Sexism in the Bathroom Debates: How Bathrooms Really Became Separated by Sex

Abstract

This Article challenges two widely-embraced theories about how public intimate spaces (e.g, toilets, locker rooms, showers, etc. hereinafter called "bathrooms') first became separated by sex. The first challenged theory claims that the very first instance of sex-separation in public bathrooms occurred in 1739 at a ball held at a restaurant in Paris. Under this first view, sex-separation first emerged as a sign of upper-class gentility and elitism.