Poll: Mixed Gender Showers

[MagunBFP]

show me an ideal society, and i'll support this concept. there's nothing fundamentally wrong with it. in fact, with appropriate social structure, it would be better than sex segregation. however, i don't live in an ideal society, so i know it wouldn't turn out well here, specifically.

You do realise that you build the ideal society one thing at a time right? Imagine if 50/60 years ago people said the same thing about racial segregation "show me an ideal society and I'll accept blacks and whites living as equals, until we have that ideal society it just won't work". We're not just going to wake up in an ideal society one day, if it happens it'll be because people saw that something wasn't ideal and they changed it, and then they or someone else changed the next thing so society kept getting closer to that ideal concept.

you make a valid point there. i'll concede your logic and admit mine was too generalized. however, i also must insist that you may be underestimating the size of the step from current trends to showering together. if we're taking steps, then that specific step is like jumping straight to the finish line from the starting gun. i propose first we'd need to regulate common public restrooms first, where afaik a lot of places do already implement these successfully, and a lot more don't. there may or may not be other intermediate steps, but nothing obvious comes to mind.

Thats right... kneel before my wisdom and logic... bwahahahahah.

I have no problems admitting that we're not just going to go from segregated showers to co-ed showers over night, hell my gf has enough body issues that even after a 2 years she's not willing to shower with me. So I agree with you that it would need to be worked up to... that being said there's having segregated showers and there's having co-ed showers there's not alot of middle ground to use to work up to it.

 

[Seydaman]

Institute it now, and generations down the road, people will stop giving a shit. Better early to start right now.

 

[game-lover]

Eh... I doubt it.

My question is why? What would be the point?

Not everything has to be integrated.

I say this as someone not comfortable. And not because it's shameful or bad or anything that people like to accuse.

But I do however consider it very private and personal. And because it's personal, let's leave the choice personal.

The idea of having both types of bathrooms is a nice compromise if we must have co-ed.

People who want to do the integration thing can do so. And those of us who don't want to have to worry about having our goodies shown in front of others. Or seeing other goodies. Because really, unless I wanna see it, it's just a distraction.

 

[Jayemsal]

Seeing as I'm trans, It'd just attract unwanted attention, but overall I see it as a net benefit for society, even though it does not benefit me.

 

[IckleMissMayhem]

Doesn't bother me, (providing there are individual cubicles!) I wouldn't be keen on an open plan bathroom, even if it was gender specific though.

 

[Lightknight]

And rape wouldn't be an issue, only the aforementioned unwanted boners

Rape wouldn't be an issue for whom, exactly?

Does this move magically transform society into something else? Do rapists disappear when opportunity increases?

Here's the thing about sexes. We're not the same physically. I know that sounds like a 'no duh' statement, but one is literally stronger and faster than the other, on average. Greater bone density, significantly more muscle mass (something crazy like 40-60% more muscle on average), narrower pelvic bone angle (faster motion, better distribution of weight), and a significant amount of testosterone to throw in the mix. Men are designed to want sex and to be able to get it. It is a concern, I assure you.

 

[DanielBrown]

I'm traumatised enough by seeing naked old men in the showers. Don't make me have to watch old women as well.
Also, yeah. Boners.
Perhaps the old people would work as to keep younger people in check. Killing all primitive instincts and replacing them with disgust.

 

[Vorpal_Smilodon]

I don't understand why any american women would be in favor of segregation - having separate bathrooms just reinforces the tired notion that some groups of people are inherently different than others. Just rephrase the OP as 'would mixed race bathrooms improve society' and you'll realize relatively small things like this have far-reaching effects.

As for the whole 'depraved' issue, gay and lesbian people shower with the gender they're attracted to all the time without constantly plowing... unless you count porn or greek baths that are really more sex club than bathhouse.

 

[rasputin0009]

Imagine if you meet a really cute girl or boy somewhere, and you follow each other into the bathroom accidentally. And then, one of you proceeds to take a massive, stinky, noisy shit. Not so cute anymore, are they?

There's nothing wrong with having some gender barriers. We are different in a lot of ways, and that's fine. Even traditional gender roles are okay to an extent. Having more open nudity would help with desensitizing it, but I don't think it will help with social issues as much as we think.

