Gender Study
There are a pair of restrooms on one floor of my office building which are switched. Or, at least, the men's bathroom used to be a women's bathroom, and I assume the women's bathroom used to be a men's bathroom*.
At any rate, the point is that on the rare occasions when I'm in a meeting on that floor and find myself having to stop by the restroom, immediately upon stepping inside the inner door, I invariably panic, turn around, confirm my eidetic memory image of a little blue male on the restroom sign, turn back around, convince myself I'm sure, and then proceed to do my restroom business.
It's no surprise that it tricks me into thinking it's a women's bathroom, because, other than the sign on the door, it is a women's bathroom: lack of urinals, sanitary napkin disposal bins built into the walls, and so on.
What's strange is how instantaneous the response is. There are plenty of men's restrooms in the world with no urinals, and the sanitary napkins bins are not visible from the main door. The color scheme is the same. The floor tiles are the same.
As best as I can figure the only thing that's different (get ready, it's a long shot) is that this is the only men's restroom I've ever been in which has more than two toilets and no urinal. It's almost like those strange city ordinances or disability accommodation laws which are so subtle and ubiquitous as to be completely taken for granted — that is, until you stumble into a place where the rules no longer apply, and the slight difference is unidentifiable yet really disconcerting. It's astounding to me that such a complex set of conditions could be so ingrained in a person's psyche, especially because it's based on the lack of something rather than presence. Consider the rules from a man's point of view:
1 toilet — Men or Women
1 urinal — Men (uncommon, but you find it in some bars and clubs)
2 toilets — Men or Women (it's far more common in women's restrooms, but happens enough in men's restrooms not to trigger the response)
1+ toilet and 1+ urinal — Men
3+ toilets — Women!
On the other hand, for a woman, the determination that they've wandered into the wrong room is probably pretty easy:
1 toilet — Men or Women
1+ urinal — Men!
Toilet seat up — Men!
Pee on the floor — Men!
Toilet paper on the floor — Men!
Smell reminiscent of a week-old dead wildebeest — Men!
. . . else Women.
Actually, I don't know — women's restrooms may get that dead wildebeest smell at around 2 hours after lunchtime as well, my world is a happier one assuming that's not the case. And even if not, if a woman walks into a restroom with 5 toilets + wildebeest smell, I'm not sure what conclusion she would draw, but is perhaps safer turning around and finding alternate facilities anyway.
*Incidentally, there's another building here where the restrooms have very plainly been swapped. In this case, I imagine it was due to the intervention of an efficiency expert along the way, because, for better or worse, the building primarily houses an equipment room, a large proportion of the technicians for which are men. Originally the women's restroom was on the same floor as the equipment room and the women's restroom was downstairs, but they've swapped them, ostensibly in the name of greater net efficiency (20 men * 30 second walk + 2 women * 90 second walk is less total than the other way around).
At any rate, the point is that on the rare occasions when I'm in a meeting on that floor and find myself having to stop by the restroom, immediately upon stepping inside the inner door, I invariably panic, turn around, confirm my eidetic memory image of a little blue male on the restroom sign, turn back around, convince myself I'm sure, and then proceed to do my restroom business.
It's no surprise that it tricks me into thinking it's a women's bathroom, because, other than the sign on the door, it is a women's bathroom: lack of urinals, sanitary napkin disposal bins built into the walls, and so on.
What's strange is how instantaneous the response is. There are plenty of men's restrooms in the world with no urinals, and the sanitary napkins bins are not visible from the main door. The color scheme is the same. The floor tiles are the same.
As best as I can figure the only thing that's different (get ready, it's a long shot) is that this is the only men's restroom I've ever been in which has more than two toilets and no urinal. It's almost like those strange city ordinances or disability accommodation laws which are so subtle and ubiquitous as to be completely taken for granted — that is, until you stumble into a place where the rules no longer apply, and the slight difference is unidentifiable yet really disconcerting. It's astounding to me that such a complex set of conditions could be so ingrained in a person's psyche, especially because it's based on the lack of something rather than presence. Consider the rules from a man's point of view:
1 toilet — Men or Women
1 urinal — Men (uncommon, but you find it in some bars and clubs)
2 toilets — Men or Women (it's far more common in women's restrooms, but happens enough in men's restrooms not to trigger the response)
1+ toilet and 1+ urinal — Men
3+ toilets — Women!
On the other hand, for a woman, the determination that they've wandered into the wrong room is probably pretty easy:
1 toilet — Men or Women
1+ urinal — Men!
Toilet seat up — Men!
Pee on the floor — Men!
Toilet paper on the floor — Men!
Smell reminiscent of a week-old dead wildebeest — Men!
. . . else Women.
Actually, I don't know — women's restrooms may get that dead wildebeest smell at around 2 hours after lunchtime as well, my world is a happier one assuming that's not the case. And even if not, if a woman walks into a restroom with 5 toilets + wildebeest smell, I'm not sure what conclusion she would draw, but is perhaps safer turning around and finding alternate facilities anyway.
*Incidentally, there's another building here where the restrooms have very plainly been swapped. In this case, I imagine it was due to the intervention of an efficiency expert along the way, because, for better or worse, the building primarily houses an equipment room, a large proportion of the technicians for which are men. Originally the women's restroom was on the same floor as the equipment room and the women's restroom was downstairs, but they've swapped them, ostensibly in the name of greater net efficiency (20 men * 30 second walk + 2 women * 90 second walk is less total than the other way around).