Toilet: Public Restrooms and the Politics of Sharing (NYU Series in Social and Cultural Analysis, 1)

View "Public Restrooms" A Photo Gallery in The Atlantic Monthly. So much happens in the public toilet that we never talk about. Finding the right door, waiting in line, and using the facilities are often undertaken with trepidation. Don't touch anything. Try not to smell. Avoid eye contact. And for men, don't look down or let your eyes stray. Even washing one's hands are tied to anxieties of disgust and humiliation. And yet other things also happen in these spaces: babies are changed, conversations are had, make-up is applied, and notes are scrawled for posterity. Beyond these private issues, there are also real public concerns: problems of public access, ecological waste, and--in many parts of the world--sanitation crises. At public events, why are women constantly waiting in long lines but not men? Where do the homeless go when cities decide to close public sites? Should bathrooms become standardized to accommodate the disabled? Is it possible to create a unisex bathroom for transgendered people? In Toilet , noted sociologist Harvey Molotch and Laura Nor�n bring together twelve essays by urbanists, historians and cultural analysts (among others) to shed light on the public restroom. These noted scholars offer an assessment of our historical and contemporary practices, showing us the intricate mechanisms through which even the physical design of restrooms--the configurations of stalls, the number of urinals, the placement of sinks, and the continuing segregation of women's and men's bathrooms--reflect and sustain our cultural attitudes towards gender, class, and disability. Based on a broad range of conceptual, political, and down-to-earth viewpoints, the original essays in this volume show how the bathroom--as a practical matter--reveals competing visions of pollution, danger and distinction. Although what happens in the toilet usually stays in the toilet, this brilliant, revelatory, and often funny book aims to bring it all out into the open, proving that profound and meaningful history can be made even in the can. Contributors: Ruth Barcan, Irus Braverman, Mary Ann Case, Olga Gershenson, Clara Greed, Zena Kamash, Terry Kogan, Harvey Molotch, Laura Nor�n, Barbara Penner, Brian Reynolds, and David Serlin. View "Public Restrooms": A Photo Gallery in The Atlantic Monthly.So much happens in the public toilet that we never talk about. Finding the right door, waiting in line, and using the facilities are often undertaken with trepidation. Don't touch anything. Try not to smell. Avoid eye contact. And for men, don't look down or let your eyes stray. Even washing one's hands are tied to anxieties of disgust and humiliation. And yet other things also happen in these spaces: babies are changed, conversations are had, make-up is applied, and notes are scrawled for posterity.Beyond these private issues, there are also real public concerns: problems of public access, ecological waste, and--in many parts of the world--sanitation crises. At public events, why are women constantly waiting in long lines but not men? Where do the homeless go when cities decide to close public sites? Should bathrooms become standardized to accommodate the disabled? Is it possible to create a unisex bathroom for transgendered people?In Toilet, noted sociologist Harvey Molotch and Laura Norén bring together twelve essays by urbanists, historians and cultural analysts (among others) to shed light on the public restroom. These noted scholars offer an assessment of our historical and contemporary practices, showing us the intricate mechanisms through which even the physical design of restrooms--the configurations of stalls, the number of urinals, the placement of sinks, and the continuing segregation of women's and men's bathrooms--reflect and sustain our cultural attitudes towards gender, class, and disability. Based on a broad range of conceptual, political, and down-to-earth viewpoints, the original essays in this volume show how the bathroom--as a practical matter--reveals competing visions of pollution, danger and distinction.Although what happens in the toilet usually stays in the toilet, this brilliant, revelatory, and often funny book aims to bring it all out into the open, proving that profound and meaningful history can be made even in the can.Contributors: Ruth Barcan, Irus Braverman, Mary Ann Case, Olga Gershenson, Clara Greed, Zena Kamash,Terry Kogan, Harvey Molotch, Laura Norén, Barbara Penner, Brian Reynolds, and David Serlin A sociological study of public restrooms So much happens in the public toilet that we never talk about. Finding the right door, waiting in line, and using the facilities are often undertaken with trepidation. Don’t touch anything. Try not to smell. Avoid eye contact. And for men, don’t look down or let your eyes stray. Even washing one’s hands are tied to anxieties of disgust and humiliation. And yet other things also happen in these spaces: babies are changed, conversations are had, make-up is applied, and notes are scrawled for posterity. Beyond these private issues, there are also real public concerns: problems of public access, ecological waste, and—in many parts of the world—sanitation crises. At public events, why are women constantly waiting in long lines but not men? Where do the homeless go when cities decide to close public sites? Should bathrooms become standardized to accommodate the disabled? Is it possible to create a unisex bathroom for transgendered people? In Toilet, noted sociologist Harvey Molotch and Laura Norén bring together twelve essays by urbanists, historians and cultural analysts (among others) to shed light on the public restroom. These noted