<p>The norm is separate gender bathrooms when multiple people are using the same bathroom at the same time. No problem with “gender neutral” bathrooms (many small businesses have them) when I go in there alone and lock the door. Not such a big deal if you are waiting (like in your own family) for the other person to get out of the bathroom before you go in.
Even with the small group, “one at a time” setup, I wouldn’t want to share with guys, though. In general, girls are cleaner and smell better. I bet some of those guys would expect the girls to clean up after them, too.
(S was once on a summer maintenance crew for his college–working on bathrooms. He noticed how much dirtier and smellier the men’s bathrooms were than the women’s.)</p>
<p>Talk to the RA or housing office about having it switched. One could suggest to the RA to pretend that the decision came from on high someplace to avoid backlash.</p>
<p>"Most dorm bathrooms aren’t “situations where there are lots of people using a facility.”</p>
<p>Maybe not at schools with dorms that were constructed 100+ years ago and were designed for cozy, intimate (no pun intended) relationships. I would hazard a guess that for the majority of dorms in the US today across all school types, they are blocky, skyscrapery and designed with many people sharing a bathroom facility.</p>
<p>cromette: I recognize that there are different sorts of dorms and dorm bathrooms, and that people may not have the same emotional reaction to all of them.</p>
<p>I just rebel – as I have in the past – against the notion that bathroom arrangements matter so much. I don’t know if my kids thought about this before picking a college, because if they did they knew better than to discuss it with me. Human beings are extremely adaptable, especially the young ones. In my mind, you find the right college, and you adapt yourself to whatever bathrooms they happen to have.</p>
<p>Of course if there are three bathrooms on a hall, and some number of men and women each want single-sex bathrooms, it seems to make sense to have one of each. But maybe not, maybe there’s some reason why the obvious doesn’t work here. I don’t know. And I don’t care either way. The thought of people viewing this as a big civil rights issue for men offends me. I acknowledge that lots of people seem to feel that the natural order of things is violated if male and female college students have to use the same bathroom facilities, but I have a great deal of trouble understanding why that should be so. At the same time, I don’t mean to proselytize for gender-neutral bathrooms. There are other, far more important issues in the world.</p>
<p>JHS,</p>
<p>I suppose, and I can understand, given your prior experience that it would be no big deal to you. But here, it’s just not done. Like ever. Like anywhere. I guess I’m a puritan. It’s shocking! LOL</p>
<p>In all seriousness, it would be a HUGE deal for us. It may seem silly to some, but it just would be.</p>
<p>cromette, agreed. It would be a huge deal to me too, to not have the option.</p>
<p>JHS, just because you are OK with it, doesn’t mean everyone is. Just because you/your kids feel like you need to adapt doesn’t mean other people should. Your value system/religion/culture makes you not care, and that’s fine. Keep in mind there are other opinions that are no less valid.</p>
<p>“but I have a great deal of trouble understanding why that should be so”</p>
<p>The simple answe is because some of us, male or female, do not want random non-family people staring at us when we are getting ready in the morning (or else having to make sure to be extra vigilant to always cover up/not wear clothes you sleep in, not be able to change or get out of the shower in a towel, etc.) - nor do we want to have to share a space with a random guy/girl in a towel or underwear. No, not all guys/girls will try to check random people out, but in my experince (and probably especially in college), there are at least some that will.</p>
<p>Even if NO ONE does anything untoward - It’s just not “proper”. <strong>Blushing</strong></p>
<p>Of course, I am someone who has nightmares about NORMAL unisex public restrooms - so there ya have it.</p>
<p>It’s just simply not done where I’m from. Girls go to the girls room. Boys go to the boys room. They have started introducing “Family” rooms - but they’re an alternative, not the only option.</p>
<p>People do it where I am from, but it’s still not something I want for myself. And to echo cromette, whether someone does something or not, the only male I will ever share a bathroom with will be family.</p>
<p>It’s just simply not done where I’m from. Girls go to the girls room. Boys go to the boys room. They have started introducing “Family” rooms - but they’re an alternative, not the only option.</p>
<p>What facilities do GLBT students use?</p>
<p>This is not a non-issue. If it is a non-issue why is there an all-female bathroom? Can students not even relax while doing bathroom stuff? There is no need to introduce a bar atmosphere in bathrooms too.</p>
<p>emeraldkity,</p>
<p>They use whichever one they’re most comfortable in. The “family” ones were intended for either a Dad or a Mom and a younger child of a different sex that may need help. They are a “one-seater” that locks. A lot of people that may not feel comfortable using one of the others, for whatever reason, use that one. GLBT people are not “new” - they make up about 6% of the total population. I think we have enough bathroom options available between boys, girls and “family” to cover them.</p>
<p>That’s good to know that if a trans-woman uses the womens bathrooms, and a trans-man uses the mens, , that they will be comfortable & safe. </p>
<p>I guess I didn’t realize Texas was so progressive!
