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Restroom Privacy

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DavidOdden

Restroom Privacy   

67 members have voted

  1. 1. How strongly do you prefer sex-segregated restrooms, vs. unisex restrooms

    • I prefer sex-segregated restrooms: I am male
      25
    • Neutral, I don't care: I am male
      21
    • I prefer unisex restrooms: I am male
      4
    • I prefer sex-segregated restrooms: I am female
      6
    • Neutral, I don't care: I am female
      2
    • I prefer unisex restrooms: I am female
      1


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I want to know if there is an general preference for sex-segregated restrooms. This is a market survey of sorts -- suppose that I'm planning on opening a business that has restrooms for customers, and I want to know whether there is enough customer preference in favor of sex-segregated restrooms to justify having both a men's room and a women's room, as opposed to just one generic restroom.

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I am male and I don't care!

I was surprised to see that males have already voted who care about sex-segregation. I figured it would be only females.

I suppose I will never understand why a person needs to be separated with his sex in order to feel comfortable emptying his bladder or bowels. But I have spent my whole life not caring what females think of me, and doing it around males already. I have also spent my whole life understanding that there is nothing sexual about using a public restroom at the same time as another stranger. Even as a child when absurd notions about the decency in remaining clothed at all times were most present in my Christian head did I notice that the "rule" was bent for public restrooms.

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I want to know if there is an general preference for sex-segregated restrooms. This is a market survey of sorts -- suppose that I'm planning on opening a business that has restrooms for customers, and I want to know whether there is enough customer preference in favor of sex-segregated restrooms to justify having both a men's room and a women's room, as opposed to just one generic restroom.

I would vote, but I fear that you would take my answer to mean something that it does not. I prefer sex-segregated bathrooms, but I have zero problem with a pre-operative transsexual living (and appearing) as a woman using the woman's restroom. In fact, I would actively recommend that a person do that, rather than risk the men's room.

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In fact, I would actively recommend that a person do that, rather than risk the men's room.
If you mean to say that men generally are prone to act out against a male-to-female transexual, either physically or verbally, in a public restroom, I think you're wrong. Of course, you have to be in a civilized public restroom to begin with, and not the Walgreens in the shady end of town. But the most a transexual is going to get is weird looks. Most men will probably be extra polite out of fear of offending through awkwardness.

Besides, how is a woman going to understand a transexual any more than a man, enough to know how to act better in a public restroom?

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I don't understand sex-segregated bathrooms. Just make bathrooms like bathrooms in the home. A bunch of closets with doors. (Think permanent port-a-potties.) Now if some of you guys can't control your aim and if some of you women can't control your disposable products, this will never work. <_<

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I want to know if there is an general preference for sex-segregated restrooms. This is a market survey of sorts -- suppose that I'm planning on opening a business that has restrooms for customers, and I want to know whether there is enough customer preference in favor of sex-segregated restrooms to justify having both a men's room and a women's room, as opposed to just one generic restroom.

I was thinking of a larger bathroom with several stalls and/or urinals that would be unisex- somewhat of a revolutionary idea in my opinion, as opposed to a one-at-a-time bathroom that could be used by either sex. The former is very common in NYC, for example, most starbucks have only one bathroom. I actually got a chuckle out of the bathroom scene with Diane Lane and the French guy in Unforgiven. She goes into the women's bathroom of a small cafe and he follows her in to umm.. make sure she has toilet paper. In any case, the women's bathroom of this tiny cafe where they do their dirty business is just palatial by NYC standards, several individual stalls and windows. You would never see something like this in a small establishment in New York, this is purely a Hollywood device to make their liaison seem riskier.

The only difference I can see between having unisex and segregated bathrooms is perhaps men are more likely to lift the seat and aim properly. I'm amazed at men's room etiquette and how quickly some people's ethics can plummet when no one is watching. My solution: hook a camera up to the toilet seat that would snap a photo of you if miss your target. Justice!!

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I mis-voted because I was multi-tasking and not paying close enough attention (i voted for unisex bathrooms instead of single-sex bathrooms)

BUT had i not misvoted, i would have voted for single-sex bathrooms because, on the whole, women's bathrooms are typically cleaner than men's bathrooms. I have worked at jobs where I had to clean both men and women's bathrooms every night, and without fail the men always made bigger messes than the women. As a woman, I prefer to avoid these messes.

Plus, if there's only one bathroom and someone shits on the floor, or is taking forever, or something else rude/vile, then what is everyone else supposed to do??

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I am male and I don't care!

I was surprised to see that males have already voted who care about sex-segregation. I figured it would be only females.

Have you seen the kind of lines that can form in front of a ladies' room? I am all for having a separate, "fast-track" facility for men!

