<p>I don’t think the issue here is about unisex single bathrooms. There are no privacy issues with those. The OP’s situation was clearly a group shower/toilet set up, with the complaint being that men would completely disrobe in front of women and use the toilet stalls without closing the doors.</p>
<p>I would be fine with group bathrooms designated “Women/Trans” and “Men/Trans” if that would satisfy everyone.</p>
<p>If convenience is the sole reason behind the coed designation, then it seems it would be more amenable to all if those who <em>need</em> to be close to a bathroom simply request that room, rather than forcing all to submit to the coed situation.</p>
<p>Again, this is thus far an isolated case. Can any current college males living in a dorm support the implication that this occurs frequently? Does it happen in male single-sex bathrooms?</p>
<p>Do you mean do men ever use facilities in front of other men without closing the doors, or do men ever walk out of the shower naked in front of other men in a group restroom? You’re kidding, right? Not every man will do this, but lots of them do. Like most things, it probably depends on how comfortable they are with how they look without their clothes on. I don’t have to be in a college dorm to know this.</p>
<p>^My questions were not rhetorical. I admit it surprises me that “lots” of men would do so in a single-sex bathroom, although I’m curious as to whether that same “lot” would do so in a coed bathroom.</p>
<p>Retrofitting a single-sex bathroom to mixed-gender means adding more privacy, e.g. changing/anterooms attached to showers, maybe longer/closer fitting toilet stall doors. Remove urinals, just to make sure no one stumbles in and forgets exactly where they are :)</p>
<p>Probably not, because there would be different standards and everyone would know about it. But that doesn’t mean you can always avoid it. What is that show on MTV - “Real World?” Some people would be uncomfortable living like that.</p>
<p>Single-use facilities aren’t at issue here. I think those would satisfy everyone’s requirements for privacy. (Though maybe not their standards for cleanliness:)).</p>
<p>The main problem is that lack of single-gender restrooms used as the main place to shower, etc. in the dorm everyday are just uncomfortable for a lot of females. Not for all, but judging from the posts, a substantial number. The reason for the discomfort is almost irrelevent. Some of the reasons have been listed here. It’s not fair to say “just get over it.” It is also really not so strange a concept as multi-use restrooms in every other facility outside of dorms are single-gender. </p>
<p>It has been noted here that while objections can be raised, 17 and 18-year olds in this new situation may not want to rock the boat and be the one who objects. Or in the case of the original article, object only to have everyone ignore the new single-gender sign.</p>
<p>I need to also add that even if some dorms have single-gender restrooms, there is no guarantee a student will get one in the housing lottery.</p>
Okay. I misunderstood. I thought we were talking about retrofitting coed restrooms to single gender. I think I’ll get out of here in case this gets as complicated as the ED thread.</p>
<p>I know I’m way behind, but I wanted to come back to this point Trans students are not always roomed according to their identifying gender. I know trans men who have been assigned to live on floors that are “all-women”. Obviously it can be extremely awkward to move into a room that’s supposed to be single-sex and then explain to your roommate and hallmates that no, you’re actually trans. The awkwardness is only compounded if you come out as trans part-way through the school year. And even if someone is out to their hall, they may not be inherently comfortable in a single-sex bathroom.</p>
<p>This is the main reason I chose to live where I do, in a student-run co-op. If I had lived in ResEd as a first-year, I would have been placed with a female roommate. I would not have been comfortable showering in a men’s bathroom, since it would have been evident to all of my hallmates that I was trans, had just barely started to transition, and was for all intents and purposes still physically female. And I would not have been so naive as to assume that every man on the hall would be fine with me using the men’s room. That said, it would have been equally uncomfortable to use the women’s room while identifying as a man and asking others to acknowledge me as a man, and I’m sure it would be upsetting to some women.</p>
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<p>MWestMom, I agree with all of this. The problem is that each of these statements can be reversed. There are people who are deeply uncomfortable in single-sex bathrooms, for many reasons, and aren’t going to “just get over it” any time soon, even though single-sex bathrooms are a societal norm. Even if some dorms have permanent all-gender bathrooms, there is no guarantee that students who need them will be able to live on those halls. And there will always be peer pressure that makes it harder (though not impossible) for students whose bathroom preferences go against the prevailing opinion to advocate for their needs. Unless colleges make major changes to their dorm facilities or their housing lotteries, these will continue to be problems for students who have specific bathroom needs in either direction.</p>
<p>It’s often tempting for people to resolve this conflict by saying that when hallmates cannot agree unanimously on a bathroom designation, the bathrooms should revert to single-sex as a default. But the fact that that is the social norm doesn’t mean that trans/gender-variant students’ discomfort in single-sex bathrooms is any less significant than other students’ discomfort in all-gender bathrooms.</p>
<p>Someone brought up office buildings going co-ed and high school bathrooms.</p>
<p>I would be very upset if my landlord announced that our office bathrooms were going to become co-ed. I think many people in my building would be upset. Not only would I have issues in terms of my own comfort level, but I am 100% certain that I would lose at least one client if there was not a single-sex bathroom in my building – or a gender neutral one where only one person at a time could go in.</p>
<p>As for high schools - at our urban high school, there are constant discipline issues in the bathrooms – pot smoking and fights. I can’t even imagine how the school could function if the bathrooms became co-ed. Many, many students at our school avoid using the bathroom altogether because they don’t feel safe. Although, who knows? Maybe everyone would be better behaved if people of the opposite sex were in there – that’s what happened when our soccer league went co-ed at the teen level. But I think it would create more problems than it would solve.</p>
Trans students are not always roomed according to their identifying gender. I know trans men who have been assigned to live on floors that are “all-women”. Obviously it can be extremely awkward to move into a room that’s supposed to be single-sex and then explain to your roommate and hallmates that no, you’re actually trans. The awkwardness is only compounded if you come out as trans part-way through the school year. And even if someone is out to their hall, they may not be inherently comfortable in a single-sex bathroom.</p>