Battle of the Bathrooms

Published
“I definitely do get looks if decide to go into the women’s restroom if I bind my chest that day and have no chest at all,” Vivian Carlson said. Photo by: Shea Carmen Swan

“I want to be able to go to the bathroom, and not think about going to the bathroom, and not having to be paranoid, or think about which one do I go to, or who’s going to look at me weird in this bathroom… it’s psychological trauma, it’s spiritual trauma,” said Khon Su, a senior at Lang studying arts in context, visual arts and gender studies. “Why should I have to think about that?”

 

Since 2011, The New School has been converting some of the mens’ and womens’ restrooms on campus into all-gender bathrooms. The New School’s FAQ page about the University Center said, “each academic level has two restrooms; many of which are all-gender.” Some students, including Khon Su, therefore, were surprised when they discovered there were two all-gender bathrooms, one on the first and seventh floors, in the entire building.

There are a total of 14 restrooms in the University Center. Six of the bathrooms are designated for women, six for men and two for all genders.

Vivian Carlson, a junior at Parsons majoring in photography, was frustrated and disheartened when they saw all but two of the bathrooms in the University Center were gendered. Carlson identifies as neutrois and binds their chest depending on how they feel on a day to day basis. A person identifying as neutrois feels gender neutral, but also feels closer to one side, in Carlson’s case the feminine side, of the gender spectrum. “Am I the only one who thought all the bathrooms were supposed to be gender neutral?” said Carlson.

Gender specific bathrooms are designed to cater to a particular gender; for instance, men’s restrooms have urinals, while women’s’ restrooms have tampon dispensers and trash receptacles. In an all-gender bathroom, all of the design components that are necessary for anyone to use the restroom are present, so that people of all gender identities can use the facility comfortably. The Transgender Law Center published, “Peeing In Peace: A Resource Guide For Transgender Activists and Allies,” which defines all-gender bathrooms as “a bathroom that anyone with any gender can use.”

Students say the issue is not confined to the University Center and extends to the rest of the all-gender bathrooms on campus. Here, the issue is not the amount of all-gender bathrooms in the rest of the academic buildings, but some say the converted all-gender bathrooms are unsatisfactory because only the signs have changed. The bathrooms are still designed with a specific gender in mind and replacing the sign on the door cannot change that.

Two faculty members from the Social Justice Committee formed a committee in 2011 of administrators, professors and students to integrate all-gender bathrooms on campus.* That fall, the committee decided 16th Street would be the first building to introduce all-gender bathrooms, and which bathrooms would be converted for all to use. According to the committee, there are no immediate plans to convert more bathrooms to all-gender across campus.

Students like Carlson prefer using all-gender bathrooms. “That way I don’t have to worry about which one I’m going into depending on how I’m presenting myself that day,” they said. “I definitely do get looks if decide to go into the women’s restroom if I bind my chest that day and have no chest at all.”

Some people say that even in the converted bathrooms they don’t feel comfortable. Carlson said they recently had an unpleasant experience in a converted bathroom in Arnhold Hall. Carlson said they were standing at the mirror when a male student came into the all-gender bathroom, previously a men’s room, looked at their bound chest, and told Carlson that “girls are supposed to have tits.”

Andrea Goldston, a junior at Lang, said everyone still remembers which bathroom used to be the men’s or women’s room. Goldston also said he has been subjected to verbal harassment and double takes in men’s bathrooms because he sometimes wears lipstick and nail polish. He told the Free Press why changing the gendered bathroom signs to all-gender facilities was not a sufficient solution.

“A lot of these spaces aren’t all-gender spaces because they don’t allow the kind of privacy that a bathroom that fits everybody has, like the default requires more privacy than particularly the urinals,” said Goldston.

 In combination with the lack of all-gender bathrooms on campus, students are bothered because the converted all-gender bathrooms are still gender specific. “One of the things that is frustrating, that is out of our control, is that changing the signs doesn’t change the culture around bathrooms,” said Khon Su.

According to Linda Reimer, senior vice president for student services, the changes, even as they are so far, haven’t been easy. Reimer was an active participant on the all-gender bathrooms committee from 2011. Reimer said she was involved in planning which bathrooms in the 16th street building and Arnhold Hall would be converted to all-gender restrooms.

“In the 16th street building we did one men’s room and one women’s room, and on the next floor two all-genders, so you had a floor of gender specific and a floor of all-genders,” said Reimer. “In 55 West 13th St. we decided to mix it up so every floor had an all-gender and every second bathroom was either a men’s or a women’s, and the idea was we’d see which system worked best.”

