Equal but Separate? Gender, Culture, and the Social Organization of Public Space

• In Event: 365 - Section on Sociology of Culture Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 12. Symbolic Boundaries Research Network

Abstract

Over the last century, the decline of gender segregation has been one of the most striking transformations to the social organization of American public life. This shift has been documented in spheres ranging from the labor market to political participation, yet it persists in one major aspect of the built environment. While the physical separation of men’s and women’s restrooms is an omnipresent feature of American building construction, this configuration is neither natural nor inevitable. The very first public restrooms in the 19th century were unisex by design, and today, gender-neutral bathrooms are emerging in many universities, cultural institutions, and other public spaces. Using a multi-method approach I term an ethnography of ideational space, this project addresses three questions related to these issues. First, if social changes toward gender integration have been so sweeping, why do most public restrooms remain persistently gender-segregated? Second, if there are compelling reasons to maintain physical gender separation in public restrooms, what explains contemporary instances of restroom de-gendering? Third and finally, how can the existence of this paradox – that most public restrooms reproduce the gender binary while others challenge it – be explained?

Author

• Alexander Davis, Princeton University