# What's the big deal about gender-specific bathrooms? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 16, 2017, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-about-gender-specific-bathrooms/786778 "2017-05-16T19:03:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**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:** [May 17, 2017, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-about-gender-specific-bathrooms/786778/21 "2017-05-17T01:49:18Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > We’re used to having every toilet in a private stall, but perhaps this wasn’t always the case? And if you’re going to lower your trousers three feet from a stranger who is doing the same thing, it’s difficult not to be aware of what sort of genitalia they have. At least regarding men’s restrooms it used to be more common for there to be no doors on the stalls; especially in places like schools. My high school was built circa 1970 and the none of the stalls in the boys’ lockerroom had doors. It’s not that they were taken down, there were never any to begin with. There wasn’t any place to attach them to the dividers, and the way the toilets were positioned in that area there wasn’t any room for doors to swing either way. The boys’ restroom by the band rooms at a similar problem, except that there was just one toilet stall and one urinal. Oh and speaking of urinals the weight room (which was on the other side of the gym from the lockerrooms) originally had a urinal in it. It was look removed by the time I attended, but apparently there was still a closed off pipe connected to the septic system. I also remember seeing doorless stalls at places like campgrounds and rest stops when I was a kid; especially the more rustic ones. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-about-gender-specific-bathrooms/786778/22 "2017-05-17T11:32:15Z")
> [@Duckster](#): > > Women fire fighters want their own porta-potties because their male counterparts just can’t aim properly and splash around too much. Wow. You’d think if any group of men would be good at aiming a stream of liquid from a hose… ---
**Author:** ![femmejean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/0ea827/32.png) [@femmejean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/femmejean)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-about-gender-specific-bathrooms/786778/23 "2017-05-17T11:45:15Z")
Is it true that even in liberal places in the West, a woman can use a man’s bathroom but not vice versa; not legally speaking but in term of public condemnation. A man who tries to use a womans bathroom will be stopped either by a woman/man/security guard outside or another woman will complain inside.\*\*\*\* ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-about-gender-specific-bathrooms/786778/24 "2017-05-17T12:46:29Z")
My college had some dorms with coed bathrooms with multiple toilet stalls and shower stalls. I recall exactly one person voicing some discomfort, but otherwise it didn’t seem a big deal. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-about-gender-specific-bathrooms/786778/25 "2017-05-17T13:30:46Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > What I don’t get is when the bathrooms are just a room with a sink and a toilet and yet they are gendered. Gas stations do this all the time. Actually, the gas station at the big store where I work is unisex, and explicitly so. It’s the only bathroom for the little building, it’s big enough to be handicapped accessible, has a changing table, and is labeled as open to all. So, yes, gendering gas station bathrooms is common but not universal. Quite a few gas stations with the solo sink/toilet are also kept locked these days, which would eliminate, or at least greatly reduce, concerns about being attacked in the toilet. Which, yes, is a thing, and one reason why some folks don’t want men in the women’s toilet room. The only time I’ve had to deal with a stranger attempting to assault me in a toilet was at a rest stop on I-65 in Indiana, and the culprit was a woman. I believe robbery was the motive there and not sexual assault. ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-about-gender-specific-bathrooms/786778/26 "2017-05-17T14:53:01Z")
For a public bathroom with multiple stalls - I’m guessing that there are many women out there who would be too embarrassed to be heard dealing with menstruation (e.g. changing a pad or tampon) in a toilet stall, when there are men also in the bathroom. There are quite a few women who might not want to be heard like that even only in the presence of other women. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-about-gender-specific-bathrooms/786778/27 "2017-05-17T16:01:52Z")
> [@femmejean](#): > > Is it true that even in liberal places in the West, a woman can use a man’s bathroom but not vice versa; not legally speaking but in term of public condemnation. A man who tries to use a womans bathroom will be stopped either by a woman/man/security guard outside or another woman will complain inside.\*\*\*\* From my observations, this does seem to be true. I know some women who relatively routinely use the men’s bathroom when the women’s is too long and it doesn’t seem to be a problem for them. That said, as a man, I don’t routinely encounter this behavior. And I certainly would not expect it to work the other way, but I’ve never come across a situation where the men’s line was longer than the women’s. ---
