Why are there always long lines in the women's restroom? What can we do?

I went to the bathroom with my boyfriend at the same time. When I finally came out, he had already finished two games on a chair outside. Looking at the men's bathroom across the street, people were coming in and out like the wind; the long queue in the women's bathroom over here was as unmovable as a mountain. Have you ever thought about——

Why is there always a long queue in the women's restroom?

01

When did women's toilets come into being?

Before the 19th century, there was no such thing as a "public toilet" - if you suddenly felt the urge to defecate on the street, men would usually find a secluded place to relieve themselves, while women would either hold it in and go home, or run to a distant forest to make sure no one was around to relieve themselves. At that time, women were generally housewives, and they didn't need to stay on the street for long - they just bought daily groceries, and there was nothing to walk around on the street - just think about it, there are people "relieving themselves on the spot" everywhere.

London in the Victorian era was not what it is today. There was garbage and feces dumped everywhere, and the Thames was just a big stinking ditch | tvtropes.org

As time goes by, people have higher and higher requirements for urban hygiene. At the Great Exhibition in London in 1851, British George Jennings showed the world the first public toilet. For just one penny, people could experience this new thing. At that time, more than 800,000 people paid to go in and take a look, including many women.

George Jennings logo on the Windermere Hotel | Northmetpit / Wikimedia

However, despite the large number of onlookers, women were still skeptical about this public toilet - lifting up skirts in public? At the time, they thought it was "heretical". Therefore, at that time, almost no one accepted the concept of "public women's toilet".

It was not until the 20th century that public toilets for women began to increase in number. This was not because women suddenly came to their senses, but because more and more women were working outside the home. Moreover, with the development of social productivity, "shopping" finally became a pleasure for women, rather than a burden for housewives[1]. On the streets, in shopping malls, and in parks, women were finally able to walk proudly in groups of three or five, and women's toilets became a necessity in public places.

02

Why do women take so long to go to the bathroom?

In modern times, going to the public toilet is no longer something that requires psychological preparation. But women in the new era have heard a new question: "Why do you take so long to go to the toilet?"

This may be a complaint from many boyfriends. For this question, I just want to answer:

I don’t want to either!

Researchers have calculated the time it takes men and women to go to the bathroom and found that women take 1.5 to 2 times longer than men[2]. Why is it so much longer? Just think about the process of going to the bathroom: men can just walk to the urinal and pee, but women have to open and close the cubicle door, put on and take off complicated clothes, wipe the toilet seat, and sometimes even bring their own stockings and jumpsuits, which are anti-human...

Which of these two sides is faster to use the toilet? | officefurnitureindore.com

Women also have many special periods. For example, during menstruation, women go to the toilet more frequently than usual, and it takes quite a while to change sanitary napkins or tampons; and during pregnancy, the enlarged uterus squeezes the bladder, so it is not only difficult for pregnant women to go to the toilet, but they also often have frequent urination.

In addition to physiological reasons, there may be other factors that cause women to queue up for toilets: for example, there are more women in some large shopping malls and department stores; some girls go to the toilet in groups (which can also help kill the boring time in line...).

Apart from the above premises, the more critical problem is that the design of most public toilets, which are the same size for men and women, is unreasonable. For example, in the picture below, the men's toilet can fit 12 urinals and 2 toilets, while the women's toilet can only fit 10 toilets. Most people go to the toilet in public toilets, so the waiting time for women's toilets is naturally longer [2].

When the male and female toilets are of the same size, the average waiting time for women is much longer than that for men | Ghent University

03

Various "unique ways" to solve the problem of queuing in women's toilets

In order to solve the global problem of long queues in women's restrooms, various places have come up with various creative ideas.

In 2010, at Shaanxi Normal University, several “female standing urinals” became a new “campus landscape” and sparked heated discussions. In addition to solving the toilet queue problem, these standing urinals are said to save water and electricity. However, female friends are probably still not used to this way of going to the toilet, so this type of toilet has not been promoted [3].

This toilet, which is said to help schools save water, requires girls to use the "diverter" on the upper right side of the toilet to urinate | chinasmack.com

Coincidentally, there are similar inventions abroad. Again, it is unknown what the user experience is like...

