Sure, that would work in a perfect world. Unfortunately many people have tendencies to not follow the rules
Then you confront and publically shame those individuals who cannot behave like civilized persons. You do not insist that everyone in their “class” be segregated in case one might act like an ass.
But I don’t feel we even try. It’s considered a rite of passage to ogle girls and stare at them and say rude things. Young guys are absolutely assholes.
If I must share a locker room I’d want the lower age limit to be 25 or so. All of the younger bucks can go in their own segregated little locker room until they can prove they are mature enough to play with the rest of us.
Naw, I think the divisions we have now are just fine. Boys over there and girls over here.
No, it’s not. It’s entirely based on feeling uncomfortable, one from sex and one from skin color. I don’t see why society needs to cater to either prejudice.
The facts are that nearly every locker room has gays and straights together and it’s not a problem. It only becomes a problem when some folks decide that separate but equal is the only solution to a problem, rather than learning to get along.
You have masterfully avoided the question of what should be done with bisexuals. I suppose we should segregate them off with the gays. What’s the difference anyway.
No it isn’t. Homophobia is stupid.
Excellent idea. Thats the best solution
Thats the same as saying your fear of heights (aerophobia) is stupid.
Or your fear of spiders (arachnophobia) is stupid.
People can’t help it if they have fear of something, or if they’re uncomfortable with something
If there were some grand fiat and all of a sudden all locker rooms were made coed, chaos would ensue and “the boner room” would be a kind way to describe it. If we didn’t spend the first 20 years of our lives developing the exclusive association between nudity and sex, it would be completely different. I’ll quote a post I made in a thread about NBA player Jason Collins coming out here, since I think it’s pretty relevant.
Locker rooms are public spaces, and sex is pretty much a private activity. Gay and straight men share locker rooms all the time, whether or not the straight guys know it, without issues. There’s no reason this couldn’t work for everyone, except for the question of how to start it. I mean, my high school theater had coed dressing rooms. If there’s a group of people less prepared to maturely handle semi-public nudity than high school students, I don’t know who it would be. If high school students (seriously, high school!) can make that work without problems, I’d say anybody can.
I don’t think Anaamika’s lower age limit of 25 is the answer, though, because I think the associations between sex and nudity are pretty well set by then - we’d have to start with younger kids and do it as a generational shift. But because we so strongly associate nudity with sex, and because we are so paranoid about sex and minors, it’ll be a long time before we try it.
I hope this doesn’t give you too much of a headache, but there are places where that is indeed the case.
Yes, you are right here on all counts, including it being a long time before it happens! I just meant if we had to start RIGHT NOW RIGHT THIS MOMENT.
You are not afraid of heights or spiders. You are afraid of the potential behaviour of another person, and you wish to avoid interacting with these persons because of your fear, and not because of any actual behaviour on their part.
There is a difference.
Great. I’ll insist that I be given an office on the first floor since I’m afraid of heights* and don’t want to risk being near a window. Because that’s totally fair.
Or maybe I could just suck it up and cope, or get some freaking therapy to deal with it so I can be a normal human being?
- I’m not.
Sure, except people still can’t help who (or what) they’re uncomfortable with.
If some people are uncomfortable changing in front of gay people, then thats the way it is. In the same way many women are uncomfortable sharing a change room with men, and why society for that exact reason has invented separate changing rooms
Large corporations give people who have fear of heights office space on lower floors all the time
True. All real fears suffered by some people. But notice how we do not level high rise buildings or make planes fly at lower altitudes or exterminate all spiders. You have an irrational fear? Deal with it. Nobody is going to segregate dressing rooms because of your irrational fear of gays.
So gay people must be segregated because of your own paranoia?
And how are you going to decide who’s gay, anyway? It’s not like we carry membership cards.
The sexes are segregated because our ‘societies’ have taught us prudishness and decided ‘on high’ that the sexes shall be segregated. It’s not like women got together and wrote a petition.
Yes, why not?
Awesome. I’m going to claim fear of heights so I can sit in the coffee shop in the lobby every day. Also, they’ll have to move all our team meetings there because I simply can’t function in the fishbowl meeting room on the 19th floor.
Actually, at the risk of derailing this thread. What ‘exactly’ are you afraid of? What do you think is going to happen if a gay guy sees your naked butt?
Fact is, gay people have grown up knowing that 95% of people around them don’t feel the same way, so ogling people in the gym just isn’t something we are in the habit of doing. We are also used to seeing people of our preferred gender naked, and don’t associate every such interaction as sexual.
Since there are probably gay athletes who don’t like being ogled, and probably gay athletes who like to ogle, that isn’t going to work.
The answer then is to have “creepy” and a “non-creepy” changing rooms. Although I think there could be some difficulty getting people to self-identify as creepy.
Alternatively, have unsegregated changing rooms, but build individual private cubicles large enough to accommodate a shower, somewhere to hang dirty/clean clothes without them getting wet and enough space to change.
Memebership cards, puh-leeze! How do you feel about pink stars stitched to your coat?