Bathroom Revolutionaries Summary

Transgender rights and policies have always been an ongoing debate. In the article, “Bathroom Battlegrounds and Penis Panics,” Schilt and Westbrook (2015) argued that in order to push gender equality forward, we must consider the rights of transgender people by allowing them to have access to bathrooms that support their gender identity rather than their biological sex. In doing so, authors believed that it would make progress in alleviating discrimination against transgender people. However, in this conscious effort to fight for transgender rights and their access to sex-segregated spaces,

It is a known fact that both men and women use the restroom. What many are not aware of, is that using the toilet in public areas reinforces the differences between male and female. For instance, the very first thing any individual sees when entering a public restroom is the little dolls of a man or a woman as an indication of a female restrooms and or the male restrooms. This simple sign reaffirms the sexual differences of gender and also unconsciously the individual’s identity for that matter. The concept of gender neutral bathrooms is to break the imaginary wall of gender separation thus allowing either sex to use one single restroom. If we think about it, in our home we share one restroom, and are pretty much accepting of the fact that we all use the toilet. The book states that gender salience is the relation of gender across activities and spaces. The book further discusses that when teachers would place children alphabetically versus by gender the importance of gender reduced. Gender is a persistent element in any school. The concept is simple when it boils down to education the main purpose is to place the students together by groups of the ones that are getting the material and are able to proceed to the next or placing them in a group of students that need more time grasping the given material and curriculum. Although gender salience is like a roller coaster in different parts of the elementary school experience the flow of gender is a persistent element in education. Gendered bathrooms, as previously discussed reinforces the differences between male and female. Back in the Victorian era, they created restrooms for women with a special room that had a resting area before entering the section in which the restrooms were located. This was primary because back then it was not lady like to dispose bodily fluids. They believe that women should keep such matters private, and it was pretty much unheard of for women to even use the restrooms the way it is indented. Till this day many women restrooms still have a resting area before entering the restroom section. Bathrooms are designed with an assumption that everyone is heterosexual. Thus not allowing the possibility of that many individuals don’t

First up to analyzing this article is by using a tool concept called the sociological lens. Sociologists use sociological lens to think critically about everyday life, everyday assumptions while also challenging the natural aspects of life. The main issue in this article is that people with different body parts should go different restrooms. More specifically, people with penises should not be allowed to go into female restrooms because it is viewed as dangerous. However, if we analyze this through a sociological lens, the segregation of bathrooms based on gender is a rather new phenomenon. For example, the article states that prior to the Victorian Era, men and women would use the same

The Editorial Board of The Sacramento Bee, in their opinion editorial, “California is Adult in the Room Amid Childishness Over Bathrooms” (16 February 2016), argues that going to the bathroom is a necessity, and thus, lawmakers should not pass laws that base the legal use of bathrooms on the gender from one’s birth. They support their claim by first exposing the faults in the opposite side's opinions, then providing information on California’s plan for bathrooms, then promoting California’s policy that takes safety and comfort into consideration, and finally posing the solution of replacing gender-biased signs on the bathrooms with “all-gender” signs. The Editorial Board’s purpose is to make people who support strict gender-based bathroom laws

Here in Canada, this issue has been brought forward in both communities and provincial level of concerns. To take a look closer to home, the city of Toronto had witnessed the complexity of this issue in the past years. A Toronto transgender teen who identifies as a male, was banned from using his high school boys restroom, and was forced to leave school grounds and search for a public bathroom at a gas station. Concerns were mentioned for the safety of Spencer, and also how he felt uncomfortable being forced to use the women’s restroom; however, several parents and students agreed with how the school was taking action to this problem. After a petition was enacted by fellow supportive students, Spencer was allowed to freely use the restrooms at his high school.

The changing norms of the generation has brought upon commotion between various states because of the presidents judgement. The transgender bathroom policy allows transgender students to use the bathroom they identify as and not by the sex on their birth certificate (Fox News, 2016). The transgender bathroom policy has both successes and failure to ensure safety for transgender students resulting to its change being for not only trans-gender. Gender neutral bathrooms allows safety for those who are not only transgender, but also a part of the LGBTQ community, etc. but it causes a conflict with gender segregation. Adding additional bathrooms to suite other gender preferences costs more money and not everyone is going to accept what they walk into the bathroom and see. The gender neutral bathroom policy should be taken off of hold and be put into action because everything is constantly changing and those who do not identify as the sex they were assigned at birth are at risk for harm.

