Why can't all the doors just say "Men" or "Women"?!

            In the article Go Where?: Sex, Gender, and Toilets the author explores and analyzes a variety of washroom signs from all over the globe. She shows how many bathroom signs stereotype gender and the way that the signs set expectations for gender performance. While this is not something an ordinary person would pay notice to on their way in (possibly because they are more concerned on making it to the restroom), it is a plausible study on the way gender is depicted.

            In the article, the author argues that bathrooms are generally separated because of the assumed sexuality of humans, that they will be attracted to the opposite sex. She also argues that this basis for separation characterizes men as predatory towards women that they are attracted to. I think that this may only be the opinion of the author, in her argument that separating bathrooms this way is biased towards heterosexuals. My opinion is that the point in separating by gender is because it is socially unacceptable to use the restroom in the same room as someone of the opposite sex because of the different parts that each possesses. In this case, people would use the same washroom as people of the same sex as them, no matter their sexuality.

            Towards the end of the article, the author shows that in Germany, women are represented by fire and men are represented by water while in Brazil, fire represents men and women are portrayed with a flower. I found this interesting because it shows that these gender stereotypes are not universal. What if someone from Germany was visiting Brazil?

            The author puts a lot of emphasis throughout the essay on the fact that many bathroom signs depict women as a continuation of men. The first example of this, where one door says “wo” and the other says “men” is someone disturbing because I can’t see a reason why the establishment would not just write “women” on the door for girls. This makes the stereotyping seem very intentional, more than most of the others in the article, because it could be easily changed.

            I think the author of the article is a little picky in her criticisms of the way the men’s and women’s washrooms are depicted. My view is that the signs should make the bathrooms distinguishable in some way so a picture of a blue tie for a boy and a pink bow for a girl is acceptable because it is easy for someone to tell which is for either gender. I think the problem develops when the picture is something that can arguably portray both genders.

            Another thing that the author explores is the way bathroom signs portray how men and women are supposed to act. In many cases men the men are buff with wide torsos and the women have pretty wavy hair and lipstick. While these are just common gender expectations, some find them offensive and stereotypical.

            At a restaurant in my home town, when you go in the women’s restroom, the back of the door says “men,” which causes people to think they are in the wrong restroom once they go through the doors. While this is not gender biased, stereotypical, or offensive, it is funny. I’d like to see what the author of Go Where?: Sex, Gender, and Toilets would have to say about that.