This week, Amazon boss Jeff Bezos went into space. And we’re finding it hard to convey just how little we care. Read the room, Jeff. People are still dying of COVID, climate change is hitting hard. Do you really expect us to muster the slightest enthusiasm for the world’s richest man spaffing 5.5 billion dollars on 11 minutes in space? And don’t even get us started on the Branson/Bezos rivalry. Marina Hyde sums it up nicely:
I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again: men are incredible! As is the 21st century. It’s wild to see the complex aspirations and vast rivalries of the 20th-century space race basically now reduced to a willy-waver between two taxophobic billionaires whose personality is “disliking ties”.
Maybe instead of sending a penis-mobile into space, Bezos might consider other uses for his money. Like better pay and conditions for his workers.
Moving on from a galactic-sized p*ssing contest to, er… just p*ssing, a survey about public toilets prompted us to dust off a piece on peeing from earlier in the year. Enjoy!
Taking the P*ss
Long queues, substandard public loos, and the danger of outdoor poos – toilets are a feminist issue
By Marie Fury
A recent survey ranking the UK’s public loos revealed that there was much left to be desired on the lavatory front, with insufficient public toilets, poor cleanliness, and a lack of wheelchair-accessible toilets causing a stink in many cities. Toilet access is a particular issue for women – between periods, pelvic floor problems, and an inability to pee in public without flashing innocent passersby, provision of public conveniences has been a feminist issue for hundreds of years. So garland yourself in toilet paper, settle yourself on your porcelain throne, and let us tell you a story of loos and ladies...
Here in the UK, public toilets have been a bone of contention between the sexes from the very beginning. The first public toilets, introduced in the mid-1800s, were for men only. Victorian women were expected to stay in the domestic sphere – what need could they have for loos in public places, scoffed (male) engineers and town planners? Consequently, women had to plan their travel according to where they could relieve themselves – referred to by historians as the “urinary leash.” It wasn’t until women were needed to take on traditionally male jobs during WWI that ladies loos became a fixture in workplaces and public spaces.
Today, British women may have broken that particular chain, but inequalities still exist. Women spend longer in the loo, and the need for cubicles rather than urinals means we get fewer toilets per square metre. In fact, women need 2–3 times the toilet provision men do – and yet current laws only require equal floor space for each gender. That’s why women spend the interval at events queueing to pee, while men spend it having a drink at the bar or enjoying tiny overpriced tubs of ice cream.
Queueing for the loos is annoying, but globally the situation is much more serious. Millions of women lack access to toilets at all, forcing them to make use of fields or streets, and leaving them vulnerable to disease and sexual assault. Even when public toilets are provided in poor communities, they often fail to meet women’s needs.
Things are changing – albeit at more of a trickle than a gush. In India, the government plan to build 100 million toilets and are investing in public education on the issue, including subsidising a popular movie with a pro-toilet message (yes, really). Women in Northern India now frequently demand a private toilet in the marital home before they agree to tie the knot as part of the “No Toilet, No Bride” campaign, and women’s public toilets are springing up in unlikely places. We were particularly tickled by these Barbie-pink pee palaces.
The bottom line is that, whether in Nottingham or Nairobi, public toilets need to be female-friendly. And that means getting women involved in the planning and design of facilities.
If you’d like to help bring privacy and dignity to women’s lives, you can donate to WaterAid, or why not “twin” your toilet (a great gift for those difficult-to-buy-for people!).
More things firing our boosters this week:
Four-year-old girl makes dinosaur find | The aesthetics of athletics | New documentary tells the story of tennis star Naomi Osaka | A history of gender-neutral pronouns | How average are you?
The HEX Science team
🧬Jean Splicer | ☢ Marie Fury | 🧠 Rorschach Tess | 🔬 Rosalind Frankly