Faith writes:
I think mixing the sexes in bathrooms is barbaric. Families don't allow that. Sisters together, brothers together but not the two sexes together.
I suppose my family is barbaric, then.
And pretty much any house of anyone else's I've ever entered in my life.
Do you seriously have separate male/female bathrooms in your house?
this is something that I believe all cultures have recognized forever, but if not certainly the western cultures.
No, not at all.
First time used in the US -> 1887
First time used anywhere was in Europe -> 1739
Urinary Segregation
And, really, it was only widely used in the US since the 1920s.
Which means... the system of separate male/female bathrooms in North America is not even 100 years old, yet.
Heh... "forever"... your life isn't the only history of the world
Stalls provide some privacy but the walls are not all that sturdy and usually allow visibility under and over to anyone caring to check it out.
True.
The solution of separate male/female bathrooms is useless, though. A bad female could still "get you" in a female-only bathroom. Or, really, a man who doesn't care about molesting you probably doesn't care what stick-figure is glued to the door outside either.
Better solution: Make it illegal to molest people in any bathroom.
Equally enforceable, but covers even more issues.
Also.. it's already a law, yay!
Are there urinals in this co-ed bathroom? If not, that says something about why we don't mix the sexes in itself. Privacy IS important, why push the envelope?
Nope. No urinals. I don't understand a problem with not having urinals.
Are there showers in this bathroom? In the one I mentioned the partitions, again, like the usual toilet stalls, didn't provide privacy to the extent of keeping someone from checking out the neighboring shower if desired, and there were no doors on them, just a thin curtain. If there is more privacy than that in the co-ed situation, again that says something about the need for privacy and why not have the traditional separate bathrooms in that case?
Yes, showers. Full walls between shower stalls, just a curtain to the entrance of each shower.
Again... same problem with female-only or male-only showers. A bad person isn't stopped by a sign on a door, and even if so, a bad female in a female-only shower area can still molest anyone.
Better solution: Make it illegal to molest people in any shower.
Equally enforceable, but covers even more issues.
Also.. it's already a law, yay!
What is accomplished by forcing the sexes to be together if you have to make an effort to keep them apart even in that situation, and if no effort is made, is it really the case that you can watch someone else shower, women wash themselves at the sinks in the view of everybody, urinals are used in the view of everybody?
If you're concerned about viewing... shower in the showers.. not the sink.
And don't have urinals.
If you're not concerned about viewing (topless women are perfectly legal in most civilized countries... America might catch up one day...), congratulations! You're likely a mature, normal adult.
If not, if privacy about these things matters, why not just have the usual separate bathrooms where privacy is easier to protect?
That's exactly what I'm advocating.
One big bathroom, stalls for everyone.
Builders don't have to waste money on two separate rooms, no "long line" for the women's bathroom only, stalls all around! Everybody wins!
The solution is so simple, it boggles the mind this has gone on for almost 100 years.