Peeing in Public: Equal but Separate?

Gender specific single occupancy washrooms: Why do we accept them? I mean those little pairs of washrooms, equal but different, at the back of cafes and restaurants, with some clever symbol on the door indicating whether you stand or sit to pee. Could you imagine wandering into a downtown cafe anywhere in North America and seeing bathrooms divided by race? Or religion? Imagine a Starbucks with a crescent or a cross or a star on a bathroom door. We would be outraged.

Returning recently from Greece, I have to note that they have multiple occupancy bathrooms that are not gender specific. I suspect they are everywhere. But they sure aren't here. No, here we can't even pee consecutively in the same room. Or at least not in public. I don't get it. I don't know anyone who has separate washrooms at home. We might say something like, "Hey Frank, thanks for having us over. Say do you mind if I use your men's room", imagine if that's what you found at the end of his hall - men's room on the right and women's on the left.

But in public, they're equal but different. Or are they? Come on, it's a lie. More often than not, the women's is so much nicer. We never have plants, or little decorative touches. So much so that occasionally a man will find himself half way through the door only to stop. This is too nice he thinks. Then checking the door, he realizes he hasn't noticed the picture on the door is a dairy cow. To be sure he checks the next door down the hall. A bull confirms his suspicion. What to do now? The bull door is locked.

Don't you feel a little silly standing outside 'your' washroom waiting for someone to finish, when right there next to you is an empty one. Do I go in? I'm not allowed to use that one. What if I go in and I leave a foul odour and then as I open the door to leave, I find a woman waiting for me?

So let me warn you now: I'm going in. I'm going to use their room too. I won't let 'the man' tell me where to pee and not to pee. I'm going to shed this oppressive yoke that only wields social stigma to subtly reinforce gender inequalites. No I say., no.

Actually, who am I kidding. I'm a typical Canadian, all they need is a sign to stop me.