:o</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Family bathrooms are typically intended for when the user is accompanied by an assistant of the other gender, such as a small child, an infant, a person with disability, etc. being accompanied by an opposite-gender relative, or if more than one assistant of different genders accompanies.</p>
<p>“What facilities do GLBT students use?”</p>
<p>Gay men would use the men’s room, of course. Lesbian women would use a women’s room, of course. No news here. The only issue would be transgender, and I assume they would use the bathroom of the gender they are identifying and living as.</p>
<p>“Family bathrooms are typically intended for when the user is accompanied by an assistant of the other gender, such as a small child, an infant, a person with disability, etc. being accompanied by an opposite-gender relative, or if more than one assistant of different genders accompanies.”</p>
<p>Indeed. Because opposite genders in a public bathroom aren’t the norm.</p>
<p>Texas is a big place. There’s a big difference between Austin and a small town somewhere. Most people will go where they feel “comfortable” - and you kind of know. If you look like a guy, and you go into a stall in the mens room - no problem. If you look like a woman, and you go into a stall in the womens room - no problem. If you look like a man, and you want to go into the ladies room, I would suggest the family room instead. In most cases, if you truly look like a girl, and you go into a mens room, if there are men at urinals, they’re going to probably be offended. They will most likely assume the ladies room was full, get mad, finish their business and leave.</p>
<p>Common sense applies.</p>
<p>" I acknowledge that lots of people seem to feel that the natural order of things is violated if male and female college students have to use the same bathroom facilities, but I have a great deal of trouble understanding why that should be so"</p>
<p>I think the closest analogy is a gym locker room, where people go to the bathroom, wash up, and shower. Do you belong to a fitness facility with a mixed gender locker room? Would you want to? Why is a gym locker room at a fitness facility occupied by many people appreciably different from a dorm bathroom occupied by many people? Take yourself out of the suite bathroom mindset and think about this scenario instead -think about dorm bathroom setups that serve 20, 30,40 kids.</p>
<p>ubcalumnus: “Family bathrooms are typically intended for when the user is accompanied by an assistant of the other gender, such as a small child, an infant, a person with disability, etc. being accompanied by an opposite-gender relative, or if more than one assistant of different genders accompanies.”</p>
<p>Yes, I said that. However, since it is a one-seater, with a locking door, and it’s often times sitting there unoccupied, OTHERS will use it. Any others. No one is excluded from using it. On the ones in my community, it has a picture of a Man/Woman/Child/Wheelchair. There’s no law against anyone using it, and I see individuals use them all the time.</p>
<p>However, locker rooms may have uncurtained showers and the like, as well as a potentially much larger user-base.</p>
<p>Dorm gang bathrooms are not exactly one or the other, existing somewhere between the private suite bathroom and the public bathroom. One can argue that the dorm floor is like a very large suite, but also that its bathroom is like a limited-access public bathroom.</p>
<p>In any case, the way people decades ago listed co-ed versus single-gender preferences on room assignment cards indicated that most did not find co-ed bathrooms on co-ed floors objectionable, although a non-zero number presumably did prefer single-gender bathrooms (or at least single-gender floors).</p>
<p>I was going to say - My parents freaked out when they started going to CO-ED Dorms- even by floor! Oh, the horror!!! They would have really freaked out over co-ed community bathrooms!</p>