Gender specific toilets and locker rooms make no sense

Restroom sign: Whatever, just wash your hands
tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/whatever-just-please-wash-your-hands-dunedin-theatre-installs-quirky-inclusive-signs

At first I didn’t really think about it. It was yet another thing that my parents taught me and I just accepted. Boys and girls need to have separate toilets and locker rooms, so that the boys wouldn’t do nasty things to the girls. Simple.

But one day a cleaning lady came in to the boys’ locker room. And one day a female teacher come in. How come? Why can they see half-naked boys, while our female classmates cannot? That got me thinking and trying to find any sense in that.

Even more when I started realising I was gay. Since I fancy other guys, and since girls might fancy me, should I be always given a private locker room and bathroom, so that nobody sees anyone they might fancy?

Showers in the male locker room at my gym were in renovation for over two weeks. Having to go back home all sweaty and stinky – not the best experience, trust me... The solution could be really simple – just temporarily let the guys use female showers. Nothing would happen. I have no problem not raping or assaulting anyone, no matter how hot and muscular they are, and I’m sure straight guys wouldn’t do that either, if they saw hot naked girls. It’s not a darkroom, it’s just basic hygiene, grow up!

Assuming we only strip to our underwear in the school locker room[1], how is that different from just enjoying a beach in our swimsuits? We don’t separate those by gender (not anymore, at least). Did the world collapse? Did the beaches become dens of iniquity? Did we stop controlling ourselves just because we can see almost-naked persons of the opposite sex? No.

And what’s the deal about the toilets? We have to unnecessarily build separate public toilets for two genders, because what? Because urinals? Man, if someone were inappropriately looking at my junk while I’m pissing in a public restroom[2], I would be pissed – totally regardless of whether it’s a female or male pervert. And except for pissing in a urinal, it’s not like we do anything intimate in front of other people. Why would I care at all, what gender is the person in a next stall?

The separation of restrooms and locker rooms is not just idiotic and baseless, but can often become problematic, if you don’t easily fit into binary gender division. And I’m not talking only about the transgender, transsexual and nonbinary people. You can encounter some problems even if you’re a cis, straight person. In which locker room should a mother help her little son change, so that none of them feels uncomfortable? To which toilet should a father take his little daughter, not to be regarded a pervert?

The whole thing with the gender division makes no sense on any level. Can someone explain to me, why are we still doing that?


[1] Why the hell do people prefer to keep stinking with sweat for the rest of the day rather than just take their pants off and take a shower, is a separate topic. Hint: homophobia.
[2] Well, except if it happened like in a gay bar or something 😉

A photo of me

About the author

Hi! I'm Andrea (they/them). I tell computers what to do, both for a living and for fun, I'm also into blogging, writing and photography. I'm trying to make the world just a little bit better: more inclusive, more rational and more just.

Related posts:

@PoddanyKorony on Twitter:

It might be obvious for most people, (you know, those who know the meaning of words), but apparently, judging from the tweet above and the answers to it, (where Polish right-wingers show WNBR as an example of how the LGBTQ community has “deprived” the West), some people still confuse naturism with exhibitionism and they think that it’s gay...

Well, here’s why it’s neither of those things:

Continue reading…
(~3 min read)
@PoddanyKorony on Twitter:

Być może dla wielu jest to oczywiste, (dla tych, którzy znają znaczenia słów), ale sądząc po tweetach z prawej strony, niektórzy mieszają naturyzm z ekshibicjonizmem, i myślą, że WNBR to przykład tego jak społeczność LGBTQ seksualnie deprawuje Zachód...

Well, naturyzm nie jest ani ekshibicjonizmem, ani domeną homoseksualistów, a oto dlaczego:

Continue reading…
(~3 min read)
World Naked Bike Ride Amsterdam 2018

Yeah, you have some cool photos... But do you have a photo of yourself biking naked in front of the Iamsterdam sign in the centre of Amsterdam? 😄

It was definitelly the craziest thing I’ve ever done in my entire life – and I enjoyed every single second of it!

Continue reading…
(~3 min read)
Me at Halensee

Ich liebe, wie die Deutschen nicht prüde sind, wenn es um Nacktheit geht. Sie haben sogar eine Dating-Show, wo man ein Date nur darauf basierend auswählt, wie es nackt aussieht – und es gibt fast keine Kontroverse deswegen. Sie haben die Nacktheit sogar zum eine Art der Kultur gebracht – es nennt sich zwar FKK, Freikörperkultur.

Ich habe es immer genossen, nackt zu sein, sei es mit anderen Leuten oder nicht. Und von dem, was ich gehört habe, für einem FKKler gibt es nur wenige (oder keine) besseren Länder zu leben als Deutschland. Aber trotzdem gibt es einige Dinge, die ich nicht mag...

Continue reading…
(~4 min read)
Me at Halensee

I love how the Germans are non-prudish when it comes to nudity. They even have a dating show, where people choose their dates solely based on how they look naked – and it sparks next to no controversy at all. They’ve even created a kind of culture around being naked – that’s actually how they call it in German: FKK, Freikörperkultur, Free Body Culture.

I’ve always enjoyed being naked, be it with other people or not. And from what I’ve heard, for a nudist there are very few (or no) better countries to live than Germany. But still, there are some things that annoy me about it...

Continue reading…
(~4 min read)

Step 1: Get naked.

Step 2: Enjoy!

There’s obviously a big taboo around nudity. And I don’t think it makes much sense. Our norms regarding nakedness seem quite arbitrary...

Continue reading…
(~4 min read)

I’ve recently realised that many conservative catchphrases can be answered with a simple challenge: “get naked then!”. How come?

Continue reading…
(~2 min read)

Wir erstellen zusammen eine Karte der besten FKK-Zonen!

Herzlich Willkommen bei Naked Adventure, deine Portalseite für aktuelle von der Gemeinschaft gelenkte Information rund um FKK!

naked-adventure.eu @NakedAdventurEu

Let’s create a map of the best nudist places!

Welcome to Naked Adventure, your one stop shop for up-to-date, community driven information about naturism, nudism, FKK, whatever you want to call being natural!

naked-adventure.eu @NakedAdventurEu

Stwórzmy mapę najlepszych miejsc naturystycznych!

Witamy w Naked Adventure, tworzonej przez społeczność bazie informacji o nagich plażach, basenach, saunach etc.!

naked-adventure.eu @NakedAdventurEu