Shared, genderless restrooms

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

I know! My goodness who builds these stalls??? Some bathrooms have such wide gaps, I have actually made eye contact with people. Awkward. It is such a treat to find a restroom with an actual door that closes, locks and has no gaps.

I'm with you.

If people want to make bathrooms gender neutral, then fill in the gaps. I don't want to make eye contact with a gentleman while I go.

 

[bcla]

I work in a bar, so yes. Men's room is always messier and smells. Guys is it that hard to flush the urinal?

There are "flushless" urinals now. They actually don't smell like much because that "urine smell" is a result of tap water mixing with urine. They do get cleaned with water of course, but that washes away the urine.

The idea is that they have this special sealant liquid in a cartridge that's lighter than water. Pee into the urinal and the urine goes through this liquid and into the drain. The cartridge lasts for a long time but does eventually need to be replaced at about $35 a pop when enough of the sealant has leaked out. Over the life it's supposed to cost less than the water needed for flushing.

I remember there was some controversy over the installation of these urinals. A plumbers' union refused to work at a building where they were specified because it gave them less work given that they didn't need a water connection for the flush valves.

 

[DawnM]

We visited a college with my son last week and they had a bathroom that had an inclusive symbol. I can't post it right now but will try later.

 

[disneychrista]

There are "flushless" urinals now. They actually don't smell like much because that "urine smell" is a result of tap water mixing with urine. They do get cleaned with water of course, but that washes away the urine.

That's all well and good but when you are pissing into one you are suppose to flush, flush it.

 

[Klayfish]

Ugh...this thread went into the toilet in a hurry.

I'm sorry, I'll leave now...

 

[Little T]

Being a kid at the age of 13 I don't really know how I feel about this. Sure being a girl and having to go potty and waiting like forever to go in lines sometimes is annoying, but I don't think I want to walk into a bathroom and see a boy zipping his fly after peeing while I am off to the stall to do my business. Also I definitely don't want some man peeking through a little gap in the stall door while I am going pee. I certainly know my parents wouldn't want that either. So for this to make me comfortable urinals would have to be put in stalls and the gaps would have to be closed.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

I work in a bar, so yes. Men's room is always messier and smells. Guys is it that hard to flush the urinal?

Gotcha, weird as most of our favorite bars the men's room isn't bad, but DW says some of the women's rooms are awful. At one, the floor is always a disaster

You don't even want to know what we used to find in the women's restrooms at the campground where I used to work

 

[Gumbo4x4]

That's because guy don't wash their hands

It is the smell that gets me. In a gender neutral restroom there was no urinal and it never smelled, like the gender specific one with a urinal.

I think that's why the auto flush is so common now.

 

[BrianL]

The upper left symbol is in response to Asian tourists who may be used to using squat toilets. I've been on vacation in China when I had to go at a KFC in a major city. I gave up when I saw it had a squat toilet.

When I was in Japan my sister had the same issue. She had to go and we were walking by this park that had restrooms. She came out and said it was a squat and she would just hold it.

Also from Japan, is there anything nicer than those heated toilet seats? Man, what luxury! It was hard to go back to the cold seats in America.

 

[CarolAnn856]

Being a kid at the age of 13 I don't really know how I feel about this. Sure being a girl and having to go potty and waiting like forever to go in lines sometimes is annoying, but I don't think I want to walk into a bathroom and see a boy zipping his fly after peeing while I am off to the stall to do my business. Also I definitely don't want some man peeking through a little gap in the stall door while I am going pee. I certainly know my parents wouldn't want that either. So for this to make me comfortable urinals would have to be put in stalls and the gaps would have to be closed.

Every gender-inclusive restroom I've been in does not have urinals out where others can see, so you wouldn't see anyone sipping up their fly, and the gaps that we are so used to in gender-specific restrooms have been eliminated, usually by having real doors.

 

[mamacatnv]

I want to clarify the restrooms BCLA mentioned at the DeYoung - They have gone gender neutral, the urinals remain and they are open for all to see?

 

[bcla]

I want to clarify the restrooms BCLA mentioned at the DeYoung - They have gone gender neutral, the urinals remain and they are open for all to see?

Yes. There is a sign pointing that out, but only in English.

 

[BrianL]

I've never understood the big deal, even if there are urinals. You don't see anything unless you look. As someone who uses men's rooms all the time, I rarely if ever actually see another person's body parts. "Eyes forward" is one of the primary tenets of men's room etiquette.

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

I've never understood the big deal, even if there are urinals. You don't see anything unless you look. As someone who uses men's rooms all the time, I rarely if ever actually see another person's body parts. "Eyes forward" is one of the primary tenets of men's room etiquette.

But remember, it is no longer a "men's room." And ladies have always had walls, no need for the same tenets.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

I've never understood the big deal, even if there are urinals. You don't see anything unless you look. As someone who uses men's rooms all the time, I rarely if ever actually see another person's body parts. "Eyes forward" is one of the primary tenets of men's room etiquette.

Yeah, but sometime there's a trough accessed from both sides so you are facing others as you go.

And that can be very disconcerting as we know from Ghostbusters that crossing the streams can cause you to explode.

 

[holden]

Shouldn't an "all inclusive" restroom include a buffet and drinks? lol

 

[BrianL]

But remember, it is no longer a "men's room." And ladies have always had walls, no need for the same tenets.

Maybe, but it's still not hard to not look. Sure, people can see if they really want to, but you generally have to try, excepting maybe the ballpark "trough" scenario, though I think most guys would like to do away with that anyway.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

Shouldn't an "all inclusive" restroom include a buffet and drinks? lol

And entertainment!!

 

[BrianL]

Yeah, but sometime there's a trough accessed from both sides so you are facing others as you go.

And that can be very disconcerting as we know from Ghostbusters that crossing the streams can cause you to explode.

I've never seen one where you would be facing someone else. I have seen the round ones, but there is always something in the middle that rises high enough to block eye contact. I dislike the troughs anyway and wouldn't mind seeing them go away.

 

[bcla]

Being a kid at the age of 13 I don't really know how I feel about this. Sure being a girl and having to go potty and waiting like forever to go in lines sometimes is annoying, but I don't think I want to walk into a bathroom and see a boy zipping his fly after peeing while I am off to the stall to do my business. Also I definitely don't want some man peeking through a little gap in the stall door while I am going pee. I certainly know my parents wouldn't want that either. So for this to make me comfortable urinals would have to be put in stalls and the gaps would have to be closed.

Well, there is room where the door can be locked. It's generally the accessible/family/etc type that a lot of public places have these days. The one with the urinals is mentioned with a sign, but then again not all visitors read English well enough to understand the details. I don't know if they're going to remodel them eventually, but I think leaving the urinals open out there was a conscious decision.