places. I _love_ those unisex single user ones. Other than the near exponential multiplication of the lines. ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2004, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unisex-bathrooms-yay-or-nay/224460/36 "2004-01-16T13:18:01Z")
Right now, where’s da fun? Chicks go into a different room. I would LUV to have chix in the same bathrooom–golden showers, whatever. Whatever turns us both on. Dudez–shure, theY’ll follow us anywere, so it don’t matter. I don’t wanna see a DUDE pu\*e on the toilet, I wanna chix’ evidence. Gimme the girlz. Same toilet, same fun-spot. Dat’s me opine. ---
**Author:** ![Rune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e68b1a/32.png) [@Rune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rune)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2004, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unisex-bathrooms-yay-or-nay/224460/37 "2004-01-16T13:47:16Z")
I can’t really relate to the tampon taboo, it must be some American thing. I personal have no problem with having a women next door, however if your problem is the long line in front of female toilets, the solution is not unisex toilets. This will merely create a queue for the men too. And while you may feel yourself unfairly shortchanged by nature and want to take it out on men, this, like pissing in your pants (or skirt), is not realy a long term solution. [Perhaps female urinals](http://http://www.sphinx.nl/index.html?http://www.sphinx.nl/Home-en/SpecialProducts/Lady-P.html) As for transsexuals. Tough luck, but there’s no way we could ever be able cater to every and all imaginable sexual orientation. (What about metrosexuals? I bet they’d like to have their own bathrooms free from normal human throwbacks and complete with mirrors on all walls, hairdryers, waxing tools, fashion magazines and whatever it is they find essential.) ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2004, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unisex-bathrooms-yay-or-nay/224460/38 "2004-01-16T14:15:57Z")
I’m male. While I don’t have a problem _per se_ with separate men’s and women’s restrooms, I think it’s silly, like men’s and women’s pay phones would be. Maybe you could have one large restroom for most people, and one very small one with just a single unit, so that people who can’t use the restroom without making so many ungodly noises they’ll dash all hopes of ever impressing the opposite sex can wait in line and have their privacy. > [@Apricot](#): > > Having cleaned the bathrooms in businesses, I can say that the men’s room stinks and the ladies room doesn’t. Just for that reason, I’d like to keep them separate. Let the stinkers stay in the men’s room and leave the ladies room nice. Now why should I, a hygienic male, have to suffer? 🙂 Whether it’s true that men’s toilets are in general messier - and I think it probably is - the fact that it’s believed to be so makes it worse. A mess in a men’s room is less of an emergency than in a women’s room. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2004, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unisex-bathrooms-yay-or-nay/224460/39 "2004-01-16T16:03:49Z")
Not that I’m \*that interested in this issue, but there’s a proposal I don’t get. What would be the point, exactly, of a “family bathroom”??? Someone refered to people having children of the opposite sex, but in this case, either the child is old enough to go to the bathroom by himself, and it’s not an issue, either he’s/ she’s too young and then, except if you happen to live in Saudi Arabia or some place like that (and probably not even there), nobody will mind if for instance the mother bring a little boy in the “female” bathroom (or the reverse). So, why would you want “family bathrooms”? Who would use them and why?? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2004, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unisex-bathrooms-yay-or-nay/224460/40 "2004-01-16T16:15:03Z")
“Family bathroom” is often a euphemism for “diaper changing room.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unisex-bathrooms-yay-or-nay/224460.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unisex-bathrooms-yay-or-nay/224460.md?page=3)