Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Simple Pleasure? ~ New to Me

(UPDATE: the "All Gender Restroom" sign below was produced by myDoorSign.com They have a huge selection of door and wall signs, including custom signs.  Perhaps my readers could suggest a substitute for the "half" symbol below.)

(Leann ~ what's "first event?"  Is that a new year's eve celebration?)

And I'm not sure where they got these symbols.

Apparently, the old "family restroom" sign, with the man, woman, and child (and sometimes handicap) or the "all purpose" sign (where they leave out the child image) aren't good enough.

Some places are trying to make sure everyone knows how understanding they are by adding new signs to their (obviously) one stall restrooms:

the Braille reads all gender restroom
 Maybe it's just me, but I find that "half" image insulting.  It should be particularly insulting to transsexuals who not "half" anything.  I dislike using the ladies' room, and I avoid it when possible (preferring a family restroom) but this looks way too obsequious.  And I know there are too few of us to make it worthwhile, but I can see this as a hater magnet, looking for someone to harass.

I also dislike the fact that they're considering the three "identities" shown as "all genders."  It's a fluid topic.  And genderfluid is another option.

I also saw:

dunno where the QR goes

The "Why?" explanation:
For gender-nonconforming individuals, just walking through the door of a public restroom can be stressful.  Everyone should have the right to use a restroom without fear of discrimination.  Unisex restrooms are no more dangerous than gender-segregated bathrooms nor do they exclude any one person based on their identity or appearance.

So why not leave the perfectly fine, simple, family restrooms the way they are?

To me, this just draws attention.  It won't draw me.

And where the heck did that symbol in the middle come from?  If it covers everything, why are the symbols on the left and right needed?  If they had to find a new symbol, how about the one for Jupiter or Neptune, since Mars (male) and Venus (female) are already taken?  Or maybe just the symbol for Earth.  Too inclusive perhaps?

I also wonder if it's just cover for places that want to avoid having two restrooms.

I think the new signage stinks.

Am I missing something?

(by the way, this was supposed to be a short "simple pleasure" but the more I wrote, the more it became a rant.  I'll try to get back in form for next week)




6 comments:

  1. Meg -

    It means someone is trying.... Not successfully.

    I'd like a simple merger of the male and female symbols, plus the handicapped symbol on the side....

    M

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  2. The QR goes to a site called Lambda Legal. The page: Transgender Rights Toolkit.

    IMHO overkill like this is all about "Look at us, we are oh so righteous and caring and ... blah, blah."

    The first time I saw a restaurant with unisex washrooms (why do you need a sign on a 'one-holer' anyway??) they had four doors along a corridor and a W.C. sign on each.

    You can tell this could also become a rant, so don't feel bad Meg (or is it Meira?? ;-) )

    Halle
    xx

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  3. Cool it!
    At least the signs show that someone somewhere is trying - even if the tone came out wrong.
    Some people do push back on mixed rest-rooms because of worries about hygiene or worse. (Thinking about the case of the hidden camera under the wash-basin in Starbucks).
    I think that the word 'family has beed hijacked (as in 'family values') and is no longer read by all as just meaning 'everybody'.

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  4. I agree. Just leave the name " family restroom" on them. Everyone is smart enough to know what it means. As to why the different signs and symbols. My guess is some people are working way to hard and trying to show they don't ( or think they don't) discriminate. - Julie

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  5. Meg,
    First Event is an event for trans folks that occurs in January in the Boston Area. It is a well attended gathering that has been going on for years. It is run by the Tiffany Club of New England and has information for trans men as well as women, young and old. You can get more information at http://firstevent.org/

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  6. Family restroom, with the international male and femme symbols, is pretty much universal in big hotels, airports, and malls, at least where I normally travel. Never saw the other ones. Most people don't know how to scan things on their iPhones, anyway.

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