 

[Trasch17]

About 2 years ago, I was on vacation in London. The hostel where I was had mixed bathrooms/ showers. No problems at all, but there was this weird moment, when I just finished showering only wearing a towel around my hips, a girl came in, froze as soon as she saw me, made a noise that sounded like "Mip" and disappeared again.

I believe co-ed showers and bathrooms would lead to lots of awkward moments.

 

[distortedreality]

Eh, not my kinda thing, i'll stick to my shower at home thanks.

Somethings are better left private than aired in public.

captcha - local derby.

Hmm.

 

[Hectix777]

I really don't see how coed bathrooms will help in the whole societal sex division. I mean a bathroom's a bathroom, not a courthouse. It's the place I got to tend to private needs that need not be discussed in the open.

 

[JLML]

I grew up in a society where sitting in a heated room, naked, sweating, with complete strangers, is considered having a good time.

Guessing Finland? Sweden here, with lots of relatives from the northern parts (am living in the southern-ish parts though, unlike them) and not exactly unfamiliar with sitting in a hot box with naked strangers, either. Is kind of a good time, to be honest. Still, around here (that is, the southern-ish areas, not too sure about the northern areas though) the hot boxes tend to be separated by gender. Not that it makes much sense, really. What could possibly be sexual about a bunch of naked, sweaty bodies? <.<


Bit more OT: Haven't been any place with mixed gender bathrooms/showers, but think it's a pretty logical idea. No actual negative effects (except the perceived ones by people using it, but that's just there 'cause of how they've been thought to think) and saving space, time and money building and maintaining. So personally, totally for it.

 

[ShiningAmber]

I don't understand why any american women would be in favor of segregation - having separate bathrooms just reinforces the tired notion that some groups of people are inherently different than others

I think they (I'm a woman, not American though) are uncomfortable with the idea of showering with men they don't know. I currently live in the States, but there is NO way I would ever do this. It's a shower. Not a show. I don't care if your random boner is an accident. It's gross and creeps me the hell out. I'll shower by myself thanks. Want to look at women showering? I'm sure there's porn for it. If we're concerned about equality measures, let's look at different areas instead of showers.

I don't think we have to start with women being naked and able for men to view in the showers to strike at equality (and vice versa). Some people want privacy. I don't know what is so hard to understand about that.

 

[Elementary - Dear Watson]

As some of you know, I am in the Armed Forces... and I live in the Mess. Our messes are quite old, and many of them don't have en suite rooms. This means that for the last 4 and a half years I have moved from room to room, usually with a communal bathroom all gender, because when the mess was built, it was a single sex service. (A majority of our messes were built in 1939 or before.)

This has never been a problem for us... at all... Like seriously.. never a problem!
Even when living in the field, and all we have to wash in is a bowl in a tent with water from a boiler/water we have heated in a tin, we don't have problems... we tend to put times on the door for male/female ablution times...

This is a serious non-issue, and is just a case of people being inconsiderate of eachother than it actually being a problem...

Reeducate people, don't go spending thousands on infrastructure!

 

[Meg Galuardi]

Since my showers have curtains that don't do a great job of closing and you can see from the sinks into the shower area, I have to say no. I think there should be small unisex bathrooms for the sake of extremely private people and LGBT, but I want boys to stay out of my bathroom please.

 

[Lightknight]

I don't understand why any american women would be in favor of segregation - having separate bathrooms just reinforces the tired notion that some groups of people are inherently different than others. Just rephrase the OP as 'would mixed race bathrooms improve society' and you'll realize relatively small things like this have far-reaching effects.

As for the whole 'depraved' issue, gay and lesbian people shower with the gender they're attracted to all the time without constantly plowing... unless you count porn or greek baths that are really more sex club than bathhouse.

Women are INHERENTLY different than men. That's not a quality judgment (differences don't necessarily mean inferiority, though it often means varying strengths/weaknesses).

If Americans have the notion that one sex is different than another then it's probably because they're not lying to themselves. Physical and hormonal differences impact more than you think from power output to psychological differences. Pump a man full of the same levels of estrogen women experience and see if he doesn't behave differently than before. The Olympics don't seperate by gender just because it's archaic, it's out of necessity for all the differences I mentioned above.