When approaching public restrooms, most look at the gender on the door that associates with their own gender. However, some stare at those labels wondering which one they belong in. These types of people are often referred to as transgenders. Transgenders are people who identify themselves with the opposite gender of their biological sex. Therefore, for this category of people, entering a restroom is not so easy. They often wonder whether they should go into the bathroom of their biological sex or of their gender identity. The debate has spread throughout America today. Transgender bathrooms have been discussed in politics, education, and even criminal cases. Both sides of the debate offer valid evidence to support their claims. The only compensation

When I President of the Residence Hall Association at North Carolina Central University, there was a student that was transitioning from a male to a female that identified as, she. She felt that she could use the restrooms on the female floor. This was an issue because she was still identified as, he, on her driver’s license. She approached me and said “Can you help me I feel, hated, mistreated, alone, and scared”, the only thing I could tell her was, “ I can see if we have space available for a single room with a restroom included”. That hurt me because I was in this leadership position, representing residence life, and we didn’t even have a gender-neutral restroom for a soon to be transgender to take a shower in peacefully. Unfortunately, that student moved off campus, and had to pay a housing termination fee, and that was one less student in a room. I want to be that young student affairs professional that anybody can talk to; I also want to make sure we have facilities on campus that cater to the LGBTQ community. If there isn’t a lavender housing LLC on campus, lets start one. We can start by putting adapting a lavender housing floor LLC, then moving towards a lavender building that provides knowledge about the LGBTQA culture, and people who have contributed to the

In the article “When the Gender Boxes Don’t Fit” by Ericka Sokolower-Shain I found myself a little disagreed. I am all about equality for all, and everyone should feel comfortable in their own skin. I agree with the writer that “gender doesn’t have to be so black and white” (Sokolower-Shain, 2009, pg. 34). The whole conflict this person came across within the whole bathroom discussion I felt fully on their side, and it was something I would support, gender neutral bathrooms. But then I thought about myself, I won’t feel comfortable about entering a bathroom with men in there. I don’t know if that messes with my beliefs on equality but the thought of it did make me uncomfortable. I think if I was asked to sign

A bathroom at home is the most private and comfortable. He then describes how creating a unisex bathroom can benefit people who may suffer with shy bladder syndrome. Broyde and Steinmetz arguments both helped each other by providing clear points and expanding each other’s thoughts. Although Steinmetz didn’t provide her points with detail, Broyde was able to fill in the blanks. Unlike Steinmetz he went in depth every time he would make a statement.

Gender equality is a pressing issue in the United States. The definition of gender, and the rights that accompany them, is constantly being updated and adjusted. The LBGT community is fighting for equality after being repressed for many years. Because of this sudden movement, social issues are sparking outrage and debate on whether a certain law or right for LBGT people is to be initiated. In many instances, these issues dominate the media, and cause for chaos on both sides of the spectrum. The bathroom controversy exemplifies this. The LBGT community argues that anyone should be able to use whichever bathroom that matches with their identified gender. Members of the LBGT community should not be able to use whatever bathroom they please.

There are people, clearly from the short story, that have to plan their day around finding a bathroom that they feel comfortable using. There are people who have to plan their days around a lot of access and acceptance issues that I take for granted every single

In past generations, it has been clear to society that males and females use segregated bathrooms. It is also known that the rate of transgender people has been growing over the past years. Transgender people constantly face troubles when using a bathroom in public. Nevertheless, as society has become more aware of the transgender population and the issues that they face, many schools have had to decide how they will respond about the issue of school bathrooms when students identify themselves as transgender. A school should be able to provide separate facilities based on sex, but must allow transgender students access to the facility which matches their gender identity.

When the applied the focus no longer on learning, it flips on to when and where a person should use the bathroom. If a student does not have the ability to use the bathroom they are comfortable with then what should they do? Schools do not normally have gender neutral bathrooms unless it is in the faculty lounge or an area only accessible to non-students. Those bathrooms can be all the way across campus depending on where that

An integral and necessary part of the built environment, moreover – our daily lives – restrooms provide the real human need for safe and sanitary facilities when we go to work, go to school, and participate in public life. Every day, many utilize the facilities of public toilets in workplaces, schools, and the innumerable other spaces we pass through and occupy while outside our homes (Kopas, 2012). As defined by Matthew Kopas (2012), a “public bathroom is any toilet facility that is not located in a private dwelling,” encompassing both traditional “on-street” local authority public toilets and “off-street” toilets to which the public has right of access, for instance, in shopping malls and commercial spaces (Greed, 2014), thus coining by the British Toilet Association (2001) to be toilets “away from home”.