Gents vs ladies: Who is getting the best deal?

MEN AND women used to have their own, clearly demarcated domains. Victorian men would be found in the office, the factory, pub or the gentlemen’s club. On the other hand, women would predominantly be found in the home - and more specifically, in the kitchen. 

So it was only to be expected that each gender would have their own lavatories to use when out and about.

But life today is very different and society has become much more equal. Both men and women go out to work and are also likely to co-parent and share the cooking andhousehold responsibilities. 

Why, then, do we still have separate toilets?

Segregating washrooms

Many of us would assume the practice of segregating washrooms has its roots in the distant past. But this is not the case since public toilets in general have only been around some 170 years.

Before the mid 19th century men would have to relieve themselves in fields, streets or alleyways when out and about – a practice that was considered unacceptable for genteel women. So ladies were obliged to stay at home, or only travel to safe spaces such as the homes of friends and family members.

This situation began to change in the mid-19th century when industrialisation led to many towns becoming overcrowded. Clearly it was no longer viable for people to continue using the streets as toilets – and this was underlined when a cholera outbreak killed around 52,000 people.

Improved sanitation

Calls for improved sanitation became widespread, prompting the First Public Health Act of 1848. This provided a framework for local authorities to provide toilets and was reinforced by a second Act which gave local authorities new powers to purchase, create and repair sewers and to control water supplies.

Another breakthrough occurred as a result of the Great Exhibition of 1851. A huge palace was built in Hyde Park to house the event and showcase Britain’s achievements. 

However, the developers of the new Crystal Palace realised that everyone’s visit would inevitably be curtailed if there were no washroom facilities on site. So public toilets were added for both sexes. 

The success of the Crystal Palace toilets led to more public lavatories – mainly for men - opening up in towns and cities. Many were built underground to save street space and to ensure that such “objectionable contrivances” were hidden from the view of the sensitive Victorians. A single glass brick would be embedded in the pavement to provide light. 

By 1895 there were 15 public toilets in London. However, only one of these catered for women - and that was only open for five hours on weekdays and four hours onSundays.

Women's washroom rights

Enter two new associations founded to fight for women’s washroom rights. The Ladies Sanitary Association was set up shortly after the creation of the first public flushing toilet and its members campaigned from the 1850s onwards through lectures and pamphlets. A few women’s toilets opened in Britain as a result.

Then in the late 1890s, the Union of Women’s Liberal and Radical Associations emerged and began campaigning for public toilets for working class women. 

A site was earmarked next to the gents’ washrooms in Camden High Street but many men objected to the facility being built and claimed, rather unfairly, that the location was unsuitable. To prove their point, hansom cab-owners began deliberately driving into the prototype toilet. 

Ironically it was a man who eventually helped these women to achieve their goal. Medical officer for health for Paddington Dr Stevenson backed the campaign for public washrooms, pointing out that women had the same physical needs as men.

In the end it was commercial expediency that led to the more widespread provision of public toilets for women. Shop owners began to realise that ladies would spend more money if they had access to a washroom. So powder rooms began to be incorporated into department stores, usually adjoining the in-store cafés and tea rooms.

Female washroom facilities

London-based department store Selfridges was an early pioneer of female washroom facilities. The store opened its first ladies’ toilet in 1909 both for shoppers and to allow Suffragettes to use the facilities while campaigning.

However, department store washrooms catered exclusively for wealthy shoppers which meant that the majority of women still had little or no access to public washrooms.

During the first world war, many women had to go out to work as the men were posted to the front lines. This posed lavatorial issues for employers who were unwilling to shoulder the expense of installing women’s toilets - and were not legally obliged to do so. Women were therefore forced to share facilities with the menfolk, but many began to campaign for better toilets.

During the 20th century, separate away-from-home facilities for both men and women sprang up everywhere. And most of these continue to be segregated – and remain markedly different from one another.

For example, ladies’ toilets often feature “extras” such as mirrors, hand creams and fresh flowers and are more likely to feature baby change facilities and family rooms. 

Hygienic facilities

There is a perception that men’s facilities are often dirtier, smellier and messier than the ladies’ as well as being less well equipped. However, women seem to be more fastidious and are generally less satisfied with their facilities than men. According to a recent YouGov Omnibus report, 72% of women questioned said they often perceived the toilets outside their homes as being unhygienic compared with 64% of men.

Working women appear to feel particularly disadvantaged as far as washrooms are concerned. A recent study revealed that thousands of women at work lack access to clean, properly-stocked toilets. Around 14% of the 12,000 female employees polled in the 2023 Unite survey said they only sometimes or occasionally have access to toilets at work while 1% said they had no washroom access whatsoever. 

Women are also more likely to have to queue than men. The same report revealed that 59% of women say they regularly have to queue for public toilets compared with only 11% of men.

And while the standard ratio of female to male toilets in the UK is 1:1, this is rarely achieved due to the higher numbers of urinals in male toilets according to a 2019 Royal Society report.

Unisex washrooms

It is no wonder that moves are increasingly being made to combine the gents’ and ladies’ into unisex washrooms and standardise the facilities for everyone. There are several potential advantages to such a move.

Gender-neutral washrooms take up less space than segregated facilities, allowing restaurants and bars to save valuable square footage and create more room for drinkers and diners.

It becomes easier for parents to accompany a child of the opposite sex to a unisex washroom. And queues become more uniform when the washrooms are open to everyone.

The downside, however, is that many people are reluctant to share an intimate space with members of the opposite sex. Unisex washrooms have also led to bad press on several occasions.

For example, when a number of UK leisure centres installed unisex washrooms a few years ago, nearly 90% of complaints relating to the switch concerned cases of sexual assault, voyeurism and harassment.

In 2019, the Ministry of Defence spent £15,000 on 13 gender-neutral toilets at its Whitehall headquarters. But within months, female staff members began boycotting them claiming they were “too smelly”, and claimed they felt uncomfortable using the facilities around men.

And reports of misbehaviour in gender-neutral school washrooms are commonplace with teachers claiming students are recording one another, drinking alcohol, bullying each other and having sex in the cubicles.

But whether men and women share a washroom or not, it is crucial that both sexes have access to clean, hygienic spaces and adequate hand washing facilities.

Easy-to-clean dispensers made from materials that attract fewer fingerprints will also help to keep the facilities looking clean. 

Since female facilities tend to attract longer queues than the gents’, all dispensers should be designed to be quick and easy to use and provide a long-lasting supply of product to prevent run-outs.  And a good air freshener system will help to keep washrooms smelling fragrant.

In May 2024, new government proposals set out rules stating that all new restaurants, public toilets, shopping centres and offices in England would be required to have separate male and female toilets. The aim is to address concerns from women, the elderly and the disabled who feel "unfairly disadvantaged" by toilets being converted into gender-neutral facilities.

However, self-contained unisex facilities with their own sinks will be permitted in addition to single-sex toilets where space allows. So surely this should be the way forward in general – to provide segregated washrooms for men and women alongside a few gender-neutral cubicles. In this way, those who prefer their own private space will be offered one – and more preferences will be supported.

Lee Radzki is sales manager at Tork manufacturer Essity.

For more information, visit www.tork.co.uk