In an informal survey conducted through Facebook and New School email by the Free Press, out of the 45 students that responded, 29 percent said there should be more all-gender bathrooms on campus, 13 percent said that all of the bathrooms should be all-gender, and seven percent said there should be no all-gender bathrooms. When asked if changing the sign on a gendered bathroom to an all-gender sign was an efficient conversion, 60 percent of students said no.

Reimer said there were mixed reviews in response to the all-gender bathrooms, but overall people who were uncomfortable at first adjusted. She also said that, although negative feedback was minimal, some of the all-gender signs were torn down and had to be replaced. “We haven’t educated the community as best as we can as far as the reasoning behind this.”

Khon Su, a member of the committee responsible for the all-gender bathrooms inclusion on campus, standing between the men's room and the all-gender bathroom in the University Center. Photo by: Shea Carmen Swan
Khon Su, a member of the committee responsible for the all-gender bathrooms inclusion on campus, standing between the men’s room and the all-gender bathroom in the University Center. Photo by: Shea Carmen Swan

Addressing the lack of all-gender bathrooms in the University Center, Reimer said the committee spoke with the Vice President of Design and Construction, Lia Gartner, who told them the structure of the bathrooms was already built.

Gartner said the design of the building was completed before the committee responsible for integrating all-gender bathrooms tried to incorporate them into the University Center.

“At the time the issue was raised, the building design was sufficiently set that it was impossible to change the infrastructure to make the bathrooms any different than they were, which complied with the New York City building code,” said Gartner.

Gartner also explained that the bathrooms were designed with as much privacy as possible. The stall doors are low to the floor and are tall enough so that no one can look over. There are also no gaps between the stall walls and door so that no one can see into the stall.

Director of Campus Planning, Michael Joy, was also a part of the committee responsible for the all-gender bathrooms integration on campus. Joy said incorporating all-gender restrooms became impossible because of NYC Plumbing Code, PC 403.2. This building code requires designated gendered restrooms correlating to the amount of people using the facilities.

On January 29, the Feminist Collective held a meeting about the lack of all-gender restrooms in the University Center and voted to change the mens’ and womens’ restrooms on the fifth floor into all-gender bathrooms. After the meeting, Joy taped temporary all-gender signs over the men’s and women’s bathrooms. According to Joy, the all-gender signs have been torn down multiple times since. They have not been replaced.

Two semesters ago, a Parsons class titled Designing for Non-Profits created new signs for the university’s all-gender bathrooms. Julia Gorton, assistant professor of communication design, assigned her students to create new all-gender signs after members of the Social Justice Committee visited the class to discuss the politics and language associated with all-gender facilities. However, the signs have not been used because the university is still deciding which student’s design to use and where to put it, according to Reimer.

“One student came in the next week completely passionate about how wrong this is,” said Gorton, referring to student discomfort in gendered bathrooms. “I’ll never forget between week one when everybody was just [indifferent], and week two when she stood up and just ‘this is wrong, we have to do something about this.’”

Gabrielle Guglielmelli, a student in the Design for Nonprofit class, said she was originally overwhelmed with all of the politics accompanying the all-gender facilities. After learning about all-gender bathrooms Guglielmelli said she dove into the project.

“Honestly, during my entire experience here at Parsons, I think that was the most emotional, and most passionate project I’ve ever done,” said Guglielmelli. “After talking to the students and hearing all their stories, feeling how uncomfortable they were, and not being able to go to the bathroom without being comfortable, I just thought was not okay; this is your school; this should be a safe space.”

Nathaniel Phillipps is a masters student at The New School for Public Engagement who identifies as a cisgender male. Cisgender means one’s gender identity corresponds with the gender they were assigned at birth. Phillipps feels comfortable using the men’s restroom, but is disappointed in the lack of all-gender bathrooms in the University Center.

“There’s more to the restroom than just the signage, it’s the actual layout of the space that’s important as well,” said Phillipps. “Since the community was told [all-gender bathrooms] would be available, I think it’s lazy and unfortunate on the part of whoever is responsible, that all-gender bathrooms weren’t available on day one.”

Phillipps said he would be uncomfortable if there weren’t any all-gender bathrooms on campus, because of The New School’s progressive reputation. “I don’t want the administration to pat itself on the back and say we have all-gender bathrooms and we’re so inclusive and we support the LGBTQ students,” he said. “There’s a lot more that needs to happen than just having all-gender bathrooms to make sure everyone feels safe and welcome on our campus.”

Additional reporting by: Charlotte Woods

The Free Press respects the preferred gender pronouns (PGPs) of subjects interviewed, and has accordingly used the PGPs they/them/theirs. Please see the editorial for more details.

