Urinary segregation

Urinary segregation is a term used to refer to the separation of public toilets into the gender categories of Male and Female. In the United States, gender-based separation of public restrooms began in the late 19th century as a response to women not having toilets available to them in the workplace.[1] In contemporary times, this separation is typically enforced by both city laws and building codes. Key differences between male and female restrooms in most western countries include the presence of urinals for men and sanitary bins for the disposal of menstrual hygiene products for women.

Origin

The term "urinary segregation" was first coined by Jacques Lacan in 1957 in his essay "The Instance of the Letter in the Unconscious, or Reason Since Freud."[2]

The need to establish sex-segregated bathrooms in the United States arose from a lack of women's restrooms in workplaces (toilets had been for men's use only). In 1887, Massachusetts became the first state in the United States to pass legislation requiring any workplace with female employees to have a female-specific restroom. By the 1920s, most states had passed laws regarding sex-segregated bathrooms.[3]

Causes

American public restrooms are regulated by two separate federal agencies; the U.S. Department of Labor governs workplace restrooms while non-workplace restrooms are governed by the Department of Health and Human Services.[3] Many places in the United States are "legally prohibited from offering only restrooms for men."[3] Mary Anne Case points out, "Even in public spaces, such as restaurants, where two single-occupancy, self-enclosed toilet facilities are all that is provided to customers, signs designate one [...] 'Ladies' and the other 'Gents.'"[4] These regulations are mostly based on the precedent created by original legislation, though they sometimes also work to eliminate the longer wait time females often face by creating a ratio of more female restrooms than male restrooms.

Building codes are another reason that urinary segregation continues, because buildings from different eras are subject to different codes.[5] In many situations, building owners do not update existing features because it allows them to continue following the older building codes that go along with those older features.[3]

Transgender debate

Urinary segregation has become a cause celèbre for transgender identity in US politics beginning c. 2010. An early essay on this question is Case (2010) who argues that "walking into a toilet segregated by sex requires that each of us in effect self-segregate" and that some transgender people report being challenged on what bathroom they choose to use and subsequently "do their best to forego use of public toilets altogether."[4]

The separation of restrooms along lines of gender, and the question of how social and legal enforcement of the division should take place, has been the subject of debate. Transgender people often face harassment based on their choice in restroom regardless of whether they use the restroom corresponding to their gender identity or their sex assigned at birth, which has led many activists in the transgender community to call for legal protection for people using restrooms which reflect their gender identity. Others have questioned the need for gender-based restroom segregation. In addition to transgender issues, those questioning the need for gendered bathrooms cite dilemmas caused by the need for caretakers of dependents (who include children, the elderly, and the mentally and physically disabled) to enter the restroom used by their charge, regardless of which restrooms they may use themselves.[4][6][7]

Others, especially those subscribing to an essentialist view of gender, have proposed laws which require transgender individuals to use restrooms corresponding to their sex assigned at birth. Some advocates of these laws claim that transgendered people, or men claiming to be transgendered, will be responsible for sexual assault in bathrooms matching their gender identity.[8][9] However, statistics on sexual assault in restrooms show no incidence of assaults where the perpetrator was a transgender person using a restroom corresponding to their gender identity,[10] while 70% of transgender people report facing harassment or assault while trying to use a restroom in the District of Columbia.[11]

Gender-neutral restrooms in college campuses

According to the Stonewall Center at the University of Massachusetts, there are over 150 college campuses across the US that are creating gender-neutral restrooms.[12] In March 2016, New York City private college Cooper Union moved to remove gender designations from campus bathrooms.[13][14] In October 2016, University of California Berkeley converted several restrooms into gender-neutral washrooms.[15]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "The Biggest Obstacle to Gender Neutral Bathrooms? Building Codes.". Reason.com.
  2. ↑ Kingsbury, Paul; Pile, Steve (2016-04-15). Psychoanalytic Geographies. Routledge. p. 327. ISBN 9781317073932.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "The Biggest Obstacle to Gender Neutral Bathrooms? Building Codes.". Reason.com.
  4. 1 2 3 Case, Mary Anne (2010). "Why Not Abolish the Laws of Urinary Segregation?" (PDF). Toilet: Public Restrooms and the Politics of Sharing. New York University Press. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  5. ↑
  6. ↑ "For Transgender Americans, Legal Battles Over Restrooms". The New York Times. 27 July 2015. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  7. ↑ Lancaster, Roger. "Imagining the Socialist Bathroom". Jacobin. Retrieved 21 May 2016.
  8. ↑ Menzel, Margie (17 March 2015). "Moving forward: Transgender bathroom bill passes second Florida House committee". The Miami Herald. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  9. ↑ Brydum, Sunnivie (10 March 2015). "Texas Doubles Down on Transphobic Legislation, Adding $2,000 Fine for 'Wrong' Bathroom Use". The Advocate. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  10. ↑ Bianco, Marcie (2 April 2015). "Statistics Show Exactly How Many Times Trans People Have Attacked You In Restrooms". Mic. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  11. ↑ Herman, Jody L. (June 2013). "Gendered Restrooms and Minority Stress: The Public Regulation of Gender and its Impact on Transgender People's Lives" (PDF). Journal of Public Management & Social Policy. UCLA School of Law Williams Institute. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  12. ↑ "Gender-Neutral Restrooms" (PDF). University of Massachusetts Stonewall Center. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 March 2015. Retrieved 19 November 2016.
  13. ↑ "RESTROOM SIGNAGE".
  14. ↑ Redden, Molly (29 March 2016). "New York college moves to strip gender markings from all bathrooms". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 November 2016.
  15. ↑ "Campus moves forward on gender-inclusive restrooms".
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