This green thing is called P-mate, which means "pee mate" | boattest.com

Some girls may ask: If there is no one in the men's restroom, can I sneak in quietly? Using the unused restroom space sounds like a good idea. Indeed, someone has designed a way to enter the men's restroom in a fair and aboveboard way - "unisex restroom".

Gentleman's toilet "Gentolet" designed by Tunghai University in Taiwan | ifworlddesignguide.com

This row of toilets can be placed between the men's and women's toilets, and the doors can be opened from both sides, which seems to greatly improve the utilization rate. However, whether this concept has been put into practice and what the specific effect is has not been reported.

How to use the middle row of toilets in the "Gentleman's Toilet" | ifworlddesignguide.com

In addition, setting up "gender-neutral toilets" is also an attempt to increase the utilization rate of public toilets.

Chongqing's "gender-neutral public toilets", some say it's good, others say they're totally uncomfortable | news.ifeng.com

However, apart from these new and unusual methods, are there any more reliable ways to solve the queuing problem in women's restrooms?

for example--

04

More toilets for women?

Perhaps you have also realized: Isn't it better to go straight to the root of the problem? As mentioned earlier, the design of equal size of men's and women's toilets is not reasonable. Many people realize that the best way to solve the problem of long queues in women's toilets is obviously to add more women's toilets.

In the United States, many old buildings either have few women's restrooms or none at all. This is because when they were built, there were still few working women. As more and more women entered the workforce, they began to call for "restroom equality." In 1989, the first "restroom equality" bill was passed in California, USA, proposed by a male senator who could not stand waiting for his wife to go to the restroom. However, it was not until 1993 that the Senate floor of the U.S. Capitol had its first women's restroom[4]; and the House of Representatives did not even have its first women's restroom until 2011[5].

From nothing to something, from the same size to the realization that this was not enough, some architects began to find ways to solve the queuing problem through design. In the waiting hall of New York City's Grand Central Terminal, there is a "women's toilet." The other toilets in Grand Central Terminal are divided into men's and women's toilets, but this one in the waiting area is exclusively for women - it consists of two women's toilets, one of which was converted from the former men's toilet[6].

A women's restroom at Grand Central Terminal in New York City | Marilynn K. Yee/The New York Times

In Singapore, some newly built public places such as parks and conference centers also follow the construction principle that there should be slightly more female toilets than male toilets[7].

In China, many people are also concerned about this issue. In 2012, several female college students in Guangzhou launched a performance art event called “Occupy Men’s Toilets”, which aimed to appeal to the public and the government to make toilets more reasonably distributed, with a ratio of 1:2 between male and female toilets in public places[8].

In 2012 in Guangzhou, several girls initiated the "Occupy Men's Toilet" performance art | cntv.cn

Now, a clear attempt to solve this problem has finally emerged. Starting in December 2016, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development of China issued a new version of the "Urban Public Toilet Design Standard", which adjusted the ratio of female toilets to male toilets in places with high traffic volume to 2:1 or more. The introduction of this standard is undoubtedly good news for women who have experienced countless queues.[9]

The Urban Public Toilet Design Standard, numbered CJJ14-2016, was approved as an industry standard and will be implemented from December 1, 2016 | Urban Public Toilet Design Standard

Due to various factors, the reality that women spend a long time in the toilet is definitely unchangeable. But I hope that in the near future, the queues at the entrance of the women's toilet will no longer be so long.

References:

[1]http://theweek.com/articles/621109/brief-history-ladies-bathroo

[2]https://phys.org/news/2017-07-lengths-restroom.html

[3]http://fashion.qq.com/a/20120330/000246.htm

[4]https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/women-in-the-house-get-a-restroom/2011/07/28/gIQAFgdwfI_story.html?utm_term=.4d26af3cec96

[5]http://time.com/3653871/womens-bathroom-lines-sexist-potty-parity/

[6]http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/18/nyregion/18bathrooms.html?_r=0

[7]7http://newnation.sg/2011/07/why-public-toilets-are-unfair-to-women/

[8]http://daxue.163.com/12/0220/11/7QN2D9EM00913J5R.html#p=7QN2K84R0HQO0091

[9]http://yuqing.china.com.cn/show/45138.html

Source: Guokr

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