Friday, February 19, 2010

The Name Game - Men's, Women's and Gender Neutral?

I saw something at the NGLTF Creating Change conference in Dallas that surprised me. Not so much because of the political correctness of it, but because of our Great State of Texas laws. The restrooms on the main floor of of the conference had been relabeled as "Gender Neutral Restrooms".

I have no problem with the idea, though the state differs. I understand the needs of my trans friends and how sometimes they are caught in the gender trap of public conveniences. What I saw was revealing. In many places the "Men's" is on the right and the "Women's" is on the left. This may or may not be an architectural convention but it seems pretty common. Even though the signs had been changed to "Gender Neutral", men and those identifying as men turned right and women and those identifying as women turned left.

Go figure?

The good thing about gender neutral restrooms is that it could eliminate the need for potty parody and the long lines at public events. Just choose the restroom with the shortest line and voila, problem solved.

I seriously doubt if this nod to political correctness will ever catch on in mainstream society, but it was an interesting experiment in social engineering. Now, how about adding those sofas in the Men's room that used to be mandated by Texas law in Women's restrooms?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Yes, I've seen this at similar conferences with the same results. Constructing single-occupancy bathrooms is a good solution, but foes cite costs and the possibility of the bathrooms being used for sex.
Clark