My university dorm bathrooms were gender-neutral in 1998 and it wasn’t a big deal. Although the floors were split by gender so generally 95% of the people in any bathroom were the same gender anyway.
I do think if big bathrooms become gender-neutral in general, they should still provide some single-occupant / “family” bathrooms because some situations will always demand that extra bit of privacy.
That’s a much more sensible approach to me. I know much has been written about how typically washrooms are designed with the same number of toilets per gender, not taking into account that a lot of women’s clothing requires the woman to get at least half-undressed before she can even think of peeing (there’s that women’s clothing thing again). I’m sure there’s annoyances about men’s rooms I don’t know about which need fixing too.
I’d love to know what, if anything, architects consider about this stuff, or if they just go, “There! Met the building code! Now let’s talk about the tinted glass in the main boardroom!”.
They have assured me (in writing) that they will be using their own legal team to fight the C&D and that I have nothing to worry about, and also clarified (in writing) the legal issues being questioned, so I’m not as concerned now. Fingers crossed!
At the place where they have the local farmer’s market, the bathrooms all share a common hand washing area with a baby changing station. There are two doors off that room for the toilets, which on the women’s side is a bunch of little rooms with real doors. I assume the men’s side is similar but with urinals as well.
It’s a pretty nice setup, and would work for a non-gender-specific bathroom as well. The private activities are in private little rooms, the rest is shared space, and anyone who needs to change a baby’s diaper can do so easily.
Also, sometimes while the men’s room is just a trough, a sink, and a couple of broken stalls with one or two flickering fluorescent tubes and faint lingering ghostly echoes of horror movie music, the women’s room has luxurious couches, potted plants, coffee tables, vending machines, cheerful mood lighting, and piped in music. I don’t really know why though (who wants to hang out in a bathroom?)
I’ve been pissing off literally everyone I’ve integrated with today, and I’ve been completely oblivious that it was happening. Pure social ineptitude.
I don’t know what to do about it, how to fix it, how to recover gracefully, or even how to recover emotionally. All I know is that it will happen again and again and again and again and again.
I must go to the wrong restaurants. Couches I’ve never seen, potted plants is usually some sad little fern on the vanity which may or may not be made of plastic, coffee table no, the vending machines only vend hygiene products and maybe condoms, the mood lighting is… fluorescent tubes that aren’t broken, and the music is usually insipid.
If they’re clean, the stall doors latch, the taps work, there’s soap, and there’s toilet paper, that’s luxurious enough.