Tuesday, 18 July 2017

On Toilets and changing rooms

One of the many controversies in the realm of gender and sexuality is that of transgender people and toilets, namely the right or not to use the room not of their current physical state but of how they identity in their mind (e.g. pre hormone therapy and operations) especially in colleges , universities and workplaces.

This means you could identify as a woman , but have all the bits of a man because you haven't had an operation yet which can lead to justified worry by women( including fully transitioned transgender women)  that any man could go into  women's toilets and use the excuse they're transgender , even though they could just be perverts or up to other nefarious matters.  

The obvious solution to my mind is for people to have passes for the toilets and these to be issued by security.  However what seems to be happening in the name of equality is gender neutral unisex  toilets  , in other words one bloc for men and women. Problem solved , except it doesn't ally any of my concerns. Interestingly they've done this at my  university and it's fascinating how the cubicles have been informally divided into a man's part and a woman's part (you can tell by which ones have the lid up).

I've noticed the same thing with the public swimming baths. They are also unisex and again I feel distinctly uncomfortable with showering next to men (note with swimming costumes on! Another inconvenience as bathing clothes stink of chlorine so there's not much point in showering).  Unless you are Muslim , in which case there's a special women's only night. Why this isn't extended to other faiths with modesty requirements ( eg Judaism) I don't know. Maybe the powers that be think we should all be like the shower scene in star ship troopers , where everyone showers naked, both male and female.  I just don't like the thought of it. 

Maybe I'm just too prudish or it could be my upbringing. Of Shomer Negiah . I don't have an issue with  mixed swimming or beaches as I've left a lot of my ultra orthodoxy. I don't   agree with the fifty foot high and beach long wall they built in Eilat Israel for the Haredi (to divide the sexes, thankfully there are lots of other nice beaches in Eilat) .  But neither do I like mixed sex toilets or changing rooms. 

 Inconsistent yes, but am I alone in feeling that there are some boundaries to push and others  to be left alone?

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