斯特凡妮·帕帕斯

In North Carolina and other states， a new culture war has erupted. This time， the battlefield is bathrooms.

In March， North Carolina enacted a law （colloquially known as HB21） that requires that people use only bathrooms that correspond to the gender on their birth certificates. The law affects transgender individuals， who identify as a gender other than the one they were assigned at birth. Other states have considered similar bills， to great controversy.

To some people， public bathrooms may seem like unassuming spaces—necessary but not worth too much thought. But these bathroom bills illustrate that public restrooms are the stage for many complex social interactions， and that the availability of a place to relieve oneself is crucial in society.

Public or private？

Gender-segregated public restrooms are either very old or very new， depending on how you look at the question. They arose in the Victorian era， along with widespread plumbing， meaning theyve been around almost as long as the modern bathroom itself. On the other hand， having privacy for peeing is a relatively modern phenomenon.

The notion of privacy itself is shifting constantly， and it can be hard to determine how people of the past viewed the importance of privacy in their bathroom habits. Ancient Rome， for example， is famous for its multiseater bathrooms， where people sat side by side on benches， without partitions， to do their business. However， there are hints that a concept of privacy might have existed. In Hadrian2s Villa， a second-century site in Tivoli， Italy， there were multiseat facilities for servants and staff， according to a 2003 paper in the Journal of Roman Archaeology. However， the emperor and high-status guests seem to have had access to relatively private single-seaters.

“The provision of single-seaters， especially for guests， shows that， when space and money were no object， [the elite] preferred single toilets，” wrote study researcher and independent archaeologist Gemma Jansen.

The first gender-segregated public restroom on record was a temporary setup at a Parisian ball in 1739， said Sheila Cavanagh， a sociologist at York University in Canada and author of “Queering Bathrooms： Gender， Sexuality， and the Hygienic Imagination”. The balls organizers put a chamber box （essentially a chamber pot in a box with a seat） for men in one room and for women in another.

“Everyone at the ball thought this was sort of a novelty—something sort of eccentric and fun，” Cavanagh said.

But for the most part， public facilities in Western nations were male-only until the Victorian era， which meant women had to improvise. If they had to be out and about longer than they could hold their bladders， women in the Victorian era would urinate over a gutter （long Victorian skirts allowed for some privacy）. Some would even carry a small personal device called a urinette that they could use discretely under their skirts and then pour out， Cavanagh said. Strangely， these urinettes were sometimes shaped like the male genitals.

This lack of female facilities reflected a notable attitude about women： that they should stay home. This “urinary leash” remains a problem in some developing nations， said Harvey Molotch， a sociologist at New York University and co-editor of “Toilet： The Public Restroom and the Politics of Sharing”. Women in India today， for example， often have to avoid eating or drinking too much if they have to be out in public， because there is no place for them to go， Molotch told Live Science.

Ladies and gentlemen

Thus， the first gender-segregated restrooms were a major step forward for women. Massachusetts passed a law in 1887 requiring workplaces that employed women to have restrooms for them， according to an article in the Rutgers University Law Review. By the 1920s， such laws were the norm.

Victorian-era Americans were segregated by gender in many spaces， Molotch said. There were ladies-only waiting rooms in train stations， and female-only reading rooms in libraries. As sex segregation has fallen to the wayside in other public spaces， bathrooms remain the last holdout， he said.

“Restrooms are a very funny place， because theyre where the most intimate actions occur that are also in public，” Molotch said. In the U.S.， bathrooms are partitioned with flimsy barriers with lots of gaps， in part because of anxiety over what might go on in a fully private stall. Sex and drugs are the most common of these concerns， he said.

Meanwhile， people observe rigid social rituals to keep up the illusion of privacy. Men， for example， cant be seen looking at the genitals of other men， Molotch said， but also cant be perceived as trying not to look.

“The disgust attached to excretion makes people bothered by the sounds and smells of others， and the shame of this private action makes many people concerned about being witnessed in the act， even indirectly，” said Nicholas Haslam， a psychology professor at the University of Melbourne and author of “Psychology in the Bathroom”. Excretion is seen as unfeminine， Haslam told Live Science， so women are under particular pressure to hide their bathroom activities， especially from men.

“Finally， the act of going to the bathroom makes many people feel vulnerable， exposed， and unsafe，” Haslam said.

Bathroom bills like North Carolinas often reflect ideas about sex and safety， Cavanagh said. However， there are no documented instances of a transgender person attacking anyone in a public bathroom， she said. A survey published in the Journal of Public Management and Social Policy in 2013 did find， however， that 70 percent of the transgender respondents from the Washington， D.C. area had experienced harassment or assault in bathrooms， or had been denied access to facilities.

Ultimately， fears over allowing bathrooms to be used by people of different birth sexes may have more to do with the symbolic nature of public restrooms than with practical concerns. Transgender people challenge the notion that a persons gender and their biological sex at birth are one and the same in all cases， Molotch said， which makes some people uncomfortable. However， he suspects that the backlash will simmer down and that gender-segregated toilets will persist， with an agreement that everyone will mind their own business.

“We all know there is nothing more important to transgender people than to ‘pass，” Molotch said， meaning that transgender people want others who casually encounter them to assume they are just like all of the other members of the gender they identify with. Most transgender people do not want others to wonder whether they are transgender， he said.

北卡罗来纳和其他一些州已爆发一场新的文化论战，这一次争论的焦点是厕所。

北卡罗来纳州三月份通过了一项法案（俗称HB2法案），规定人们只能按出生时的生理性别使用对应的公厕。此法案影响了跨性别群体的权益，因为他们对自身性别的认同与出生证上不同。火上浇油的是其他一些州也在考慮通过类似的法案。

有些人可能认为公厕这种场所毫不起眼，虽不可或缺但不值得投入过多关注。但这些厕所法案的出台不仅显示公厕是许多社会群体复杂角力的舞台，也说明提供场所供人方便在社会生活中是非常重要的。

公共还是私密？

男女分设的公厕既可以说由来已久也可算新生事物，这取决于如何看待这个问题。男女分厕出现于维多利亚时期，随着管道系统的广泛铺设而兴起，与现代卫生间几乎有着同样长的历史。另一方面，如厕时保持隐私也是一个相对现代的现象。

隐私的概念并非一成不变，所以很难判断前人对如厕隐私看得有多重要。比如，众所周知古罗马的厕所是多厕位的，大家肩并肩坐在长凳上方便，彼此间毫无遮拦。然而有线索显示隐私的概念可能已经存在。据《罗马考古学》杂志2003年发表的一篇论文，在哈德良别墅，一片位于意大利蒂沃利的二世纪建筑旧址，仆人和雇工使用多厕位的公共设施，而皇帝和身份显贵的客人则似乎会使用相对私密的单独厕位。

“单独的厕位，尤其是为客人提供的，说明当空间和金钱不是问题的时候，（精英阶层）更愿意使用独立的卫生间。……