**Author:** ![Anny\_Middon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc79bd/32.png) [@Anny\_Middon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anny_Middon)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-about-gender-specific-bathrooms/786778/28 "2017-05-17T17:00:54Z")
> [@EmilyG](#): > > For a public bathroom with multiple stalls - I’m guessing that there are many women out there who would be too embarrassed to be heard dealing with menstruation (e.g. changing a pad or tampon) in a toilet stall, when there are men also in the bathroom. There are quite a few women who might not want to be heard like that even only in the presence of other women. It’s been more than a decade since I’ve had to deal with menstruation issues, but I don’t remember changing a pad or a tampon as being very noisy. What are you referring to – the crinkle or rustle of the paper covering the product? In any case, I’ve found defecating to be sometimes fairly noisy. It’s never stopped me from taking a shit in a public restroom. I will say that I had a cousin (now sadly deceased) who had some health issues because she wouldn’t shit in the restroom at her high school. I was dumbfounded when I heard this – it had never occurred to me that some girls were so prissy they wouldn’t answer the call of nature in a public rest room. I’d also like to add that I wish some women would stop being so shy about menstruation. I even more wish that some men would stop being so afraid of menstruation. ---
**Author:** ![Crazy\_Canuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazy_canuck/32/5282_2.png) [@Crazy\_Canuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazy_Canuck)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-about-gender-specific-bathrooms/786778/29 "2017-05-17T17:02:13Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I’ve had people who clean up restrooms tell me that the ladies is usually more disgusting than the mens. This is a yes and a no thing in my experience. Now when it comes to public bathrooms, this is usually true. Public women’s bathrooms really can be terrifying. On the flip side, in any semi-private bathroom I’ve cleaned, (like an office bathroom shared by only a few women) the women’s then tends to be noticeably cleaner, while the men’s is pretty much as dirty as the public one. My theory is that man usually treat all bathrooms equally whether public or private, while women tend to change their behavior depending on which type of bathroom they are in. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-about-gender-specific-bathrooms/786778/30 "2017-05-17T17:05:23Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I’ve had people who clean up restrooms tell me that the ladies is usually more disgusting than the mens. Almost always. Women flush their “feminine products’ causing plugs and messes and then there’s the 'hoverers” who urinate all over the seat. Often, however, the Womans will have two stalls, the Mens one stall and a urinal. nOw, you can fit more urinals than stalls ( I have seen 3 urinals, 3 stalls, vs 5 stalls), so often the Mens has shorter lines, esp as using a urinal is faster. Bigger nicer Womans will have a couch, never in Mens. Womans have ""feminine products’ , Mens do not. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-about-gender-specific-bathrooms/786778/31 "2017-05-17T17:11:01Z")
> [@Duckster](#): > > In reality, women firefighters insist upon making two to three of them as women only in a bank of 10-15. (There is no difference in function among any of them.) Women fire fighters want their own porta-potties because their male counterparts just can’t aim properly and splash around too much. Not so much, but Men are often too damn lazy to lift the seat. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-about-gender-specific-bathrooms/786778/32 "2017-05-17T17:36:09Z")
> [@Anny\_Middon](#): > > Why are public bathrooms that are set up for use by more than one person at a time always set up to be used by just one gender? I can’t say I’ve traveled extensively, but every country I’ve visited (Canada, France, England, Australia) has had separate men’s and women’s bathrooms. In many places, building codes specify that there have to be separate men’s and women’s restrooms. But that doesn’t answer the question of Why. > [@](#): > > How did this get to be the norm? Why not just have bathrooms to be used by whoever? See below for links to some articles that address the question. If I had to try to summarize how they explain it in one sentence, it would be something like: because public restrooms first became common at a time when society was very concerned with separating and differentiating between the sexes. [Why Do We Have Men’s and Women’s Bathrooms Anyway?](http://time.com/4337761/history-sex-segregated-bathrooms/), which **Dusckster** linked to upthread. [How did public bathrooms get to be separated by sex in the first place?](http://theconversation.com/how-did-public-bathrooms-get-to-be-separated-by-sex-in-the-first-place-59575) [The Weird History of Gender-Segregated Bathrooms](http://www.livescience.com/54692-why-bathrooms-are-gender-segregated.html) [A brief history of the ladies’ bathroom](http://theweek.com/articles/621109/brief-history-ladies-bathroom) ---