scholars offer an assessment of our historical and contemporary practices, showing us the intricate mechanisms through which even the physical design of restrooms—the configurations of stalls, the number of urinals, the placement of sinks, and the continuing segregation of women’s and men’s bathrooms—reflect and sustain our cultural attitudes towards gender, class, and disability. Based on a broad range of conceptual, political, and down-to-earth viewpoints, the original essays in this volume show how the bathroom—as a practical matter—reveals competing visions of pollution, danger and distinction. Although what happens in the toilet usually stays in the toilet, this brilliant, revelatory, and often funny book aims to bring it all out into the open, proving that profound and meaningful history can be made even in the can. Contributors: Ruth Barcan, Irus Braverman, Mary Ann Case, Olga Gershenson, Clara Greed, Zena Kamash,Terry Kogan, Harvey Molotch, Laura Norén, Barbara Penner, Brian Reynolds, and David Serlin. In Toilet, Noted Sociologist Harvey Molotch And Lauren Noren Bring Together Twelve Essays By Urbanists, Historians And Cultural Analysts (among Others) To Shed Light On The Public Restroom And How It Reflects And Sustains Our Cultural Attitudes Towards Gender, Class, And Disability. Introduction: Learning From The Loo / Harvey Molotch -- Rest Stop : Russell Sage Foundation -- Living In The Loo: Dirty Spaces : Separation, Concealment, And Shame In The Public Toilet / Ruth Barcan -- Rest Stop : Erotic At Harvard / Bryan Reynolds -- Which Way To Look? : Exploring Latrine Use In The Roman World / Zena Kamash -- Rest Stop : Judgmental Urinals -- Potty Training : Nonhuman Inspection In Publish Washrooms / Irus Braverman -- Rest Stop : Time Square Control -- Who Gets To Go: Only Dogs Are Free To Pee : New York Cabbies' Search For Civility / Laura Noren -- Rest Stop : Trucker Bomb -- Creating A Nonsexist Restroom / Clara Greed -- Rest Stop : A Woman's Restroom Reflection -- Sex Separation : The Cure-all For Victorian Social Anxiety / Terry S. Kogan -- Rest Stop : Mit's Infinite Corridor, Now Shorter For Women -- Pissing Without Pity : Disability, Gender And The Public Toilet / David Serlin -- Rest Stop : Flirting With The Boundary -- Building In The Future: The Restroom Revolution : Unisex Toilets And Campus Politics / Olga Gershenson -- Rest Stop : Thai Students Get Transsexual Toilet / Jonathan Head -- Why Not Abolish Laws Of Urinary Segregation? / Mary Anne Case -- Rest Stop : Menstrual Dilemma -- Entangled With A User : Inside Bathrooms With Alexander Kira And Peter Greenaway / Barbara Penner -- Rest Stop : Toilet Bloom At Bryant Park -- On Not Making History : What Nyu Did With The Toilet And What It Means For The World / Harvey Molotch. Edited By Harvey Molotch And Laura Norén. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. So much happens in the public toilet that we never talk about. Finding the right door, waiting in line, and using the facilities are often undertaken with trepidation. Don't touch anything. Try not to smell. Avoid eye contact. And for men, don't look down or let your eyes stray. Even washing one's hands are tied to anxieties of disgust and humiliation. And yet other things also happen in these spaces: babies are changed, conversations are had, make-up is applied, and notes are scrawled for posterity. Beyond these private issues, there are also real public concerns: problems of public access, ecological waste, and - in many parts of the world - sanitation crises. At public events, why are women constantly waiting in long lines but not men? Where do the homeless go when cities decide to close public sites? Should bathrooms become standardized to accommodate the disabled? Is it possible to create a unisex bathroom for transgendered people? In Toilet, noted sociologist Harvey Molotch and Lauren Noren bring together twelve essays by urbanists, historians and cultural analysts (among others) to shed light on the public restroom. These noted scholars offer an assessment of our historical and contemporary practices, showing us the intricate mechanisms through which even the physical design of restrooms - the configurations of stalls, the number of urinals, the placement of sinks, and the continuing segregation of women's and men's bathrooms - reflect and sustain our cultural attitudes towards gender, class, and disability. Based on a broad range of conceptual, political, and down-to-earth viewpoints, the original essays in this volume show how the bathroom - as a practical matter - reveals competing visions of pollution, danger and distinction Whether we acknowledge it or not, restroom arrangements--the norms, rules, ritual, and habits we follow--are a unique an definitive expression of our culture and its politics. Public toilets order and display our priorities as biological necessity meets up with sexuality, gender and diverse issues of disability, access, and inequality. Toilet illuminates the public restroom right down to how the mechanisms of design detail--the configurations of stalls, sinks, and doors--reflect and sustain social practice. Beyond our own personal experiences of using the bathroom, the book reveals the larger issues at stake: public health, city development, and ecological pollution. Because so much of what happens in the toilet stays in the toilet, secrecy, shame, and irresponsibility can flourish. Toilet puts it all in the open, confronting larger truths and aiming for a higher intelligence in the stalls. -- Back cover In a series of essays, several noted thinkers explain how historical and contemporary design of public restrooms reflects cultural attitudes towards gender, class and disability. Simultaneous. Hardcover available.