N.Y. Council Weighs 'Potty Parity' Bill
NEW YORK - Potty parity. Squatters rights. Go ahead, make fun of the fact that several City Council members introduced a bill Wednesday to have more restrooms set aside for women than men in most buildings.
To women — and one male law professor dubbed "the father of potty parity" — it's a matter of gender equity.
"Women need more restroom facilities simply because women take longer," said John F. Banzhaf III, a public interest law professor at George Washington University Law School during a telephone interview Wednesday.
Banzhaf, who was dubbed the "father of potty parity" for filing several court complaints — including the first one on the federal level — wrote recently that these legal cases show that women are standing up for their rights "even if they can't stand up while exercising those rights."
"We would never tolerate a system where women would routinely have to wait five times longer than men to have their blood tested, even if men's and women's blood were tested for different things," Banzhaf argues. "And we shouldn't tolerate a system where women routinely are forced to wait five or more times longer than men to perform a basic and necessary personal function."
So why might women take longer in the bathroom? Because they often have small children to tend to, they wear more clothes, and, as Councilwoman Yvette Clarke put it, there's that anatomical difference.
"We don't have the same type of equipment that men have," said Clarke, one of the main sponsors of the "Restroom Equity Bill."
And women don't use urinals, said Banzhaf, another reason why men can zip in and zip out of restrooms.
Still laughing? You should stop now, Banzhaf said.
"I think the courts are recognizing that restroom facilities are an essential important service," he said.
According to Clarke, similar bills have been adopted in at least 12 states and cities like Pittsburgh and St. Paul, Minn. The uniform plumbing code and the international plumbing code require that more "elimination facilities" be provided for women than men, Banzhaf added.
In most of the states and cities with potty parity laws in place, the ratio is two women's restrooms to one men's room. The bill before the City Council follows that ratio.
Women, of course, are staunch supporters of the bill. Cara Upton of Manhattan said she often would avoid drinking anything when she went to a concert or sporting event just to avoid the long bathroom line.
"I've even resorted going to the men's room when I couldn't wait any longer," said Upton, a "violation" Clarke said she had committed herself.
But most men were not taking potty parity as seriously as Banzhaf.
"The reason women take so long in there is because they're primping," said Jerry McWhorter of Manhattan. "And won't it cost a lot of money to put more bathrooms in?"
Cost is not a defense, said Banzhaf. In most facilities, all that has to be done is change the sign on the restroom door, taking away some men's bathrooms and assigning them to women, he said.
That is currently underway at City Hall, the landmark building where Clarke works.
The bill would apply to arenas, auditoriums, drinking places, meeting halls, theaters, public dance halls and stadiums. New facilities and buildings undergoing substantial renovations would have to comply to the 2:1 ratio. And other buildings would be required to adhere to the ratio as best possible.
Clarke said the bill is a win-win situation for men and women.
"Men won't have to stand there and hold all our packages while we are waiting in line for the bathroom," she said.
NEW YORK - Potty parity. Squatters rights. Go ahead, make fun of the fact that several City Council members introduced a bill Wednesday to have more restrooms set aside for women than men in most buildings.
To women — and one male law professor dubbed "the father of potty parity" — it's a matter of gender equity.
"Women need more restroom facilities simply because women take longer," said John F. Banzhaf III, a public interest law professor at George Washington University Law School during a telephone interview Wednesday.
Banzhaf, who was dubbed the "father of potty parity" for filing several court complaints — including the first one on the federal level — wrote recently that these legal cases show that women are standing up for their rights "even if they can't stand up while exercising those rights."
"We would never tolerate a system where women would routinely have to wait five times longer than men to have their blood tested, even if men's and women's blood were tested for different things," Banzhaf argues. "And we shouldn't tolerate a system where women routinely are forced to wait five or more times longer than men to perform a basic and necessary personal function."
So why might women take longer in the bathroom? Because they often have small children to tend to, they wear more clothes, and, as Councilwoman Yvette Clarke put it, there's that anatomical difference.
"We don't have the same type of equipment that men have," said Clarke, one of the main sponsors of the "Restroom Equity Bill."
And women don't use urinals, said Banzhaf, another reason why men can zip in and zip out of restrooms.
Still laughing? You should stop now, Banzhaf said.
"I think the courts are recognizing that restroom facilities are an essential important service," he said.
According to Clarke, similar bills have been adopted in at least 12 states and cities like Pittsburgh and St. Paul, Minn. The uniform plumbing code and the international plumbing code require that more "elimination facilities" be provided for women than men, Banzhaf added.
In most of the states and cities with potty parity laws in place, the ratio is two women's restrooms to one men's room. The bill before the City Council follows that ratio.
Women, of course, are staunch supporters of the bill. Cara Upton of Manhattan said she often would avoid drinking anything when she went to a concert or sporting event just to avoid the long bathroom line.
"I've even resorted going to the men's room when I couldn't wait any longer," said Upton, a "violation" Clarke said she had committed herself.
But most men were not taking potty parity as seriously as Banzhaf.
"The reason women take so long in there is because they're primping," said Jerry McWhorter of Manhattan. "And won't it cost a lot of money to put more bathrooms in?"
Cost is not a defense, said Banzhaf. In most facilities, all that has to be done is change the sign on the restroom door, taking away some men's bathrooms and assigning them to women, he said.
That is currently underway at City Hall, the landmark building where Clarke works.
The bill would apply to arenas, auditoriums, drinking places, meeting halls, theaters, public dance halls and stadiums. New facilities and buildings undergoing substantial renovations would have to comply to the 2:1 ratio. And other buildings would be required to adhere to the ratio as best possible.
Clarke said the bill is a win-win situation for men and women.
"Men won't have to stand there and hold all our packages while we are waiting in line for the bathroom," she said.
what a way with words...
You're not supposed to stink up a public bathroom. Didn't you get your Chick Handbook?
but we have 20 minutes before Christy and the Friday Night Losers show up..
from