PickOne1, the lines are shorter in length, but a woman has to wait just as longer or longer than the guys. Haven’t you noticed that the men’s lines go way faster?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_and_children_first
“As a consequence, 74% of the women and 52% of the children on board were saved, but only 20% of the men.”
Just sayin… 
As someone with experience on both sides of the divide, I have noticed no difference in urinary velocity from one to the other. (I can’t believe I’m addressing this seriously.) The difference is what prospect1 points out. Plus, women need more access because it isn’t possible to hold it in as long. Men can basically wait indefinitely!
In the first class section of the boat, lifeboats had empty seats because men thought it improper to get on - and likely didn’t realize what would happen soon. Bruce Ismay, one of the White Star line owners, jumped into one of the lifeboats as it was being lowered because it had empty seats - and was criticized for living.
Young men, maybe. Alas.
My sons were told that they use stalls, they don’t use urinals.
As for " If men had to pull down their pants to pee, and then tuck everything back in, it would take them a longer time too. " I think that’s immaterial. My one son sits down to pee, and he is done quickly. I certainly sit down, and I am done quickly as well. But I don’t wear “the female uniform”.
To be honest, you’ve got 1/4 of childbearing age women with a “friend” to deal with, and you’ve got at least half the women concerned about panty hose and other clothing stuff. Plus putting on makeup etc. which clogs up the restroom.
I have used a mens restroom on rare occasions, when I had to. I asked a guy to go in and check no one was using a urinal, and I used the stall. No problem. Better than peeing on the floor.
I do not agree that men can hold their urine longer; in fact, men have many more issues with urinary tract infections due to the length of the urethra. Also men over a certain age tend to have BPH making them more frequent.
I’d say clothing choices are one reason women’s rooms get filled up quicker, plus the idea of “all of us must go to the potty together”. Creepy, that.
Any male who has ambled up to the “trough” at halftime knows that we pay a dear price for speed. It’s a little like being on the “Maid of the Mist” and a raincoat would come in very handy.
rhandco, I’m not a doctor, but from everything I’ve read and in my personal experience, as well as what I’ve been told by doctors, it’s the opposite of what you’re saying: women have far more UTI’s, precisely because of their shorter urethra. I never had one in my entire life prior to my surgery, and have had more than one since, despite living many more years before than after. (Perhaps needless to say, that’s been a very small price to pay.)
I can’t address anything about older men – apparently I wasn’t old enough to have any problems prior to transition.
Edited to add citation:
It is fascinating to me there are two threads discussing toilet habits. Is anyone else surprised there is that much interest in the subject?
I’m learning a lot.
Re the Titanic:
“Joy, then. But the figures are awkward. As the Telegraph admits, in first class over a third of the men, almost all of the women and all the children survived. In second it was less than 10 per cent of the men, 84 per cent of the women and all the children. But in steerage 12 per cent of the men, 55 per cent of the women and less than one in three of the children survived. Interrogating the figures shows that - despite the strict “women and children first” policy - a greater proportion of first class men survived, than of third class children.”
Perhaps the steerage women were in line for the bathroom and that delayed their boarding of the life boats? :))
^^^Sure. Once you’re in that lifeboat, who knows when you’ll get the chance to go again?
Stress incontinence (particularly among mothers) and UTIs (and the accompanying urge incontinence) are more common among women than men at equivalent ages.
Source: My spouse used to work in the adult diaper ahem, disposable paper products industry.
This is exactly how I feel. I’m not trying to challenge why people might feel insulted by something I say or do, I’m trying to understand it and avoid doing it, because I like having positive interactions with people. I don’t want to be the jerk who doesn’t GAF what other people think. Living life seems so much nicer to me that way.
Re: bathrooms, my D’s college has a journal/blog thing and there was an article about the location and size of men’s v women’s restrooms in academic buildings and in fact the men had more of everything and in more convenient locations . It used to be a men’s school, though, so that may make sense. Still, unless someone points out that it’s making it difficult for women to get back to class or get to the next class, why would they ever make a change?
@OHMomof2 exactly my feeling … it is not hard for me to change my ways in order to make others feel better
re bathrooms, if this is a serious issue and already has all the documentation in place, your D should followup with the blog and maybe start a petition or something.
Really any bathroom can be made a ladies room by … well, changing the sign (a few pesky urinals, but we will live) … and it is not reasonable to have people travel several floors or cross an entire building … ADA may also make this case easier, if there are any women who require accommodations, a bathroom might be required. IF there are any single stall bathrooms, these should all be unisex with a lock (also accommodates trans-gendered or non-binary or shy bladder syndrome or whatever).
“Used to be a men’s school” excuse only lasts a few years tops, or really only until women make up say 20% of population.
I used to go to a festival at a county fairgrounds that drew vastly more women. After a couple of hours, women would just take over the men’s rooms! There would be lines for everyone, with the men on them looking a bit disgruntled. They should bring in port a potties for big events.
D’s a new frosh and I’m not sure she’s even read the article. But the situation (in 2014) was summed up in the article as:
“in the buildings of [1, 2, 3, 4] there are a total of 52 places for men to do their business (27 toilets and 25 urinals) and only 22 toilets for women. This is not to mention the difference in bathroom spaciousness or convenience.” She included photos and floorplan drawings, also added anecdotes about long lines and being late to classes. She also offered possible solutions, both interim (gender neutral, especially the single-stall ones) and long-term (renovation).
What is interesting to me and relevant to this discussion are all the comments on the article, many of which are anonymous and along the lines of “stop complaining”, “dumbest article ever”, and so on.
I have a friend who was in one of the first (or the first) classes at Bronx Science (a specialized high school in NYC) to include girls, back in the late 1960s. I recall her telling me that one of the excuses the school gave for delaying the implementation of co-education was “sorry, we can’t admit girls yet because there are no girls’ bathrooms in the school.” And it apparently worked for at least a year, ridiculous as it sounds.
And then it’s “Why should be put in girls’ bathrooms? We have no girls attending!”
Chicken and egg.
I’m joking.
This comedy skit explains this microaggression stuff quite well - funny: