Shared, genderless restrooms

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

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.

I am totally guessing here, but I bet most ladies are more concerned with being seen, than seeing something.

Not that we (or I) would like to observe guys zipping up. Thanks, no thanks.

 

[bcla]

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.

There was an ESPN college football commercial about trough etiquette. They showed a guy turning to look at the guy talking to him about the game, and one of the ESPN announcers pops in and says to him "eyes forward at the trough".

I've seen plenty of them in older stadiums. They were a staple at the old California Memorial Stadium in Berkeley. I actually haven't been there since they remodeled, but I think they had to replace them. One side of the stadium still only has port a potties. The Oakland Coliseum is a combination. The original part still has troughs, but the part (called "Mount Davis") that was rebuilt in the 90s uses urinals. I think troughs aren't allowed in any new construction in California.

 

[BrianL]

I am totally guessing here, but I bet most ladies are more concerned with being seen, than seeing something.

Not that we (or I) would like to observe guys zipping up. Thanks, no thanks.

Right, but the ladies would be using the stalls, right, so they wouldn't be seen.

 

[bcla]

We do have a new law that says that "single occupancy" or "family" restrooms are required to be designated as gender neutral with specific signage. I do remember this Sonic Drive-In where I used the designated women's room. It was a single occupancy room with a lock and a single toilet. I was using it to change my kid's diaper, as it was the only one with a changing table. Nobody looked at me funny when I exited.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

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.

Our local fair had one right in the center of the room when I was a kid, as did the Indianapolis Motor Speedway when we were there in 2004.

My dad visited a soccer stadium in Scotland that only had one long trough with footprints painted on the floor - some facing the trough, others facing away for more serious business.

 

[bcla]

Right, but the ladies would be using the stalls, right, so they wouldn't be seen.

I think the concern is about peeping Toms looking through the cracks. However, who is really that bold? There are laws against peeping, and if it's a concern it doesn't go away with single sex restrooms.

 

[Little T]

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.

TBH, I rarely have ever seen one of these bathrooms that everyone is talking about. Maybe they just aren't around my neck of the woods, IDK. I basically just use the Girls Bathroom or the Family one if I have to go.

 

[Westcoastwild]

As a follow-up, this is becoming an issue in the United States too. Of course we know that the porcelain throne isn't designed to support the weight of a human being on the tank and standing on the seat might damage the hinges.

http://www.sltrib.com/news/2017/08/01/are-asian-tourists-breaking-utahs-toilets/

The previous article mentioned national parks. This is becoming one heck of an issue at various national parks. Many of them use "vault/pit" toilets. If anyone stands on the seat and manages to break it, the consequence could include falling in.

http://www.jhnewsandguide.com/news/...cle_a64d8bb5-9455-5dd9-a420-65103167c2f8.html

But perhaps the most unexpected consequence of the lingual and cultural barriers for Chinese and other Asian visitors who flocked to northwest Wyoming this year played out in the pit toilets around Grand Teton and Yellowstone national parks.

“Our maintenance staff was seeing basically broken toilet seats, especially in the vault toilets,” Teton park spokesman Andrew White said.

In all, about a dozen of the 42 vault toilets in Grand Teton park wound up broken this summer, he said.

What was happening, park officials discovered, is that tourists from Asian countries were squatting, with their feet on the lids, and the shuffling of legs bearing a body’s full weight was causing toilets to snap where the hinges connect the lid to the bowl.​

You know, oddly, I understand that. For all anyone knows, it may be domestic tourists too. I've avoided squat toilets in Japan but I hate Vault toilets with a passion. I would stand on the seat too!

 

[bcla]

Our local fair had one right in the center of the room when I was a kid, as did the Indianapolis Motor Speedway when we were there in 2004.

My dad visited a soccer stadium in Scotland that only had one long trough with footprints painted on the floor - some facing the trough, others facing away for more serious business.

What was that line from SNL?

If it's not Scottish, it's crap!​

Literally.

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

Right, but the ladies would be using the stalls, right, so they wouldn't be seen.

Only if they fix the stalls. Right now, most have many gaps.

 

[BrianL]

My dad visited a soccer stadium in Scotland that only had one long trough with footprints painted on the floor - some facing the trough, others facing away for more serious business.

Yikes! That's some kind of setup. I'll hold it, thanks.

 

[Westcoastwild]

View attachment 259434


So, saw this beauty recently in Europe..... have no idea if I was in a gender neutral bathroom or not but this cracked me up!!!! LOL

MJ

To add to what bcla said, I've read that that in some countries plumbing is not robust enough for toilet paper, so it would be thrown in a trash can and not down the toilet. Interestingly, I haven't seen the tampon sign at all in Japan but the other two are in every single public restroom. But Chinese tourism apparently exploded in Japan several years ago, and now has spread to Europe. In what country have you seen that sign the most?

 

[Westcoastwild]

Only if they fix the stalls. Right now, most have many gaps.

Yeah. If someone can crawl under it, or make eye contact, I don't want to see it in mixed genre restrooms.

 

[BrianL]

Only if they fix the stalls. Right now, most have many gaps.

Right, but like bcla said, who's really going to put their eyes up to those cracks? They'd be noticed. I understand that the cracks make it feel much less private, in in reality, people have to really try to look through them. I too prefer the closet type stalls as it does just feel more comfortable, but from a practical standpoint I know it makes little difference.

 

[bcla]

You know, oddly, I understand that. For all anyone knows, it may be domestic tourists too. I've avoided squat toilets in Japan but I hate Vault toilets with a passion. I would stand on the seat too!

I don't particularly like them either. The smell is something else, although chemicals help like the ones used in port a potties. However, when I went backpacking I preferred them to finding a rock. I also didn't feel like burying my poop, so I held back for two days until I could use the outhouse. That was a fancy two story building with solar/battery operated fans that supposedly reduced the odor. You had to use stairs to get up. The lower story was just for waste and maintenance storage.

I remember going to Point Reyes National Seashore with my parents. My mom said she had to go, and we were at the lighthouse. They had a normal looking bathroom on the outside, but inside it was obviously a vault toilet. She decided she didn't have to go right away, and she waited until we could get to the main visitor center that had running water.

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

Right, but like bcla said, who's really going to put their eyes up to those cracks? They'd be noticed. I understand that the cracks make it feel much less private, in in reality, people have to really try to look through them. I too prefer the closet type stalls as it does just feel more comfortable, but from a practical standpoint I know it makes little difference.

I couldn't count how many young boys have done it to me. And I am an overweight, old woman.

Do these guys suddenly become all better when they get older? Or do they just get better at it?

 

[DaisyJ]

Right, but like bcla said, who's really going to put their eyes up to those cracks? They'd be noticed. I understand that the cracks make it feel much less private, in in reality, people have to really try to look through them. I too prefer the closet type stalls as it does just feel more comfortable, but from a practical standpoint I know it makes little difference.

You haven't been in many women's restrooms, have you?

 

[BrianL]

You haven't been in many women's restrooms, have you?

Well, I should hope not. Do women often go peeking through the cracks?

 

[DaisyJ]

Well, I should hope not. Do women often go peeking through the cracks?

In most places, the gaps are so wide you can't help but see. Unless you're staring at the floor the entire time you're in the restroom, you're going to "peek". ETA: Are you seeing private things you shouldn't? Not usually, but think about what you can see looking through a crack in the wall. Enough to make it uncomfortable.

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

Well, I should hope not. Do women often go peeking through the cracks?

The point is, you don't have to "really try to look" through them.