snowy

Is it okay for women to use the men's restroom (and vice-versa), if the restroom in question is a single toilet?

Last night, I went to a show at a local brewpub, and they have two bathrooms. They are both single toilets, but they are labeled "Men" and "Women". At one point, the line was very long for the women's (six people down the hall to the restroom), but there was no line for the men's. A man coming out of the men's said, "Use the men's! There's no line!" Given that there were no men behind me waiting, either, I used the men's. Later in the night, when I went back again, I joked with the guys in front of me, asking if I could stand in line for both toilets. They thought that was great, and we chatted about how dumb it is to label single toilets. The door to the men's opened, and a woman walked out at that point, so I wasn't the only one doing it.

This is definitely not the first time I've done this. How about you? Have you used a restroom of the opposite sex, single toilet or otherwise?

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Plan9

Is it a single occupancy toilet? If so, it doesn't matter who is in there.

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Baraka_Guru

Just don't expect me to put the toilet seat down.

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Lindy

Yeah, I've used the men's room. Of course, you have to watch out that some guy hasn't peed on the seat, which probably doesn't matter to a "pointer" but does matter to a "setter."
Are we all then OK with the idea that men can use the women's as well?
I've seen places (convenience stores, gas stations, my vet's office) where there is only one restroom and the door has both the skirt and pants figures on the sign.
Aren't "separate but equal facilities" illegal anyway?

Lindy

dlish

im a sitter and i hate using mens toilets.

if i had the choice i'd use the womens toilet in a heartbeat.

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Daniel_

I have no problem with this - after all, I've used the women's toilet before now.

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robot_parade

Hey, I'm a guy, and I hate having to use the men's toilet if a #2 is in the pipe. There is *always* pee on the seat.

jewels

I'm a sexist on this one.

If it's an emergency, yes, I'll use the men's room.

But I do not want to see a man I don't know exiting a public restroom that I'll be entering.

Why is it different? I don't know. It just is.

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hunnychile

Me & a girlfriend used to use the men's room all the time when we went to see the Giants play baseball at "The Stick". The line for the ladies was always a 15 or 20 minute wait and a long walk from our box. So...Christine & I would just pop in the guys real fast and get out even faster.

Then we didn't miss much of the game. And it was fun seeing the looks on some of the dudes faces when we walked in!! Never got bad comments from anyone. Of course, that was in California...

Same thing for music concerts esp. at certain stadiums.

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telekinetic

My gut reaaction is to say "no" for the same reason that I get annoyed by people with full carts using the "15 items or less" express lane. However, let me actually do some simulations as to whether the average wait time will go up, down, or stay constant if women and men were permitted to wait in a single line for both bathrooms. Stand by for some applied queuing theory...

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MSD

One of our local bars used to have two bathrooms with one line. Everything went smoothly, people used the bathroom as necessary. Then the building inspector forced them to put up signs designating one as men's and one as women's. Nothing changed. I support the old way.

StanT

I'm a guy, the world is my urinal.

I'm in total sympathy, do what you need to do.

mixedmedia

I have used men's bathrooms of both the single and the multiple variety. Doesn't seem to be much difference that I can see. Of course, I'm not one to hang around in a public bathroom long enough to fully absorb the atmosphere.

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ZombieSquirrel

My Friend Lex was born female and (when he gets the money) will get the surgery to go totally male. He may not have a penis yet, but uses the men's room in public. Not the urinal This has caused problems with the less open minded.

If it's a one toilet joint, then it doesn't matter. I've used the men's room tons of times. If there is a wall of urinals, I don't think I'd use it.

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GreyWolf

Sure it's ok... *IF* women don't mind men using the women's washroom. And let me assure, any time a guy has to sit, he's going to choose the (usually) cleaner women's facilities.

Believe it or not, EVERYONE pees!!

And if a woman isn't going to be scandalised by an accidental sighting of male organ performing one of it's natural functions if she walks by a urinal (rare because we're shy just being around other guys in that situation, let alone women), then who cares?

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Strange Famous

Yeah, I dont have a problem about it. There's always crazy queue's for the women's toilet, so if someone has an urgent need to go, I think its fine.

Mind you, the state of most public toilets isnt the best (Ive only ever seen the gent's obviously) but beggars cant be choosers, can they?

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skizziks

yes it's totally fine, if it's one room one toilet, not a row of stalls. do you have women/men only toilets in your house?

lunxpress

Perhaps we should try to clear up WHY women spend so much time in the loo and why men don't bring their friends with them, too. I will always choose the men's room, with stall doors intact, if a line is snaking out of the girls room.

LunarEclipse

I'm with you on this one.

Lunar Eclipse.

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citadel

Single toilet, sure, why not?

It's the double standard that I find irritating.

Prince

I have never used the women's restroom. I've been in one just out of curiosity before, but never actually sat down and launched a torpedo. I don't have a problem with women using men's restrooms... But the other way around, I might. With a single seat, though, who cares?

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Plan9

I just wish they'd stop pooping in the urinals.

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stellabella1978

I don't see what the problem is. We all learned as children - Everybody Poops. I wouldn't even have a problem with men and women in one bathroom with a bunch of stalls.

levite

Ideally, if there's a Men's and Women's, then one should use the appropriate one. But if you gotta go, you gotta go.

And I agree that if it's single-use, and there's a really long line for one, you should just use the other.

