The Independent thinks it’s marvelous.
The Old Vic theatre in London is the latest establishment to scrap single-sex toilets in favour of more inclusive alternatives.
As part of a major refurbishment, the 201-year-old theatre has replaced signs on male and female lavatories with pictures of cubicles or urinals.
The brand new facilities have been installed to allow “people to make their own decision about which loo is suitable for them,” the theatre has said.
Not in the case of women who don’t want to share the loo with men they haven’t.
Women don’t want to share a room with men at urinals, and given that whole thing about men placing tiny cameras in women’s toilets they’re not all that keen on sharing cubicle rooms with men either. Excluding women isn’t really all that “inclusive.”
The theatre has doubled its number of toilet cubicles, which were formerly women’s facilities, in the hope that this may address the industry-wide problem whereby queues for women’s toilets are far longer than those for men.
What? It’s doubled its number of toilet cubicles but at the same time it’s also opened all of them to men, so how likely is it that that will help much?
Speaking about the changes, Kate Varah, executive director at the Old Vic said: “We set out to make changes to The Old Vic that were reflective of the needs of today’s audiences and our local community.”
Suddenly today’s women have a “need” to pee next to men?
Comments
9 responses to “The needs of today’s audiences”
A bit of trivia. Kevin Spacey was artistic director at the Old Vic from 2003 to 2015.
Guess I should be glad the only way I can afford to visit Old Vic right now is through National Theatre Live.
In which they admit toilets are designed with biological sex in mind, and not this inner identity bullshit.
Have I understood this correctly – they have kept the old layout, plus extra cubicles, and just say “use whichever”?
What happens when groups of women women barge into The Toilets Formerly Known As The Men’s ten at a time, to crowd the space around the sinks while they all take turns using the cubicles? I mean, the men aren’t going to love that, are they? Will men who are uncomfortable using the urinals in a room full of women have an insulting acronym coined for them? (Of course not. But I welcome suggestions)
Catwhisperer, they don’t need acronyms for that. They’ll just call them “bi***es” and “c**ts”.
Just how ‘inclusive’ can a urinal be?
Why, it includes both men and men that identify as women! Who else matters? s/
You know, I’d like to think that people could be mature and respectful enough to share large co-ed bathroom facilities.
I’d like to think that, but I know people — or, more specifically, men — too well.
And then there’s the issue of teenage boys…