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I would vote, but I fear that you would take my answer to mean something that it does not.
That would be a separate poll. We have to determine the answer to the fundamental question before refining it to include state-of-mind issues like transsexuals.
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Plus, if there's only one bathroom and someone shits on the floor, or is taking forever, or something else rude/vile, then what is everyone else supposed to do??

I don't know about everyone else, but I'm not for just one bathroom. I'm for many bathrooms, just anyone can use the next one available. Get rid of the stalls and get doors! lol!

Have you seen the kind of lines that can form in front of a ladies' room? I am all for having a separate, "fast-track" facility for men!

That's because the people that design buildings are not very bright. It's obvious that women (who by in large take care of everyone else) are going to be dragging kids and grandmothers, etc., to the bathroom with them. In addition, the people who design women's clothing and undergarments make them as complicated as possible to get into. (Why do my pants need three buttons and a zipper?!) And finally, women have more and different types of "stuff" to take care of in there, so we tend to take longer.) There are also more women than men, albeit by a small percentage. So why in the hell don't they make more bathrooms available for women?! I hate those long lines. <_<

And can I get a hook on the back of the door for my purse and coat?! Jeez! It's not that hard, people! :lol:

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I agree with Kelly and have voted for sex-segregated bathrooms can the urinals and get doors. No open deification = no problem.

I'll third that notion. <_<

There's a small restaurant I used to go to all the time that has one small unisex bathroom, and it's very clean. I don't think there's a problem with it if they have two of those in a slightly bigger restaurant.

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Urinals are there for economic reasons: They are cheaper, take up less space, and are faster to use.

Is it really cheaper to have separate restrooms?

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I voted for single-sex bathrooms. Women's bathrooms do tend to be cleaner and sometimes nicer, and it's just an added element of privacy that is nice to have. It wouldn't be a big deal if separate facilities weren't provided, though, and I totally agree that it is much more important to have a coat/purse hook on the back of the door!

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Kelly's idea is the best. If I ever have to design a public bathroom (unlikely, but meh) I would do that.

That would piss off the two guys who not only would miss the chance to go to the bathroom in close proximity to people of the opposite sex (which, for some reason, they want), but they'd actually have to be all alone while doing it. <_<

May I ask why one would prefer to use a unisex bathroom?

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I voted for single-sex bathrooms. Women's bathrooms do tend to be cleaner and sometimes nicer, and it's just an added element of privacy that is nice to have. It wouldn't be a big deal if separate facilities weren't provided, though, and I totally agree that it is much more important to have a coat/purse hook on the back of the door!

Many moons ago when I used to clean up a fast food restaurant after closing, the woman's washroom was always dirtier than the mens...

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I voted for sex-segregation, but that is with the current "stall-design" in mind. Were there individual rooms where voyeuriusm was more or less ruled out, I would not be too opposed to the unisex idea: that's why smaller stores/ restaurants that just have one bathroom/one toilet don't bother me too much. When possible, though, I still prefer the sex-segregation. I am not grossed out by men's bathroom habits any more than I am by women: who are these women, for example, who don't flush the toilet after taking a giant crap?!? I think it is more of a safety and/or voyeurism prevention thing for me. Let's not make it any easier for some perverted guy to stick a hidden camera in a bathroom <_<

And, yes, for all you guys voting for unisex, I am quite sure you would change your minds once you, too, got to experience the line-waiting that we women love so much. :lol:

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Well, the cleanliness of the bathrooms is going to be a challenge no matter what. Men have bad aim and some women are, well, just stupid when it comes to using a trash can and both sexes seem to suck at flushing. :dough:

With regards to waiting in line...this wouldn't be a problem if they had an appropriate number of restrooms compared to the capacity of the building. In, fact, I think lines would be reduced since the women who are waiting in line now could be using one of the toilets the men always seem to have available.

I had a similar situation to The Egoist's several years ago. We were at a huge motorcycle rally in Galveston, Texas. While eating in an upscale seafood restaurant, the line for the ladies room was a mile long and a man exiting the mens room reported to me that there was no one in there. So I organized a revolt in the line for the ladies room. The third person in line served as a lookout while the next two people in line used the mens room, and so on. By the time the last lady used the mens room, there were two guys waiting to go and looking at us funny. I love it! :dough:

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Is it really cheaper to have separate restrooms?

It probably depends on the specific circumstances, but I think if you add up the amount of floor space and stall infrastructure they save (both by virtue of being more compact and as a result of needing fewer of them thanks to the quicker turnaround times), I could easily imagine that they at least compensate for the cost of the extra wall and door that is required for having separate rooms.

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