# unisex toilets **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 24, 2005, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unisex-toilets/300836 "2005-04-24T04:57:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2005, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unisex-toilets/300836/1 "2005-04-24T04:57:14Z")
[here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=6087982#post6087982) in this merry thread, everyone is more concerned with the gender issues than to acknowledge a simple solution, so i ask your opinion. (definitions first, as there seems to be some different views held) unisex toilets should have no shower areas and urinals. just rooms and sinks. instead of two separate areas of stalls for men and women, dispense with the urinals and build individual mini unisex toilet throne rooms (not stalls) with a public area for sinks. this takes up a smaller area than the current setup and might solve the problem of [ul][li]the ladies’ queue - since anyone can use any unoccupied rooms. [/li][li] the gender issues - since anyone can use any unoccupied rooms. [/li][li] the space issues - since it’s compact and shared. [/li][li] the security issues - since the only private areas are the one person rooms. [/li][li] the ‘think of the children’ issues - since the only private areas are the one person rooms. [/li][li] the ‘fart next to your date’ issues - since it’s enclosed (but well ventilated!) rooms, not windy stalls. [/li][li] the [‘what do girls do in the toilets’](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=312606) issue - because of this, girls will have to take their secret meetings elsewhere. this will seed a new business model of lounges (creating more jobs!) catering to girls\* only, with lots of mirrors, down pillows, fancy coffee, mysterious vending machines and lots and lots of tissues. [/li][/ul] so did i miss anything? - this will no doubt be the take over the focus of the (trans)gendered debate with regards to toilets, which should be fine since there won’t be any shitting and pissing. it also continues the safe vent for those who might otherwise implode on gender issues. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2005, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unisex-toilets/300836/2 "2005-04-24T12:59:58Z")
For about half the population about 80% of the time, urinals are a faster alternative that consume less space and water. So this looks like an inefficiency in your scheme. (Apparently, female urinals have been tried but have not caught on - equality has its limits.) ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2005, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unisex-toilets/300836/3 "2005-04-24T14:49:17Z")
I really don’t understand why we can’t just stick with the current model. It ain’t broke, so don’t fix it. ---
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2005, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unisex-toilets/300836/4 "2005-04-24T16:30:49Z")
**Xema** but this will bring balance to the toilets. with the long queues to the ladies’ gone, it will even up and speed everyone on their way. **Lord Ashtar** i’d just think that in this age of gender confusion, maybe we should do away with gender labels and just let people pee whatever they want to pee. ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2005, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unisex-toilets/300836/5 "2005-04-24T17:51:58Z")
Okay, but what if a person needs to adjust some item of clothing? Example: You spill something on your blouse and need to remove it to clean it? Can’t do that if there are a bunch of guys sharing the bathroom. Or change pantyhose? ---
**Author:** ![kimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f0a364/32.png) [@kimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kimera)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2005, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unisex-toilets/300836/6 "2005-04-24T18:01:53Z")
In California they already have several buildings set up with 3 seperate bathrooms: Male, Female and ‘Family’ which anyone can enter. The family bathroom has room for diaper changing and the stalls are wider for parents with small children. I loved it and I wished more places did it that way. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2005, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unisex-toilets/300836/7 "2005-04-24T18:12:15Z")
> [@shijinn](#): > > **Lord Ashtar** > i’d just think that in this age of gender confusion, maybe we should do away with gender labels and just let people pee whatever they want to pee. Sorry, but I’m still not convinced. I don’t see the need to change things to appease a tiny minority. ---
**Author:** ![Strinka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strinka/32/512_2.png) [@Strinka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strinka)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2005, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unisex-toilets/300836/8 "2005-04-24T18:31:11Z")
It seems good to me. I don’t see any obvious problems and it looks better than our current system. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2005, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unisex-toilets/300836/9 "2005-04-24T18:46:56Z")
You get the inconvenient stalls only set-up of female toilets with the filth and urine splatters of guys toilets. Whats not to like? ---
**Author:** ![Duderdude2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cdc98d/32.png) [@Duderdude2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duderdude2)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2005, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unisex-toilets/300836/10 "2005-04-24T18:50:06Z")
> [@Shalmanese](#): > > You get the inconvenient stalls only set-up of female toilets with the filth and urine splatters of guys toilets. Whats not to like? Whoa, easy. I remember reading a report that found that women’s bathrooms had higher levels of bacteria than men’s. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2005, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unisex-toilets/300836/11 "2005-04-24T18:59:49Z")
> [@Shalmanese](#): > > You get the inconvenient stalls only set-up of female toilets with the filth and urine splatters of guys toilets. Whats not to like? Huh? Back in the day, when I was but a lowly busboy/janitor, I had to clean the bathrooms at the Chili’s I worked at. The women’s bathrooms were far more shit-splattered and funky, hands down. Guys mainly just dribble some and occasionally pee on the seats. Women manage to pee on the seats, the toilet, the wall and the floor, and also manage to somehow get pee-soaked toilet paper all over everything. They manage to crap on everything too. I was shocked- I figured that the women’s bathrooms would be clean and nice, while I’d have to psych myself up to clean the men’s. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2005, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unisex-toilets/300836/12 "2005-04-24T19:25:28Z")
