In this episode, we're using toilets as a lens to explore feminism, trans and gender diverse inclusion. In parts of Australia, local councils have introduced trans bathroom bans. Australia's National Construction Code only specifies male and female facilities.
Gender diverse and trans people are forced to share toilets meant for people with a disability or compelled to use the wrong toilets. They face gender inequality that is made worse by other forms of discrimination. Meanwhile, women are still queueing, still doing caring work in bathrooms, still going without menstrual products and still using toilets as a sanctuary from male violence.
So how do we navigate this highly sensitive issue? We rewrote the regulations so nobody loses access and everyone gains.
In this episode, you'll learn:
Why toilets have become a flashpoint in the global culture war (and what North Carolina's bathroom bill cost the state in lost business)
What an "all gender" facility actually looks like, and why it doesn't take anything away from women
Why public toilets are civic infrastructure, and what happens when we stop investing in them
Guests:
Dr Sean Mulcahy, Research Fellow, Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society, La Trobe University
Professor Nicole Kalms, Department of Design and Founding Director of the XYX Lab, Monash University
Hosts:
Becky Batagol, Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, Monash University
Kate Seear, Professor, Deakin Law School, Deakin University
Take action today:
The book is free! The provisions are drafted. Take them to your parliament. Adapt them for another jurisdiction. Or start your own feminist legislation project.
Sean also raised evidence (from Morgenroth and colleagues in 2024) to suggest that opposition to inclusive sanitary facilities can be motivated by prejudicial attitudes towards trans people rather than concerns about women’s safety
Sean also referred to a study by Chaney and Sanchez in 2017 which showed that inclusive sanitary facilities are perceived to be safer by gender and racial minorities
On the idea of a radical redesign of toilets suggested by Nicole, this 2021 piece by Megan Tyler advocates for a rethinking and radical redesign of public toilets to genuinely foster inclusion and takes into account the inequalities that women and girls face around the world