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EventHorizon

does this include pissing in alleyways? if you're a guy and you havent stumbled out of a bar but ran to a gas station to make yellow water, you haven't lived. is it ok for girls to do this? i've only ever had one female friend that did that and it was a little weird but not so much that i told her not to do it.

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Quote:

Originally Posted by canuckguy Pretty simple really, do your own thing as long as it does not fuck with anyone's enjoyment of life.

chinese crested

I admit to using the mens room once.
British rail, Portsmouth station had this funny idea that ladies do not use the toilet after 8pm. I had raced to the ladies on my way to catching my train home one night at about 10.30pm, somewhat taken aback to find that I should have more control over my bladder and should 'hold on' till morning.
Desperate times call for desperate measures - I noticed that the mens toilet was open - being the seventies, we had no Michael Flatley, but I was jiggling around trying not to do my own 'river dance'.
I accosted a sailor, explained my predicament. He kindly checked the mens room and found no occupants in there, and then stood guard for me at the entrance whilst I dashed in for a pee. God bless the Royal Navy.
So yes I think its okay under certain circumstances. I would not like to find a man with his todger out peeing in the basin, but if his female companion had gone in first to check it was empty and no one would be offended - then why not. I have shared an empty pub ladies room with a gay male friend who was bleeding from orifaces and needed some assistance with ladies sanitary products as in what to use. Poor chap...

chinese crested

Under law. If a pregnant lady needs a wee - she can ask a policeman to take off his pointy helmet, and use that. Funny old world.

snowy

I've definitely peed in some alleyways...and public parks...

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Lindy

Never in an alleyway, but off to the side of the highway.
And being the number nerd that I am, it was on I-80 in Iowa, milepost 159...

MSD

If you think the women's room is cleaner than ours, you're in for a hell of a surprise if you actually have to go in there.

Shadowex3

Let me preface this by saying I am absolutely not the control group here. That said, I don't see the point of bothering with gender segregated facilities to begin with be it bathrooms, dressing rooms, or locker rooms. Probably comes from having way too many hippies and transhumanists for friends and being raised on the internet.

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CinnamonGirl

At bars where I was considered a regular, I used the men's rooms all the time...especially if I'd had to hold it, or was limited to a minute or two because of a dart game/open mic/karaoke.

At my old favorite dive bar, both restrooms were technically single-use (the men's had a toilet and a urinal, though, so double use was frequent), and everyone pretty much used whichever was free when they walked up. Considering all the extracurriculars that went on, though, that isn't a surprise-- no one wants to wait for people to finish making out, having sex, or snorting a line, especially after a pitcher.


Bars are easy, though, as everyone's normally pretty understanding of "when you gotta go, you gotta go." I wouldn't use the men's room at a restaurant, for example, unless the women's was broken. Edit: Of course, most restaurant restrooms aren't single-use, so I guess that explains why.

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monkeysugar

It doesn't bother me if women choose to use the men's bathroom, as long as they either sit down or flip the seat up if they are performing "the hover." I've worked in a lot of bars and dining establishments, and from my experience, female designated bathrooms are much, much worse to clean up than male bathrooms. Most guys will at least flip the seat up if they are in a "urinals are full" situation.

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snowy

I hate ladies who hover. It's so fucking pointless, and it just makes the peeing situation worse for women who don't hover. Seriously, what the hell do they think they're going to contract from a toilet seat? The gonosyphilherpelaids?

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EventHorizon

dont joke... its real!

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Does Marcellus Wallace have the appearance of a female canine? Then for what reason did you attempt to copulate with him as if he were a female canine?

Quote:

Originally Posted by canuckguy Pretty simple really, do your own thing as long as it does not fuck with anyone's enjoyment of life.

cypher197

Well, personally, I think it may offer a way to avoid sexual harassment, or other harassment. That, of course, is depending on the harasser sticking to the taboo.

Additionally, in situations where there's nudity, it can be distracting for the other guests.

...that said, I don't particularly care if women use the men's restroom, so long as I don't have to wait longer for it. ;p

Edit: re: transhumanists: Gendered bathrooms don't make much sense in a world where gender and sex are much more fluid/in flux than they are now.

bparker805

Ladies, feel free to use the men's restroom. But seeing as how I'm all about equal rights, I will use the women's. But I have to warn you... I have really bad aim ( just ask my wife).

Shadowex3

You actually kinda illustrate my point because your arguments are completely circular. Nudity is distracting for the other guests... because nudity is distracting.

It's like claiming that women should cover their hair because it's distracting. Maybe people will swerve off the road in east afghanistan over it but here in america a lot of people barely even register a two foot high fluorescent purple mohawk.

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Ourcrazymodern?

I think I just pooped a little. If all of us were more caringly realistic... C'mon in!

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Tully Mars

Not sure about this any more but this used to be a real issues with most major arenas. I guess the thought used to be the majority of events were sports and women didn't in number great enough to justify building equal numbered facilities; so many places had two or three men's rooms for every ladies room. I remember there being a be up roar in Portland Oregon back in 1979-80 where a lady used the men's room at the old Memorial Coliseum and for some reason was charged with "indecent exposure." Which made no sense given that all witnesses agreed she entered used a stall with a closed door and left. One old man had a fit and notified police. I don't remember what happened to her case but I do remember they remodeled several restrooms to make it more even.

As to the OP, yes I think you're fine. It's a restroom in a bar not gym's shower room.

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