Wagamama and gender neutral toilets

[TulipsTulipsTulips]

40% of wagamama’s toilets will be gender neutral by September. The last thing I want to do when I go out for a meal is share the facilities with men. We are different and deserve privacy! How have women’s interests become such a low priority?

Do they not care about this being discriminatory toward minority groups such as Muslim women? If we can’t successfully call out sexism can we call out wagamama for being islamophobic bigots?

If this kind of thing became widespread, it would severely limit my Muslim in-laws, who are not at all comfortable sharing these spaces with males

@Outanabout

The point is, I would hope that these same people are campaigning about disabled people’s access to toilets as they are all like the ones you find in Wagamama, for any sex, full door and sink in the room, as if these people think they’re not okay for non-disabled people, surely they are also trying to get them removed for disabled people.

Yes everyone should be able to use a toilet safely and comfortably, but it is quite amazing how much is being done for the 1% (figure from article) and so little for other groups. Disabled toilets are often poor, yet no companies are falling over themselves to properly cater for that group of individuals.

They actually state in the article that they specifically won't just relabel women's toilets as gender neutral as they don't want to infringe on women-only spaces. They will either have individual enclosed cubicles or a gender neutral toilet plus a women's toilet. Seems fair enough.

Fucks sake - yet ANOTHER thread on GN toilets! I believe all Wagamama toilets will have fully enclosed cubicles AND sinks. The transphobia on MN is astounding!

I’m afraid I also don’t see the issue with enclosed rooms with sinks in being mixed sex. I completely understand why people wouldn’t like a set-up where there’s shared sinks and cubicles with gaps.

Well i wont be eating there anymore

Daughter - do you avoid all cafes with this set up? It’s really common surely especially in small ones places.

@Daughterofmabel

Surely in that case you also don’t eat anywhere that doesn’t have seperate male and female disabled toilets? Or do those with disabilities not count?

Why is not transphobic to ask for sex segregated toilets - as per the law?

Yell transphobia as loud as you like - it doesn’t make it so.

A narrow corridor with stalls off it to your right, the first few for men, and the ones at the end for women.

Just to follow on a bit from this. I regularly get grumpy, especially at service stations, that the men's toilets are first and the women's further down. I moan about the extra distance I have to waddle walk, but it could be a risk.

TBH Our Wagamamas has always had one person toilet cubicles. Toilet, sink and hand dryer. Although I haven't been in a couple of years because they're so bad for gluten free food.

I did grumble at a national park place a while ago that had men's cubicles and mixed sex cubicles, no female only. The dc's had to listen to me huffing about that one.

Five Guys are like this, also Costa, Starbucks, pretty much every small cafe...what's the problem?

I used "gender neutral" toilets in two different places a few weeks ago. They were enclosed, with floor two ceiling doors and sinks within the cubicle fairly new and nicely decorated. Both times there was piss all over the floor, and I don't think it was women's. This is extremely unpleasant even if it is supposedly safe. Women have to sit to urinate, men can just stand and spray everywhere and go nowhere near the toilet, no risk of touching it all. It's disgusting to put women in this position, basically asking us to use men's toilets. I would never do this unless absolutely forced as I was in both these places. It put me off going back.

Leftielefterson this isn't about transphobia, it's about the complete overturning of what used to be accepted - female toilets for females - apparently to suit a tiny proportion of the population. Wagamama are the o es who signalled WHY they're doing it, if you are to read the OP.

Re disabled toilets, those near where I live are over twice the size of the usual cubicles, and are like small roo.s, with space for wheelchairs. What do you suggest we should campaign about? What points are you making in your campaign about improving disabled toilets?

I wouldn't like it if they were doing what so many places do, and relabelling the women's toilets as gender neutral. They clearly have given that some thought though and specifically said they won't be doing it.

Their toilets are, from what I've seen, mostly completely enclosed ones which don't involve sharing any space with anyone else anyway. So... I might prefer separate ones for men and women but it's not a big deal to me.

I find women's toilets can be pretty stinking too. Our Wagamamas has had individual cubicle rooms for years, it's fine. If the toilets weren't good, I'd complain in the hope that they're cleaned more regularly or sex added to each cubicle.

@Outanabout Why is it okay for disabled toilets to be gender neutral, but not other toilets with the same set up but a sligtly smaller room?

My local Wagamama has a corridor of individual rooms each with loo and sink. Very clean and well maintained - I have no issues with this system, women's privacy is maintained

In places like Wagamama I prefer this arrangement over the horrible cardboard cubicle options. I hate going to the loo at the same time as other women in the group and hearing bodily function noises from them or them hearing me. Perfect strangers are no problem but not friends or colleagues (especially if irritable bowel is playing up)

I agree Lass. We’ve just moved to this at work and I was a bit apprehensive but it’s loads better. Much more private.

Do they not care about this being discriminatory toward minority groups such as Muslim women? If we can’t successfully call out sexism can we call out wagamama for being islamophobic bigots?

If this kind of thing became widespread, it would severely limit my Muslim in-laws, who are not at all comfortable sharing these spaces with males

They are not sharing spaces with males. The set up is individual, locked rooms.

it depends where these all enclosed single sex toilets are. I was recently in a Pret, you had to go up stairs, and into a room, with 2 sinks and then 2 single cubicles for the loos. There was nothing else up these stairs and sat on the loo felt really worried about who would be in the room when I came out of the loo to wash my hands. I don’t want a strange man being in the same room as me when I’ve got my knickers down.

Our wagamamas has really good facilities, it’s not an issue. Fully enclosed with own sink- prefer it as it’s a lot more private and more space for the baby.

Have you actually been to one of these yet OP? You’re really not sharing the facilities with men, at all.

Meant to add, if that room had no door in it I’d feel so much better.

There are very few disabled toilets that are fully accessible, baby changing areas are often poor or added into disabled toilets.

Public toilets are often poor in availability and design, yet this is headline news.

For the calls of transphobia this really isn't, it is about the general awful state of toilets (and don't get me started on Wetherspoons and their upstairs toilets)