*Originally the article said: “The Assistant Vice President for Student Campus Life, Tom McDonald, formed a committee in 2011 of administrators, professors and students to integrate all-gender bathrooms on campus.” It was brought to our attention by Christopher Chafin that this is inaccurate. Accordingly this has been corrected.

+ posts

Shea Carmen Swan is a junior at Lang, majoring in Journalism + Design, minoring in Gender Studies. With 4 semesters of Free Press under her belt, she enjoys writing all things LGBTQIA and currently writes for Posture Magazine, a queer arts publication. Kyriacrchy.wordpress.com & Soilscript.wordpress.com host most of her literary work.

By Shea Carmen Swan

Shea Carmen Swan is a junior at Lang, majoring in Journalism + Design, minoring in Gender Studies. With 4 semesters of Free Press under her belt, she enjoys writing all things LGBTQIA and currently writes for Posture Magazine, a queer arts publication. Kyriacrchy.wordpress.com & Soilscript.wordpress.com host most of her literary work.

32 comments

  1. your bureau and a piece of ground you are self-aggrandizing of.
    If you find an online merchandiser, do a region look
    online for the items you reckon, utilise your prey audience responds
    to before you propose medico the voidance. go on your hair style
    low fix. Everyone runs into regulate crunches when preparing for meetings,
    Jerseys China Cheap jerseys Cheap nfl jerseys World Cup
    Jerseys 2014 Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys MLB NHL Jerseys Cheap
    Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap MLB Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Jerseys China Jerseys china Jerseys
    China Online China Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys China Jerseys Cheap NHL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Jerseys China Wholesale China Jerseys Jerseys Wholesale Cheap NFL
    Jerseys Jerseys China Online Cheap NFL Jerseys Jerseys China Jerseys China Wholesale Jerseys patch any concerned someone can be delicate
    to secure certain you are a balding man it may be
    excess items. purchasing in use adornment can actually convey same new once more.

    seduce in for you scan the all right lines about your middle can add to and what causes are.
    You can

  2. I have been surfing online more than 4 hours today, yet I never found any interesting article like yours.
    It’s pretty worth enough for me. Personally,
    if all web owners and bloggers made good content as
    you did, the net will be much more useful than ever before.

  3. Hey would you mind sharing which blog platform you’re using?
    I’m planning to start my own blog soon but I’m having a difficult time making a decision between BlogEngine/Wordpress/B2evolution and Drupal.
    The reason I ask is because your design seems different then most blogs and I’m looking for something unique.
    P.S Apologies for getting off-topic but I had to ask!

  4. I’m really loving the theme/design of your website. Do you ever run into any web
    browser compatibility issues? A small number of my blog audience have complained about my site not working correctly in Explorer but looks great in Opera.
    Do you have any advice to help fix this issue?

  5. When there is a handle on these records, you need to start your program.

    If consume a lot of appropriate food choices too you can still put on pounds from it.
    Balanced list eating isn’t so much a diet plan because
    it is the kitchen connoisseur strategy for eating.

  6. I love your blog.. very nice colors & theme.
    Did you create this website yourself or did you hire someone to do it for you?

    Plz reply as I’m looking to construct my own blog and would like to
    find out where u got this from. cheers

  7. Please let me know if you’re looking for a writer
    for your site. You have some really great articles and I think I would be a good
    asset. If you ever want to take some of the load off, I’d really like to
    write some articles for your blog in exchange for a
    link back to mine. Please blast me an e-mail if interested.
    Regards!

  8. Hi, I do believe this is an excellent web site. I stumbledupon it 😉 I will revisit
    once again since i have book marked it. Money and freedom is
    the best way to change, may you be rich and continue
    to help other people.

  9. I think everything posted was actually very logical.
    However, think on this, suppose you added a
    little information? I am not suggesting your content isn’t good, but suppose you added
    a title that grabbed people’s attention? I mean Battle of the Bathrooms | The New School
    Free Press is a little plain. You should glance at Yahoo’s home page and see how
    they create news titles to get viewers to click. You might add a related video
    or a picture or two to get people excited about what you’ve got to say.

    In my opinion, it could make your blog a little livelier.

  10. Excellent blog here! Also your website loads up fast!
    What web host are you using? Can I get your affiliate link
    to your host? I wish my website loaded up
    as quickly as yours lol

  11. I think this is one of the most vital information for me. And i’m glad reading your article.
    But wanna remark on some general things, The site style is perfect, the
    articles is really nice : D. Good job, cheers

  12. An outstanding share! I’ve just forwarded this onto a co-worker who had been doing a little homework on this.

    And he in fact bought me lunch because I discovered
    it for him… lol. So allow me to reword this…. Thank
    YOU for the meal!! But yeah, thanx for spending the time
    to talk about this matter here on your site.

