Restrooms Are a Human Right

I once had to use the men's restroom at a Starbucks because the women's was broken. I expected it to be different, but... no. Both were single occupant only, with just a toilet, a sink, and paper towels. Utterly identical. There were even baby changing stations in both. At that point, I was like "Why even bother gendering these bathrooms when they're identical and only one person can be in there at one time anyway?

It would be so surreal if someone were to look at me weird for coming out of such a bathroom. Like, seriously.

On a different note, this post made me ponder a story I'm planning, wherein a human moves to Traipah and has all kinds of culture shock to deal with. Add one more to it: no gendered bathrooms! The Duenicallo and Shaokennah might have their own bathrooms, though.

Heh, the bathrooms are going to be an experience for that human to begin with. They use squat toilets, like in certain Arab countries. And there are no privacy stalls. It's a culture where there's no body shame, and people only wear clothing for safety or ritual reasons. (Hell, I'm even considering the bathrooms being open-air, so anybody can see you do your business. There are cultures on Earth, even developed countries, where going in the bushes or at the side of the road is perfectly acceptable and even common. But this culture is a bit cleaner than that, hence open-air flush toilets.)

At that point, I was like "Why even bother gendering these bathrooms when they're identical and only one person can be in there at one time anyway?

Some women don't like having to step on muddy piss to get to a toilet that has its seat still up. Unisex including a urinal might help. Ideally, where there's room for two restrooms, I've seen them marked with cute doggy signs saying "Setters" and "Pointers". ;-

I once had to use the women's at CCNY, where melting snow and a leak had caused the semi-underground men's to flood several inches deep. That was a large multiple-stations room. Of course I called out before entering, and before leaving the stall, and explained to the women students in the sink area (who were understanding about it).

GHOD that was a long time ago! About 1971.