MMeM, Vol.12 Issue 13 – Gender Bender

Oh I’m sure it’s just me. But I ran across this story and I am just dumbfounded at this from so many angles. I guess my overall take about it is the old idiom of not seeing the forest for the trees?

Look, I know that in 2016 everyone in any semblance or position of assumed authority is tripping over themselves to show concern and compassion for anyone they deem to be downtrodden or oppressed. That can be good when it is truly needed.

Ok, so what we now have here are restrooms that are non-gender specific. This means that both men and women use the same restroom. The sign just tells you if there are urinals, stalls (stools), and then sinks with which to wash…hopefully.

Bill Mea, acting President of NYC University The Cooper Union, commented on his new initiative in part by saying, “I cannot change the outside world and how it treats transgender and gender-nonconforming people, but I can change the Cooper Union environment to help everyone feel safe when they are inside our buildings.”

However, in a situation such as this idea with gender neutral bathrooms did anyone ever consider how it might affect the majority? By majority I mean, the humans who were assigned a physical sex that aligns with their mental and emotional identity. How are those people supposed to feel then when they go to the bathroom with opposite sex people under this arrangement?

I think that they may feel, I don’t know, how do you say, oppressed? And gender-nonconforming is a thing? I remember baby showers being largely yellow and green when the parents to be didn’t find out what the sex of their baby was going to be, but this is ridiculous.