Gender-Neutral Bathrooms

Newspaper Article

Full News Report at: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,294633,00.html

Collected: 2/11/09

The University of Vermont is putting transgendered bathrooms on their campus. This shows that they are becoming more tolerant of people who are not male or female. These people are made to feel uncomfortable in strictly male or female bathrooms and making them use a male or female facility is a form of oppression. It is the oppression of people of a different gender so it applies to women's studies because women's studies is actually gender studies. It relates to gender bias because lack of a gender neutral bathroom is discrimination based on gender. A major women's studies topic is gender bias so the news article and women's studies relate in that way as well.

The fact that the Vermont government built trans-gendered bathrooms is a good start. However, it is contradicting itself by only having male and female on drivers licenses but having a 3rd gender of bathroom. They should both publicly recognize a more genders and accommodate them so they are consistent with their policy and don't appear incompetent. They need to take a stance and educate the public, the job of the government is to make the decisions the people want, and more than 2 types of bathrooms is not what the ignorant majority wants today. If Vermont wants to recognize more than two genders, they need to put it out in the open and convince the masses that it is right so their citizens lose their ignorance. This relates to Gould, "X: A Fabulous Child's Story." and Fausto-Sterling, "The Five Sexes Revisited", because after reading them I am convinced that people who are not totally male or female should have rights.

Recognizing other genders (in this case by having a bathroom for them) is the first step toward education so a related topic would be education. It also relates to education because the article talks about same sex bathrooms being put in schools and universities. The very presence of a gender neutral bathroom in these places of education will teach people that different genders are ok. By putting them in their place of learning they will learn a little about other genders, and hopefully when they learn a little they will be curious to learn more. Since this is education about gender it relates to gender socialization which is just that. It is socialization because it is not formal education, it is just a change in the world around people at the University of Vermont which will semi-subconsciously teach them about other genders and to accept other genders. In this way it is positive gender socialization and a step forward.

This article and the presence of gender neutral bathrooms will draw. attention to oppression based on gender and help fight it. Thus they are advances for women, men and every gender.