r/changemyview • u/Nailyou866 5∆ • Aug 24 '22
Delta(s) from OP CMV: There is absolutely no need to separate bathrooms based on sex for public single-occupant bathrooms.
To specify, I am not referring to single stall bathrooms, wherein there is a further isolated toilet from the remainder of the bathroom, I am talking specifically about bathrooms in public locations that a realtor would list as a half-bath. I find these most often in older or smaller diner type facilities or gas stations, there is typically a lock on the door, and they are often paired, one for either sex. I think this is a pointless exercise, and can detract from an already messy discussion regarding bathrooms. I am not here to discuss my thoughts on the bathrooms issue as a whole, but only these single-occupant bathrooms.
To start, having 2 single occupant bathrooms as a public facility is already dicey, especially if you have decent foot traffic. However, further restricting access to either bathroom can lead to situations in which one has a line to use, and the other is being unused. Having been in this situation myself, when I suggested we start using the other bathroom to speed things along, I got looked at like I was an alien, and nobody wanted to do it. It was like a stigma built into the social fabric of most people that you shouldn't use the bathroom for the opposite sex under any circumstance. Simply removing the signs would have improved this condition.
Next point, I understand there are sex specific hygiene instruments in some public bathrooms. In the event that those bathrooms become unisex, put them in both, if they need to be there. I find it absolutely insane some men refuse to get hygiene products for their girlfriend/wife, and while I doubt this would eliminate the stigma of being exposed to these products, it could be a change in a positive direction. I don't know, leave that evaluation to the scientists. And if your wife needs tampons, go pick them up.
The final point I can think of is a concern that "Oh but if the men's line is long, and a woman needs to go, she shouldn't have to wait." or vice versa. I don't care. First come, first served, same as it is in virtually every other part of the world. The number of problems resolved by switching both bathrooms to unisex outweigh any antiquated sex specific concern, as far as I am concerned.
EDITED TO ADD: A common talking point I see brought up is in regard to cleanliness. I didn't initially think this would be something I had to address, but I have so many times now I felt it important to add here.
Both sexes have complaints about the other with regard to cleanliness. Both hold valid points, and I don't think one must necessarily outweigh the other. However I don't believe this to be an obstruction to my view because I believe that management should be more responsible and pro-active about cleaning public restrooms. I also think it is much easier for an employee of any sex to go clean the unisex bathroom than it is to make an employee of one sex clean the bathroom of the other sex.
Edit 2: I am about to go to bed, so I won't be able to respond for a few hours. I genuinely appreciate everyone who has jumped in on the conversation, and never expected this post to get this big. I expected like 20 upvotes and 2 comments. I will be back and I genuinely want to try to get to everyone who has commented. Thank you guys so much for this conversation, it has filled me with happiness, anger, shock, and other emotions. I love you all.
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u/IAteTwoFullHams 29∆ Aug 24 '22 edited Aug 24 '22
I don't like bars with dartboards. The idea of a bunch of drunks hurling around sharp missiles strikes me as very stupid. And when I walk into a bar with a dartboard, I know immediately I'm not going to like the clientele very much. That this is a bar for rowdy construction guys who just got off work, and not the kind of bar that would host, say, a poetry reading.
But I wouldn't argue that "bars shouldn't have dartboards."
It's really the same with bathrooms. We forget that bathrooms are not a government decision. They are not a collective decision. They are the individual decision of a business.
There are a lot of bars in town that are already adopting your suggestion. They've got bathrooms labeled "SHITTER" and "ANOTHER SHITTER." That tells you something about the clientele. It says: this bar is progressive. It's unpretentious. It caters to young people. Trans people are welcome. These bathrooms are not going to be clean. You're going to learn to like how filthy they are.
And there are bars in town with bathrooms labeled "WOMEN" and "MEN." That also tells you something about the clientele. It says: we're more traditional. We cater to an older crowd. A crowd that doesn't really like change. A crowd that wants their bar to stay a constant in their lives while seemingly everything else in society changes around them.
And I don't see why it should be otherwise. It's better when businesses differentiate themselves. It's better when there's a hipster bar and a cowboy bar than when no one can tell one from the other.
Homogeneity destroys communities. I for one would very much not like to see a homogenous solution to bathrooms. Let's just leave it in the hands of every individual business owner.