Am I imagining it or are male toilets always closer?

[ConfessionsOfTeenageDramaQueen]

In restaurants and anywhere other public place really, if the toilets aren't opposite each other but down a corridor (or even on different floors) the men's is almost always closer/more conveniently located.

Am I imagining it or have other people noticed this too?

And has anyone got any suggestions as to why or is it purely sexism?

Yep, I've noticed it as well.

I've noticed that too and if there are stairs involved you can bet your bottom dollar that they lead up or down to the women toilets! Not fair especially in heels!!

this is def the case in my local weatherspoons , gents on ground floor in the centre of the pub no corridors at all , ladies down a flight of stairs and along a corridor. the gents used to be down there too but they got moved upstairs because the dirty gits used to just piss in the corridor were ladies would have to paddle through it to get to their loos (squelch)

selvay if one of the loos has to be 1st it should be the ladies so that we do not get accosted by men while trying to get to and from the loos

I've noticed this too but near me is a nice pub where the women's is very conveniently located and the men's is on another floor. Whenever I go there with a male friend they always grumble! Yy to football stadium loos where you can saunter past the long queue of men.

I always thought it was to do with so men don’t peak in!

Yes.

Why is it that there always miles away when you're bursting?
Saying that as a teacher I've become quite good at just crossing my legs.

I've noticed that too and if there are stairs involved you can bet your bottom dollar that they lead up or down to the women toilets! Not fair especially in heels!!

Yep. I've skited down the stairs a coupla times whereas the men's toilets in the same venues have been on the same level.

I work in a multi-storey building. There is one set of toilets on each floor. Some floors are male, some are female and some are unisex. There are probably more female ones than male. So really it's the luck of the draw as to where you happen to be working as to whether there is a handy toilet or you have to go upstairs or downstairs.

Yep - after going up one steep flight of stairs the lights all went out as well so I couldn’t even see the right door ( which was miles from the gents that I passed)
This was in a restaurant/ some places I struggle to find them at all they are so tucked away!

I asked the owner of large building firm about this once. She said they usually put the men’s toilets first because men don’t tend to care about a lot of random foot traffic passing by the entrance, seeing them queue etc., whereas it makes some women uncomfortable and less likely to actually use the facilities.

So if it’s a smaller building like a chain restaurant for example, you can put the men’s room pretty close to the public and it’s not an issue, whereas some women will avoid the toilets and thus leave faster if there’s not much of a gap between other customers and the toilet entrance. So if you have the choice, you put the women’s toilets down the end of a hallway or something, somewhere somewhat hidden from view.

In somewhere like a big shopping centre or stadium, you can stick the men’s toilets opposite other things that need to be close by, like stockrooms, offices, staff rooms, janitors closets, maintenance areas etc. and by and large they won’t care about extra people running around nearby. Some women will, so you put them at the end of the corridor where the only other people nearby will be other women using the facilities.

She thought it probably wouldn’t be something they had to think about in 15-20 years as it was mostly older women who said these things bothered them or would stop them using the facilities, but reading threads on MN sometimes I’m not so sure about that.

Op you’re not imagining it at all. Men’s toilets are always closer, more often than not I find myself trekking with a donkey to find a fucking toilet.

I can’t say I’ve noticed. And all the places I can think of nearby the women's is nearer (except one, and I’d say the men’s is more awkward as you have to turn back on yourself).

I've been in 3 places today (work-a public building, a theatre and Sainsbury's).
All of them have ladies closer than men's. Two have the disabled closest, the other has it between the two but closer to the men's.

I find the opposite

Always feel when they’re not opposite each other that I have to walk past women’s toilets or even up another set of stairs.

But that’s probably confirmation bias on my part

Yes! I had this exact conversation with DH a few days ago!

I'm convinced it's because they're mostly designed by men. Otherwise surely you'd put the women's closer since they're most likely to be taking young children to the toilet, and have all the pregnancy-related have-to-go-right-now-but-can't-move-fast-anymore issues?

Lannie i agree. lots of good reasons to put women's closer.

But I do think Dads should be encouraged to take the kids in as much as possible! Especially at places like theatres when a children's show is on.

I've noticed this in work too! Men's loos outnumber women's and they are always downstairs on the factory floor. Women's are upstairs and are at the bottom of a corridor

It could be down to something as simple as when they're deciding on which to go where they automatically think 'men and women' rather than 'women and men' so put them in that order. But some might think 'ladies and gentlemen' rather than 'Gentlemen and Ladies' so they will default to doing them in that order...

Honestly no. I don't think there's any actual difference it is just the look of the draw. In shopping centres I find the women's closer as well strangely but that might just be me

This is something I’ve always noticed and it really bugs me. If I need to go to the toilet the men’s is always right there! The women’s is hidden upstairs, downstairs, round the corner , far away somewhere. It drives me crazy!!!

My DM told me when I was young that men can't hold their bladder as long as women, so their toilets have to be closer.

Yes this is a thing in many places I visit -sonly pubs though. In our old local the men had one downstairs plus a disabled then upstairs there was more men and the only ladies.

In my experience women wee more than men plus as men have urinals we need more space so more toilets for women would make more sense than more for men. I always put it down in most cases as men designing the layout rather than a woman but I could be being sexist in my thoughts there 😂

In a lot of TfL estate buildings, especially older ones, this is the case. It's because, apart from during the war, so few women worked on the Underground when these buildings went up. The first female tube driver was in the 70s. Even now, when seperate facilities are provided, the gents tend to be bigger, and it's plain to see that they were once only one room, now split into two. (Sometimes you have to squeeze inside). In newer buildings it's slightly better.

At the beginning of every training session the females know what's coming..."the male toilet is just outside the double doors. The female toilets are upstairs on the 10 th floor in the far corner. Defeat the dragon and pass the IQ test first to find it."

No. I've not noticed this being an issue.