My first time walking into a gender neutral dorm bathroom in college, I was exhausted from waking up at 4am to drive back to Ohio from West Virginia after a pre-orientation freshman backpacking trip. I walked out of my first shower in days to find a random dad washing his hands at the sink. Little did I know this would be my first foray into the blessing that is a communal bathroom with no gender divisions. With the general discourse surrounding gender and bathrooms, here is something unique about telling older adults that the bathroom down the hall can and is used by everyone regardless of identity. It is even harder to express just how much of a benefit it is, so I felt compelled to collect the reasons why I appreciate gender neutral bathrooms so much.
- Impromptu conversations
Since everyone uses the same bathroom, there have been so many times I have run into friends in the bathroom, and with everyone going to the same place it quickly becomes a little meeting. Some of my favorite memories in my freshman dorm are running into my neighbors setting up a hair cutting “business” or sharing gossip in the most echoing room possible – oddly enough, it creates a wholesome form of community building I wasn’t expecting. The initial hill of getting over the discomfort of sharing a bathroom with individuals of different genders is quickly rewarded with bonding beyond identity.
- Down the hall to the right – no matter who you are
Entering someone else’s building for the first time and needing to find a bathroom that applies to your gender identity has always been a small college-related anxiety of mine. The halls are unfamiliar, there are new faces, and every dorm is built differently. The men’s bathroom may be on the other side of the building from the woman’s, and it never makes sense. With gender neutral bathrooms, any bathroom can be used, so less searching is needed.Â
- “Get ready with me” with diversity
Whenever there’s an opportunity to dress up for a campus event, the bathroom becomes the number one place to get a sneak peak at everyone’s outfits. Especially in dorms with small mirrors and poor lighting, the only way to do a proper fit check is in the bathroom and wouldn’t you know it – everyone else is here, too! I’ve met new people purely through bringing piles of makeup supplies to the bathroom and running into others doing the same. Regardless of gender identity, everyone needs decent lighting every once in a while.
- Girls going to the bathroom in groups true for everyone
I’m a proud supporter of the group bathroom trip – it’s an iconic aspect of girlhood. With gender neutral bathrooms, though, it doesn’t have to just be a girl’s trip. Everyone can be clued into the outfit fixing and debriefing, no matter their gender.