Likesmall pocketsand unnecessarily expensiverazors , longsighted cleaning lady ’s bathroom lines seem to be an annoying yet inevitable part of the female experience . But what if it did n’t have to be that way ? What if women could waltz into any convenience and find oneself an open stall waiting for them ? According toThe Atlantic , the issue could be fixed once and for all by a on the face of it childlike measuring rod : installing more toilets in women ’s bathrooms .
Historically , public restrooms have been designed with men in mind . Up until the Victorian era , john weremale - only spacesbecause it was believed that men were the only ones who had any business being out in public . If woman happen to be out and about and needed to take a leak , they had to crouch over a gutter or use a equipment called a urinette ( kind of like a 19th - centuryShewee ) .
With that said , the debate surround " taken with parity " is fairly recent . After witness how long his married woman and girl had to await in line for the bathroom at a Tchaikovsky concert in 1987 , a country senator from California bring in legislation to provide women with more lav . For the first time , the fact that women simply take longer on the toilet — partially because they have to enroll a stall and sit down , but also because they have period — was publicly addressed . The law passed , and itstipulatedthat new construction have at least 50 percent more bathroom stall for women than for men . Large metropolis like New York City and Chicago and at least 21 country passed like constabulary in the years following .
So why are foresighted woman ’s bathroom line still a problem ? For one , the law do n’t apply to bathroom that exist prior to the legislation make pass . There ’s also an extra cost consort with install more toilets than plumbing computer code require — something many developer are n’t uncoerced to take on . One style of circumvent the problem is by installing more gender - neutral toilets , but these tend to spark bowelless debate in the public and political heavens .
Some have gotten originative . bathroom at theAT&T Stadiumin Arlington , Texas , have changeful signs that let men ’s can be converted into adult female ’s bathroom bet on the sex ratio of the crowd on any give night . AsThe Atlanticpoints out , there are mass of possible fixes to the problem , if only the developers and public public opinion would permit them .
[ h / tThe Atlantic ]