To that effect, it must be understood that we are at our most vulnerable in bathrooms and while naked. A women's only bathroom is a place she may "feel" safer from bigger, stronger males. Segreggated bathrooms is just keeping that in mind. The rate of rape is no less in the UK because of co-ed bathrooms. 2010 saw them at 28.8 per 100,000 and the US at 27.3 per 100,000. Interestingly enough, the US has been declining while European countries have been bouncing around. Sweden is a confusing one at 63.5 per 100,000 in 2010 but it's difficult to compare these numbers between countries due to reporting differences.

But regardless, my point is that coed bathrooms do not make things safer for women. They are still weaker than their male counterparts and creating male-free zones where women may be "vulnerable" is important. Women should not have to live in fear and wonder if that man a few showers over is considering taking advantage of her just because they're alone together.

As some of you know, I am in the Armed Forces... [snip]
This has never been a problem for us... at all... Like seriously.. never a problem! [snip]

Yeah, because we all know that the military isn't known for raping women [/lie]

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/rape-armed-forces-brave-soldiers-share-horror-stories-nation-shame-article-1.1143974

There are any number of articles on the subject. The military is one of the worst offenders. If a shower is particularly close to other people then it won't usually be the place that predators use to assault the victim for fear of being found out immediately.

 

[DoPo]

I don't understand why any american women would be in favor of segregation - having separate bathrooms just reinforces the tired notion that some groups of people are inherently different than others. Just rephrase the OP as 'would mixed race bathrooms improve society' and you'll realize relatively small things like this have far-reaching effects.

That's not actually the same thing. Furthermore

As for the whole 'depraved' issue, gay and lesbian people shower with the gender they're attracted to all the time without constantly plowing... unless you count porn or greek baths that are really more sex club than bathhouse.

I think you're over focusing. Why are shared bathrooms needed? You talk like the only issue is if shared bathrooms are about all sexes or none but...why have shared bathrooms at all? Any specific reason there? You could have a coed bathroom with separate cabins, you know. And nobody (well, a lot less people) would care.

 

[CriticalMiss]

I don't like the idea because I don't want men looking at my nekkidness and certainly don't want to see their dangly-bits. But this all depends on what we mean by mixed gender showers. Is it one big shower that is open, or one room containing lots of separate shower stalls/cubicles?

I've been in a Hostel that had the latter and it was super awkward because I just didn't feel comfortable knowing that there could be some creepy guy in the next cubicle. That said, at school we had a big open shower in the girls changing rooms which I didn't mind because I knew it was just girls in there. When I was at Uni our pool had an open shower for everyone to use but then noone was naked in it so it wasn't really an issue, just a quick wash to get the chlorine and piss out of your hair then off home for a proper shower. They also had a mixed gender changing room where there were lots of individual cubicles to get changed in which was a bit weird since there was a big gap between the walls and floor that you could look under if you wanted to see butts. But it saved on space and made it easier to keep the floors clean, so you just had to deal with it.

I'm not convinced that shared showers will really work out. In an ideal society there wouldn't be an issue, but between people like myself who want to be separate and those who think the naked body should never see the light of day I think there would be too much of a fuss to make everything mixed gender.

 

[Lightknight]

Since my showers have curtains that don't do a great job of closing and you can see from the sinks into the shower area, I have to say no. I think there should be small unisex bathrooms for the sake of extremely private people and LGBT, but I want boys to stay out of my bathroom please.

The private bathroom for LGBT would be extremely offensive. It would have to be available only as a courtesy rather than actually intended to segregate gays and lesbians (this would be awful, a throwback to racially divided bathrooms).

I do recall reading an article about a man being kicked out of a pool for walking around nude (around female children) in the girls' locker room. Once it was found out that he was transgendered the pool actually apologized to him, like they'd done something wrong by kicking a physically male person out of a room designated for females (sounds like an awfully convenient thing for predators to claim to let themselves do this). It would be silly to create a room for people who are mentally a different gender as the distinction of the bathrooms is along the lines of sex, not gender. Sex being anatomical and gender being identity.