**Author:** ![mikecurtis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikecurtis/32/3284_2.png) [@mikecurtis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikecurtis)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-about-gender-specific-bathrooms/786778/33 "2017-05-17T17:54:06Z")
> [@Anny\_Middon](#): > > – it had never occurred to me that some girls were so prissy they wouldn’t answer the call of nature in a public rest room. It’s not just women. My ex’s whole family was like this; male, female, young and old. some of them even have issues in their own homes if guests are present. And, I’m discovering, it’s not a small minority who feel this way. It may add another layer on why this whole public bathroom debate is so heated. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-about-gender-specific-bathrooms/786778/34 "2017-05-17T18:06:42Z")
AIUI, women sometimes are applying makeup or examining their face in the restroom or whatnot. Would be awkward to do that in front of a mirror with men standing nearby. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-about-gender-specific-bathrooms/786778/35 "2017-05-17T18:07:19Z")
> [@EmilyG](#): > > For a public bathroom with multiple stalls - I’m guessing that there are many women out there who would be too embarrassed to be heard dealing with menstruation (e.g. changing a pad or tampon) in a toilet stall, when there are men also in the bathroom. There are quite a few women who might not want to be heard like that even only in the presence of other women. What kind of holy ruckus are you raising when you attend to this? And what are you imagining your neighbor is thinking? (‘Damn she’s an obstreperous pad changer!’) mmm ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-about-gender-specific-bathrooms/786778/36 "2017-05-17T19:22:29Z")
> [@Anny\_Middon](#): > > . . . she wouldn’t shit in the restroom at her high school. I was dumbfounded when I heard this – it had never occurred to me that some girls were so prissy they wouldn’t answer the call of nature in a public rest room. . . . I went through all six years of Jr. High and High school without ever once pooping in the restrooms (and peeing as seldom as possible.) That was where the bullies lay in wait. (Very, very bad six years…) ---
**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2017, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-about-gender-specific-bathrooms/786778/37 "2017-05-18T01:07:07Z")
> [@Anny\_Middon](#): > > I even more wish that some men would stop being so afraid of menstruation. [I have a good attitude toward menstruation](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppuMaQ4hZE4) ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2017, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-about-gender-specific-bathrooms/786778/38 "2017-05-18T14:26:38Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > AIUI, women sometimes are applying makeup or examining their face in the restroom or whatnot. Would be awkward to do that in front of a mirror with men standing nearby. Something along the lines of this. I don’t know about men but women visit the bathroom for more than just using the toilet. I think in places where one is likely to get in and out as quickly as possible it really doesn’t matter. On the other hand, here at work where it’s sometime the only place to have a private conversation, it’s nice to have a “ladies only” space. That being said, if that tradition is going the way of the dodo, we’ll all learn to adjust. ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2017, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-about-gender-specific-bathrooms/786778/39 "2017-05-18T17:44:34Z")
I don’t know about what a custodian says at any one place, but I have a somewhat rare perspective: I’ve been in both the men’s and the women’s rooms at hundreds of places I frequent, because after transition I stayed in my same house and job. And I have to say, my experience is that women’s rooms, in general, are an order of magnitude cleaner than men’s. I wonder sometimes if the “women are filthier” comes from finding a spot of blood, or maybe having to empty the wax baggie with the tampons in it. Because overall men’s rooms were horrible. Urine all over the floor under the urinals, shit on the floor in stalls, tons of paper and paper fragments scattered about, soap and water all over the sink, and even newspapers and magazines torn up and left in the stalls. Sure you can find women’s rooms that are horrible. But my experience has been that overall, women’s rooms are just so much cleaner. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2017, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-about-gender-specific-bathrooms/786778/40 "2017-05-18T18:00:36Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > (As opposed to women who \*\*don’t \*\*urinate? ;)) > > No, women have a perfectly easy to aim way to urinate, the problem comes when you get the princesses who are too scared to let their butts touch a toilet seat, they hover & piss all over the seat, and don’t clean it up because they are too high and mighty to deign to touch a toilet. Or, if you look at it another way, pitiful creatures who have been convinced that their only worth lies in their extreme delicacy, and that only ridiculous standards of personal fastidiousness stand between them and utter degradation. I’m not like that, having been raised by a practical woman, but I imagine being that way is more a burden than anything. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-about-gender-specific-bathrooms/786778.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-about-gender-specific-bathrooms/786778.md?page=3)