Women differ from men. Carol Reiley mentioned in her blog post titled When Bias in Product Design Means Life or Death that “female drivers are 47% more likely to be seriously injured in a car crash” because seat belts were historically designed to be safe for men and thus unsafe for women. When it comes to our everyday lives, I believe we need more women’s restrooms. In an article titled the everyday sexism of women waiting in public toilet line, Soraya Chemaly wrote that “long lines for women’s restrooms are the results of a history that favors men’s bodies.” She said,
Women need to use bathrooms more often and for longer periods of time because: we sit to urinate (urinals effectively double the space in men’s rooms), we menstruate, we are responsible for reproducing the species (which makes us pee more), we continue to have greater responsibility for children (who have to use bathrooms with us), and we breastfeed (frequently in grotty bathroom stalls). Additionally, women tend to wear more binding and cumbersome clothes, whereas men’s clothing provides significantly speedier access. But in a classic example of the difference between surface “equality” and genuine equity, many public restrooms continue to be facilities that are equal in physical space, while favoring men’s bodies, experiences, and needs.
Although I cannot agree with her more, this issue has not been well addressed in most public spaces. Fortunately, I recently found a women-friendly building located in Seoul. It is Stradeum, the building exclusively dedicated to sound-sensitive music lovers. In this building, visitors enjoy listening to a wide variety of music using hand-held devices or stand-alone speakers manufactured by Astell & Kern. This building installed three women’s restrooms and one men’s restroom and, this is probably why there is no line in front of both restrooms.