August 11, 2004

• I was in the sauna at a gym today, and there was a naked woman in there with me. She was wearing a towel around her waist, her breasts exposed, with some of her “area” sticking out for the world to see. This woman could care less that I was in there, and made no attempt to cover up her body. She just lay on the bench in silent thought, occasionally spraying herself with water every few minutes.

  
  

  Her nudity made me uncomfortable as she was quite old, but it also made me think: the only thing keeping this woman from being seen by a random man is the fact that the bathroom has a “Women” sign on the wall.

  
  

  Afterall, there are no doors leading the women’s bathroom. It’s just a small, winding “hall” that curves so that a woman can be standing naked by the sinks and no one will see her unless she’s at the doorway. No blockades preventing men from entering…

  
  

  Yet, there is complete freedom in the women’s restroom and lots of ladies feel safe enough to parade around naked after their workout. This small sign denoting which gender is allowed into the facility is the only thing protecting them from being violated—and they trust it enough to nonchalantly put themselves at risk.

  
  

  What is amazing to me is that the only time I was worried about a man coming into the women’s restroom was when a rapist was actually prowling the bathrooms in search for victims. Other than that, I never think about the chances of a wayward person hiding in the stalls, waiting to violate me. Yet I am on the lookout for any suspicious people when I walk in the street.

  
  

  Isn’t it strange how a gender-specific bathroom placard could give people so much comfort and security? We feel safer in a bathroom with only one entrace than we do in an open street…it makes me wonder if people are more abiding of the bathroom signs than they are of laws against rape.

  • 7:17 am
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