Elie Mystal: I, For One, Welcome Our New Toilet Overlords — ATL

Burt Likko

Pseudonymous Portlander. Pursuer of happiness. Bon vivant. Homebrewer. Atheist. Recovering Republican. Recovering Catholic. Recovering divorcé. Editor-in-Chief Emeritus of Ordinary Times. Relapsed Lawyer, admitted to practice law (under his real name) in California and Oregon. There's a Twitter account at @burtlikko, but not used for posting on the general feed anymore. House Likko's Words: Scite Verum. Colite Iusticia. Vivere Con Gaudium.

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4 Responses

  1. Kazzy says:

    Because of the placement of the quotation mark, I can’t help but read this as stating that DeBlasio finally allowed his city workers to take bathroom breaks.

    I saw a headline about this. A positive development and hopefully something we can all begin to see in the light offered in the final sentence there.Report

  2. veronica d says:

    Obviously I approve of this decision. That said, I don’t really approve of the tone of this blog post. First, I don’t really want to share the women’s room with men. I’m not a man. Allowing trans women to use the bathroom like normal humans treats us as normal humans. It has nothing to do with letting men in the women’s room. Which is to say, this blog post really papers over the reasons for gendered spaces.

    I agree that the whole “evil cis-dude perverts pretending to be trans” is probably not much of a real problem. If anybody is hanging in the restroom perving on others patrons — well why is their gender an issue? I don’t want anyone perving on me, and I will complain if they are behaving in some creepy way.

    Which is to say, if some human is in the restroom peeking over stalls, call the cops. That’s illegal.

    Right now it seems like the only men going into women’s rooms are conservative activists. So who do we really need protection from?

    Hint: It isn’t trans women. It’s bigots.Report

    • gingergene in reply to veronica d says:

      Why does it so rarely get mentioned in these discussions that women’s restrooms are terrible places to go to see nude women? The vast majority of them are full of stalls with doors that lock. Even when women change clothes in them- a rarity, because ew, gross- it’s usually in a stall.

      I know most of the people making the argument are being disingenuous, but this is seriously weak sauce of an argument, even by the low standards of the people who employ it.Report

      • veronica d in reply to gingergene says:

        I mean, bigots hate first and seek arguments second. This is as it has always been, it just my turn for the spotlight. Blah.

        Story time. Okay, so the other day I’m in a public restroom, checking my makeup in the mirror. Next to me is another woman, obviously cis, checking her makeup. We’re basically ignoring each other, but in these situations I always feel a bit awkward. After all, I’m pretty obviously trans. (That said, I’m obviously not a man. So whatever. I seldom get hassled, but still, awkward is awkward.)

        Okay so, a man walks in. He’s just a normal guy, Asian (probably Chinese), in a suit. He grabs some paper towels and starts loudly blowing his nose. I glance at the woman. She glances back. I have no idea why this man came in here to blow his nose. There is a men’s room directly next to this women’s room. The doors are clearly marked. We continue with our makeup. The man continues blowing his nose. He blows his nose for a while. Then he leaves. I look at the woman and say, “Well that was weird.” She agrees.

        I dunno. Whatever.Report