  13. excellent put up, very informative. I ponder why the opposite specialists of this sector don’t
    understand this. You must proceed your writing.

    I am confident, you have a huge readers’ base already!

  14. I really like what you guys tend to be up too.
    This sort of clever work and coverage! Keep up the very good
    works guys I’ve incorporated you guys to our blogroll.

  15. You can certainly see your expertise in the
    article you write. The arena hopes for more passionate writers like you who are not afraid to say how
    they believe. Always follow your heart.

  16. I think that everything posted made a bunch of sense.
    But, think on this, what if you were to write a
    awesome headline? I mean, I don’t want to tell you how to run your blog, but suppose
    you added something to possibly get people’s attention? I mean Battle of the Bathrooms | The New School Free Press is kinda plain. You might
    peek at Yahoo’s front page and watch how they create article headlines to
    get people to click. You might add a related video or a picture or two to get readers interested about what you’ve written. Just my opinion, it would bring your blog a little bit more interesting.

  17. I’m extremely impressed with your writing skills as well as with the layout on your weblog.

    Is this a paid theme or did you customize it yourself?
    Anyway keep up the excellent quality writing, it’s rare to
    see a nice blog like this one these days.

  18. This treacherous villain William looks to replace the” Goodbye” message
    summoners war hack appears. There is no surprise that today s exciting market, where you start developing a
    mobile device.

  19. I was suggested this blog by my cousin. I am not
    sure whether this post is written by him as no one else know such detailed about my problem.

    You are amazing! Thanks!

  20. I appreciate your comment, Samer! You’re touching on an attitude and element of the conversation that was not fully addressed in this particular article. I wonder how many students share your concern with this so-called intolerance of those who feel uncomfortable in all gender restrooms. I’ve heard arguments from all sides of the conversation and respect your why-not-both opinion. Thanks!

  21. As someone who has an extreme amount of respect for the trans community as well as for anyone who decides to identify as whatever they would like to be identified as, I think the bathroom issue is off base. I agree that there needs to be gender neutral bathrooms because individuals at the New School do not fall into the identity of male or Female, and they wish to have the comfort of not having to fall into a category simply to use the bathroom. I understand the issue, and that it is a safety as well as a comfort issue for members of my New School community.

    What I do not understand is the intolerance for people who are uncomfortable with the neutral bathrooms. The issue is that there was not an option for a neutral bathroom. Now there is. Why is there an issue with gendered restrooms? Many people who identify as male or female personally feel more comfortable and safe using gender specific bathrooms. What is their reasoning behind it? That is how they feel. I think it is completely intolerant to want your own comfort and safety taken into account but passing judgement on people who feel otherwise. I do not think someone using their gender’s restroom is condemning the choices of the gender neutral members of our community.

    What the New School is saying by keeping some gender specific bathrooms as they are is we want EVERYONE to have the choice. Why is this seen as discrimination? It seems like an invalid source of victimization. Having a gender specific bathroom does not exclude anyone, when there is a readily available neutral restroom within reasonable distance. I think the members of a very minority sized community need to be able to understand as they have asked the others to do so. Some people have their preferences as well. By me as a male wanting to use a restroom that does not have females in it, it is not me being against anyone. It is simply me saying I prefer and am comfortable with having an all male bathroom.

    Lastly I do not think that this is a separate but equal issue. It is not marriage/civil unions. Everyone here is getting a bathroom, they are just physically separated. Not because any actor in this issue has a problem with the others, it is a matter of comfort. Now if you want to say why are you not comfortable with a neutral issue, WHEN the New School has offered a solution, I ask why is my comfort being questioned for another person’s comfort. Why is my preference less than my equal’s? My preference is not bigoted or allowing someone to have what I have.

    We live in a world with many problems. Pushing people’s comfort level on the issue of with whom they share the bathroom with and tying their decisions into them being intolerant is quite judgmental.

    To be honest I also think that this is a males don’t want to use the bathroom facilities with female issue and vice versa more than it is a trans/neutral issue.

  22. While student’s attitudes toward the LGBTQ community do need improvement, the problem this article was focusing on was how TNS failed to provide a safe space for everyone to use the bathroom.

  23. I think the author here, while mentioning it, misses the real issue at the New School. The real issue is not the bathrooms, but the attitudes of other students towards LGBTQ students (or anyone who is different). The empathy problem of the generation mentioned in another article this issue rears its ugly head.

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *