As a survivor of rape and sexual abuse, I take issue with Nancy Mace's characterization of her crusade as "protecting" vulnerable women. I have never once felt "vulnerable" with a trans woman in the women's bathroom. We were both there to do our business and get on with life, not compare genitalia!
This. I’ve *never* felt unsafe with trans women. And as a rape survivor I’d sure think that trans women are far, far safer in the ladies room, as well. We should both get to feel safe and maybe exchange lipstick info or where that dress or those shoes are from. And the whole sex assigned at birth thing is pure ignorance. What about babies with ambiguous genitalia? What if your karotype is XY but then it turns out genetics made you androgen insensitive? These people are ignorant, and cruel to boot. Their only goal is to punish people that don’t fit their narrow, scientifically uniformed worldview.
I find it so interesting that these things are supposed to be about safety -- of cisgender women, of course. (Overlooking the fact that transwomen will be definitely less safe.) But we've elected a rapist President and he's nominating someone to his cabinet who paid a settlement to a woman who accused him of sexual assault, and we have teenage boys saying "Your body, my choice" to their female classmates so, really, how concerned are we about the safety of women?
I’ve used a number of restrooms (some here, more abroad) that are simply not gendered. The nicest thing about them is the doors and walls of the stalls go down to the ground… actual privacy!
It’s such an odd thing to become concerned about.
And here’s a question… how many men standing at a urinal are going to feel AWESOME when women in heels come in to touch up their makeup, and how many women fixing their makeup or helping their little kids wash their hands are going to feel AWESOME when heavyset bearded men walk in?
The whole thing is and has always been asinine.
People in general just want to use CLEAN facilities.
Getting the places literally more sanitary would be a far better use of whatever effort people want to put into restrooms.
The Seattle airport has some gender neutral bathrooms like that. A double row of stalls with floor to ceiling doors. So much better than having to stand in a long line for the women only bathroom!
Personally, I don't think that they really "care" per se. They needed a group to vilify and build fear against to advance a narrative that the Democratic ideals of DEI were evil and that only a very specific orange menace would be the solution to make everyone "safe" again. In the past this group has been "the blacks" (to maintain a segregated society) then it was "the gays" (and women) to promote patriarchal Christian Nationalism and now it's immigrants and our transgender family and friends who are being attacked. Small groups (in comparison to our population) that are misunderstood, less able to protect themselves and their civil rights. Unfortunately, the targets of this othering are persecuted indiscriminately, dehumanized, left without legal protections, and put in grave danger, just to promote an evil, white nationalistic ideology what is wholly anti-American and destructive to our democracy. But do they really care about bathrooms? Or books? Or public education? Or? Or? I don't think so.
I have a good friend who is trans. I can guarantee that if he used the women's bathroom there would be all kinds of uproar about a man in the women's bathroom. Sadly, this type of insanity puts him in even further danger of violence. I just have no words.
Another friend posted a meme yesterday, asking if I was comfortable sharing a bathroom with a transgender person. This was my response: "Ummm... why wouldn't I? What do people think happens in public bathrooms? Naked pillow fights? 🙄 That said, if my choice is to share a bathroom with a bigoted, racist, homophobic, transphobic asshole, I'll find the closest tree where I’m safer, thank you very much."
Imho, the GOP is inordinately fascinated by other’s genitalia. It isn’t any of their business what others do, unless it affects them personally. Gay marriage doesn’t affect them either, nor does abortion, unless it’s their own family. Tim Walz is correct,”Mind your own damn business”, and let everyone else alone.
It’s beyond disheartening to watch a “representative” only making noise about things that have not been a problem, as you mention, for years while in the meantime doing nothing to actually help their constituents. We definitely need a ground-swell of responses like that of congresswoman-elect McBride to drown out the nonsense from people like Rep. Mace. I hope her office is flooded with calls doing just that.
Remember back in the late 1900's when Ally McBeal had co-ed toilets and it was just seen as a quirky place to have slightly awkward interactions? The golden era of... erm.
I am so very tired of this nonsense. I've never been outraged when mothers come into the women's restroom with young boys because they feel that the men's restroom isn't safe. I've never been shocked or outraged when a trans woman uses the same restroom as I'm using and I'm a retired academic who's been in the women's restroom with a lot of students and faculty over the years. At one university there were two restrooms near my office, a Men's and a Faculty Men's. Women had to go to another floor, but there were Men's bathrooms on every floor. They had made the Faculty Men's restroom by my office into a Women's restroom a year before I came. However, it only had two stalls and two urinals. It took me two years of constantly contacting the Provost to get the urinals removed and another stall installed. I did this because we needed another stall (which everyone agreed should have a sign with my name on it), and it was so confusing for new female students, faculty and visitors. I also learned, as associate dean, that the men's restrooms in our building needed a lot more maintenance due to graffiti and the inability to turn off a faucet or to properly flush a toilet. The women's restrooms never needed that much maintenance. I also remember twice, attending public events when the women's restroom had a very long line while the men's restroom had a very small or non-existent line. With some of the other woman in line, we took over the men's room but emptied it out when a man came to use it. Most architects are men and they never plan on enough women's restrooms anyway. We raised money and built an addition to our building and I made certain that the new single-person restrooms were not gendered. I view women like Nancy Mace as collaborators who don't really believe in or pursue any activities to protect or support women. When you have nothing of substance to say, it's easy to attack someone else.
As a survivor of rape and sexual abuse, I take issue with Nancy Mace's characterization of her crusade as "protecting" vulnerable women. I have never once felt "vulnerable" with a trans woman in the women's bathroom. We were both there to do our business and get on with life, not compare genitalia!
This. I’ve *never* felt unsafe with trans women. And as a rape survivor I’d sure think that trans women are far, far safer in the ladies room, as well. We should both get to feel safe and maybe exchange lipstick info or where that dress or those shoes are from. And the whole sex assigned at birth thing is pure ignorance. What about babies with ambiguous genitalia? What if your karotype is XY but then it turns out genetics made you androgen insensitive? These people are ignorant, and cruel to boot. Their only goal is to punish people that don’t fit their narrow, scientifically uniformed worldview.
Hear, hear!
<3
I find it so interesting that these things are supposed to be about safety -- of cisgender women, of course. (Overlooking the fact that transwomen will be definitely less safe.) But we've elected a rapist President and he's nominating someone to his cabinet who paid a settlement to a woman who accused him of sexual assault, and we have teenage boys saying "Your body, my choice" to their female classmates so, really, how concerned are we about the safety of women?
Ye gods, the restroom thing again.
I’ve used a number of restrooms (some here, more abroad) that are simply not gendered. The nicest thing about them is the doors and walls of the stalls go down to the ground… actual privacy!
It’s such an odd thing to become concerned about.
And here’s a question… how many men standing at a urinal are going to feel AWESOME when women in heels come in to touch up their makeup, and how many women fixing their makeup or helping their little kids wash their hands are going to feel AWESOME when heavyset bearded men walk in?
The whole thing is and has always been asinine.
People in general just want to use CLEAN facilities.
Getting the places literally more sanitary would be a far better use of whatever effort people want to put into restrooms.
The Seattle airport has some gender neutral bathrooms like that. A double row of stalls with floor to ceiling doors. So much better than having to stand in a long line for the women only bathroom!
I truly find it disturbing that these folks spend so much time wondering what is in someone’s pants. Why do they care?
Personally, I don't think that they really "care" per se. They needed a group to vilify and build fear against to advance a narrative that the Democratic ideals of DEI were evil and that only a very specific orange menace would be the solution to make everyone "safe" again. In the past this group has been "the blacks" (to maintain a segregated society) then it was "the gays" (and women) to promote patriarchal Christian Nationalism and now it's immigrants and our transgender family and friends who are being attacked. Small groups (in comparison to our population) that are misunderstood, less able to protect themselves and their civil rights. Unfortunately, the targets of this othering are persecuted indiscriminately, dehumanized, left without legal protections, and put in grave danger, just to promote an evil, white nationalistic ideology what is wholly anti-American and destructive to our democracy. But do they really care about bathrooms? Or books? Or public education? Or? Or? I don't think so.
I have a good friend who is trans. I can guarantee that if he used the women's bathroom there would be all kinds of uproar about a man in the women's bathroom. Sadly, this type of insanity puts him in even further danger of violence. I just have no words.
Another friend posted a meme yesterday, asking if I was comfortable sharing a bathroom with a transgender person. This was my response: "Ummm... why wouldn't I? What do people think happens in public bathrooms? Naked pillow fights? 🙄 That said, if my choice is to share a bathroom with a bigoted, racist, homophobic, transphobic asshole, I'll find the closest tree where I’m safer, thank you very much."
Yeah, let's focus on THIS instead of fixing the country!! Oh, Charlotte...such idiots.
Imho, the GOP is inordinately fascinated by other’s genitalia. It isn’t any of their business what others do, unless it affects them personally. Gay marriage doesn’t affect them either, nor does abortion, unless it’s their own family. Tim Walz is correct,”Mind your own damn business”, and let everyone else alone.
It’s beyond disheartening to watch a “representative” only making noise about things that have not been a problem, as you mention, for years while in the meantime doing nothing to actually help their constituents. We definitely need a ground-swell of responses like that of congresswoman-elect McBride to drown out the nonsense from people like Rep. Mace. I hope her office is flooded with calls doing just that.
Remember back in the late 1900's when Ally McBeal had co-ed toilets and it was just seen as a quirky place to have slightly awkward interactions? The golden era of... erm.
I am so very tired of this nonsense. I've never been outraged when mothers come into the women's restroom with young boys because they feel that the men's restroom isn't safe. I've never been shocked or outraged when a trans woman uses the same restroom as I'm using and I'm a retired academic who's been in the women's restroom with a lot of students and faculty over the years. At one university there were two restrooms near my office, a Men's and a Faculty Men's. Women had to go to another floor, but there were Men's bathrooms on every floor. They had made the Faculty Men's restroom by my office into a Women's restroom a year before I came. However, it only had two stalls and two urinals. It took me two years of constantly contacting the Provost to get the urinals removed and another stall installed. I did this because we needed another stall (which everyone agreed should have a sign with my name on it), and it was so confusing for new female students, faculty and visitors. I also learned, as associate dean, that the men's restrooms in our building needed a lot more maintenance due to graffiti and the inability to turn off a faucet or to properly flush a toilet. The women's restrooms never needed that much maintenance. I also remember twice, attending public events when the women's restroom had a very long line while the men's restroom had a very small or non-existent line. With some of the other woman in line, we took over the men's room but emptied it out when a man came to use it. Most architects are men and they never plan on enough women's restrooms anyway. We raised money and built an addition to our building and I made certain that the new single-person restrooms were not gendered. I view women like Nancy Mace as collaborators who don't really believe in or pursue any activities to protect or support women. When you have nothing of substance to say, it's easy to attack someone else.
Spot on, as always, Charlotte. Bless you.