Back in high school, I was a bag boy at the supermarket. One of my jobs was to clean the bathrooms. I can say, without any shadow of doubt, that the women’s room was much nastier than the men’s room. I don’t know what you girls do in there, but it’s gross. In addition to the, uh, biological residue there was also a smell that was unlike anything I normally encountered in the men’s room. You can keep your bathrooms seperate from ours, thank you very much. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2005, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unisex-toilets/300836/13 "2005-04-24T23:52:07Z")
> [@Strinka](#): > > It seems good to me. I don’t see any obvious problems and it looks better than our current system. Can you explain to me how it’s better than the current system? I’m genuinely curious. If you can prove to me that it’s better, _for everyone_, then I’ll gladly throw my support behind the idea (fat lot of good that’ll do, but nevertheless…). ---
**Author:** ![RFBluesValentine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@RFBluesValentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RFBluesValentine)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unisex-toilets/300836/14 "2005-04-25T01:04:17Z")
> [@Shalmanese](#): > > You get the inconvenient stalls only set-up of female toilets with the filth and urine splatters of guys toilets. Whats not to like? Heh. I’m a girl, and I have seen some /filthy/ toilets. At my school, it’s not uncommon to find pee on the first seat, pee on the second, and an unflushed peed-on third. At Borders, there is often toilet paper thrown on the ground, puddles on the floor, pee on the seats, and stuff in the toilet. Public restrooms make me wish that I had a penis, so that I didn’t have to touch anything but myself. And I can’t say as I’d actually use a unisex bathroom. It just doesn’t seem safe, not even with the OP’s idea of a common sink room… what if there wasn’t a steady flow of people in and out, or it was empty just long enough for a man to drag a woman into one of the toilet rooms? Sorry, but I’m a magnet for skeezy men twice my age, I’m not gonna go someplace where I might have to be alone with one. Plus, I don’t want to have to wait in line for a toilet room just to straighten my panties. ---
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unisex-toilets/300836/15 "2005-04-25T05:15:42Z")
> [@MLS](#): > > … Okay, but what if a person needs to adjust some item of clothing? … - no time for that. under the new regime there will be no place for such matters not pertinent to the wee wee or the poo poo. [advertisement] The _Lounge Kitten_ comes with floor to ceiling mirrors set in a quiet spot in a corner of your nearest major shopping centres. A retreat away from men, it is an ideal place to rest your heels in our massaging chairs after shopping and chat with your friends. Have a cup of latte or surf the Internet. Our various vending machines offers essentials items that you might need to purchase. There is even an express auto-laundry mini-machine for any emergencies. Come visit us now! Entrance is free. [/advertisement] remember, privacy in this age of digital cameras is no longer a god given right. it now comes with a price tag. - no, i have no good answer for this. any suggestions? > [@kimera](#): > > … In California they already have … it’s the same here, the newer shopping centres all have these roomy baby rooms. > [@Lord Ashtar](#): > > Sorry, but I’m still not convinced. I don’t see the need to change things to appease a tiny minority. the handicappeds’ a minority. i assume your area has those roomy stalls designed with them in mind. > [@](#): > > … prove to me that it’s better, _for everyone_, then I’ll gladly throw my support … i’ll try. for Men i think the days of talking over the urinals are mostly over. men just want to get it done with and to get out. the new system’s efficiency will help this. for Women sure, women will no longer have a free (and stinky\*\*) private area for touching up. but not queueing up is a plus imho. for Others no more confusion. for Children parents can help with the wash up now rather than deal with dirty/lazy children who is too short to reach the tap. with regards to filth, i think that’s besides the point. it’s the building management’s and the public’s responsibility in keeping our toilets clean blah blah blah. pinning the blame on the other sex won’t help matters. > [@RFBluesValentine](#): > > … It just doesn’t seem safe, not even with the OP’s idea of a common sink room… the sink area don’t even have to be a room, it can be along a corridor or whatever the architect wants. your particular concern is the same as being pulled into the men’s toilet from a deserted corridor outside the toilets under the current system. \*\* a bonus to public sinks is that they won’t smell, as they won’t share the same room as the toilets. ---
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unisex-toilets/300836/16 "2005-04-25T05:17:22Z")
with regards to filth, i think that’s besides the point. it’s the building management’s and the public’s responsibility in keeping our toilets clean blah blah blah. pinning the blame on the other sex won’t help matters. ---
**Author:** ![Duderdude2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cdc98d/32.png) [@Duderdude2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duderdude2)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unisex-toilets/300836/17 "2005-04-25T05:48:42Z")
> [@shijinn](#): > > it’s the **building management’s and the public’s responsibility** in keeping our toilets clean blah blah blah. It doesn’t matter who’s responsibility it is, as the bathrooms we currently have clearly demonstrates. Making bathrooms unisex won’t change this. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unisex-toilets/300836/18 "2005-04-25T06:04:47Z")
We could at least start by making the _individual_ washrooms unisex. The DQ where I used to work had two individual washrooms (one sink, one toilet) – and they were gendered! It’s not like the toilet isn’t a unisex piece of equipment to begin with… (and yes, having had to wash them both out, I can confirm that the women’s washroom was MUCH messier than the men’s. Ladies, what are you _doing_ with all that toilet paper?!) ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unisex-toilets/300836/19 "2005-04-25T14:04:36Z")
> [@shijinn](#): > > the handicappeds’ a minority. i assume your area has those roomy stalls designed with them in mind. The nature of being handicapped requires that they have additional resources. The transgendered (I assume that’s who we’re talking about when we talk about gender confusion) do not. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unisex-toilets/300836/20 "2005-04-25T15:36:38Z")
> [@shijinn](#): > > but this will bring balance to the toilets. That’s one way to look at it. Another is that men are required to take longer and use more water than necessary, and get in the way of women who want to use stalls. If efficiency is your goal, you should continue to have urinals that men can use, thus freeing up the “unisex” toliets for use by those who need them. If, on the other hand, uniformity is the goal, inefficiency will have to be accepted. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unisex-toilets/300836.md?page=2)