Restroom Segregation In Schools Essay

Recently, the issue of allowing transgender people access to public facilities according to the gender they identify with has caused much debate throughout the United States. The bathroom bill seeks to control access to public facilities of transgender individuals, based on the gender they were assigned at birth. In 2015, bills were passed stating entering a bathroom not assigned to a person at birth was a crime. Surrounded by misconception, the bill does “not legalize harassment, stalking, violence, or sexual assault.” Since the bill arose, there have not been a rise in violence or other incidents in the states protecting the transgender rights (Transgender Equality). The bill simply states if one is living as a woman, to use the women’s restroom,

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

Using a public restrooms seems like a simple task to the majority of us. This is not the case for people who fall outside the gender norm. Seldom does one have a choice beyond boy’s room or girl’s room. This can be a very stressful environment if your outward appearance doesn’t match your biological sex. Spotlighting those who are not perceived by society as gender normal could lead to depression, anxiety and self-loathing. Something as simple as going to the restroom in the mall could lead to a violent encounter. This would be greatly reduced of people would just be more observant. This all because society developed rules everyone must follow in order to be perceived as normal.

The everyday struggles of a disabled person, a caregiver of a disabled person, a parent with a small child of the opposite gender, a transgendered person, and an aging baby boomers to find a restroom to take care of all their toiletry needs, is growing. After reading an article about a six year old boy being sexually assaulted by a 33 year old man in a restroom at a McDonalds in Florida, agreeing with this essay is easy. Consequently, family restroom will not only help keep small children safe, but it will also allow family with disabled members, be able to enjoy events outside their

In this week reading, “Calling All Restroom Revolutionaries”, by Simone Chess, Alison Kafer, Jessi Quizar, and Mattie Udora Richardson they expressed three main points throughout the article. The first main point in this article is that “ bathrooms are easier to access for some of us than for others.” This is an issue that some people don’t know about or don’t even think is a problem. Recently this has been a hotbed topic, within the media but I have been aware of this problem for sometime now. Many of my close friends have expressed their concerns about the bathroom situation well before this became a newsworthy topic. In addition, this topic has always bothered me because it is a bathroom and people mostly use the bathroom for two purposes.

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

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

The U.S. federal government is backing the issue of gender neutral bathrooms. As Lisa Rein, publisher of an article in The Washington Post, writes, “The federal government is strongly urging employers to give transgender employees access to bathrooms that correspond to their gender identity, marking a new policy front in the fast-moving campaign for transgender equality” (Rein). Rein argues that bathrooms need to be made neutral, as it discriminates members of the LBGT community. Essentially, she argues throughout her article that emotional issues are the biggest reason to allow this. She states, “Among the many forms of discrimination advocates for transgender men and women say they face on the job,

In 2016, the “toilet wars” began; some states passed legislation for transgender people to use the bathroom that correlates with the gender they identify

A long side sports there is also another controversy with transgender rights. There are boy’s bathrooms and girl’s bathrooms, but girls are wanting to use boys and the other way around. Many stores such as Target, Starbucks, and many more have just gotten rid of assigned bathrooms all together. In most cases it is still not enough, many transgender rights activist want it want

TIME magazine in April 5, 2016, in North Carolina, the law passed recently became the first state law in the country limiting transgender people to use the bathroom corresponding to the sex on their birth certificates, also excluding LGBT people from anti-discrimination protections, plus blocking municipalities from passing their own anti-discrimination rules. (Dalesio, 2016)

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