Name: 性別友善廁所是什麼？又有什麼優缺點呢？（Should all Toilets be Gender Neutral?）
Uploaded: 2023-06-25T21:01:10.000Z
Duration: 5 min 10 s

Gender neutral toilets and the politics of it have seen a lot of discussion in recent years in the news media and online.

性別友善廁所議題近年來在新聞及網絡上都掀起一波討論。

But as someone who designs architectural spaces that have toilets,

作為設計建築空間（內含廁所）的人，

I wanted to find out the practicalities of designing gender neutral washrooms from a functional and design perspective.

我想從功能和設計角度來審視性別友善廁所的實際層面。

Is it practical to design a space with gender neutral toilets?

設立性別友善廁所是否真的實用？

And, what are the building code barriers that prevent us from doing so?

One of the primary benefits of gender neutral toilets is that anyone, regardless of gender, can use whatever washroom is available.

性別友善廁所的好處之一是無論性別，任何人都可以使用這間廁所。

But while many people think that gender neutral toilets only help trans people and other sexual minorities, there are actually many other benefits that can help everyone.

儘管許多人認為性別友善廁所只益於變性人和其他少數性別族群，它其實對大家好處多多。

One benefits is that it can eliminates situations where the women's washroom line up is out the door while the men's washroom is nearly empty or vice versa.

其中一個是，它可以消除男廁幾乎沒人，女廁卻大排長龍的情況，反之亦然。

Biologically - women require more time using the toilet than men - which often results in longer lines waiting to use the women's room.

從生理上來看，女性上廁所比男性耗時更久，這往往導致女廁排隊更長。

In addition, there are places like sports stadiums, or other public event spaces where sometimes the attendees are predominately one gender or the other.

此外，有些地方（如體育場或其它公共場地）有時會有參會者大部分都是一個性別的狀況。

And it's also possible for some workplace to have more of one gender than another.

一些工作場所也有可能出現這種情況。

I know I have definitely gone into the men's room when I just couldn't hold it anymore.

我實在忍不住的時候有進過男廁。

And if washrooms were gender neutral - this would alleviate a lot of unnecessary line ups.

性別友善廁所將會減少很多不必要的排隊，

The other benefit is that it allows parents who have opposite sex children to accompany their children into the washroom if they don't feel safe leaving them alone in a public space.

另一個好處是，如果異性子女的父母不放心將孩子單獨留在公共場所，就可以一起進去。

It also allows adults who are caregivers to opposite sex elderly or physically disabled relatives from accompanying that person into the washroom.

如此一來，年長者或身障者的異性照護者也可以陪同進入洗手間。

Some public spaces already provide family washrooms to mitigate this problem, but these facilities are still few and far between.

一些公共場所已有家庭廁所以緩解這一問題，但這些設施仍然不足。

And as some of you are probably aware - children, older adults, people with disabilities and people with illnesses are usually not the best at "just holding it in."

而正如大家知道的那樣，兒童、老年人、殘障人士和患者通常不是很擅長「憋著」。

The next benefit, from an architectural design perspective, is that gender neutral washrooms could be more efficient when it comes to space planning.

從建築設計角度來看，另一個好處是，性別友善廁所有利空間規劃。

Instead of having to provide two separate rooms, now we may only provide one,

不像現存的兩個獨立空間設計，現在只需提供一個就好，

potentially saving some areas in circulation, partition walls, and plumbing cavity spaces.

有助節省一些流通區域、隔牆和管道空腔空間。

This allows more room for the primary activity of the space and potentially saving the user in real-estate costs.

這些空間就能用於該場地主要用途，為使用者節省房地產成本。

Of course, it's also important to consider the potential drawbacks.

當然，考慮潛在弊端也很重要。

Many people - male, female, or gender non-conforming - are uncomfortable with going to the toilet close to other genders, due to various concerns relating to privacy, cultural preferences and safety.

由於與隱私、文化和安全相關擔憂，許多人（男性、女性或不透露）都不願意與其他性別共用廁所空間。

This is of course where the debate often gets heated, especially in comment sections.

當然，這也是辯論經常變得激烈之處，特別是在評論區。

I'm sure this one below will be no different.

As for my personal preference, based on the aforementioned history of running into men's rooms when I really gotta go, growing up in the rural regions of a developing country where most toilets looked like this.

至於我的個人偏好，基於剛剛提到的我如廁史，加上我在開發中國家農村長大，那裡大多數廁所都長這樣。

Actually thats probably one of the nicer ones.

And living in co-ed university dorms with unisex toilets for four years, I don't really care where I go as long as I get to go.

還有在男女混合的大學宿舍裡住了四年（沒分男女廁），只要有廁所上，我不太在乎其它的。

But - I understand that not everyone is like me and would prefer to have some other options.

但我明白，不是每個人都像我一樣，有人會希望有選擇。

One way to achieve this is to provide all three washroom options - male, female, and gender neutral.

實現這一目標的方法之一是提供三種選擇：男、女，以及性別友善廁所。

However - this really doesn't help with the whole "efficiency in space planning" approach.

然而，這又對空間規劃十分不利。

So the best option is to incorporate more single-user washrooms, or toilet stalls that are fully partitioned, and provide more privacy.

是以，最好的選擇是添設更多單人洗手間，以便是完全分區，並提供更多隱私。

Many local building codes already mandate a single-user universally accessible toilet room,

許多地方的建築法規已規定建築需設有獨立無障礙廁所。

which in this case can also double as toilet rooms for people who just prefer to do their business alone.

無障礙廁所同時也可供偏好在獨立空間如廁的人使用。

But this now leads us to the most tricky problem.

Is it even possible to make all the toilet facilities in an entire occupancy gender neutral even if you wanted to?

有可能讓整個場所的廁所都不分性別嗎？

Unfortunately - most places in North America don't make it very easy to implement non-gendered washrooms.

不幸的是，這在北美大多數地區都不太容易實現。

Codes vary depending on what state, province, or city you live in,

but most building codes actually require toilet rooms to be distinctively segregated and be clearly marked as either male for female.

但實際上，大多數建築準則都要求廁所要有明顯的區分，並明確標示出男、女廁。

In some cases, if your establishment (such as a small restaurant) is small enough to only have to provide one or two toilets, then those are generally permitted to be non-gendered.

某些情況下，如該場所（如小餐廳）小到只需要一或兩間廁所，通常可以不用分男女廁。

But for larger occupancies, usually the building codes require them to be planned based on separated male and female rooms.

但對於較大場所，通常建築規範會要求規劃男女分開的廁所。

So yes, until laws reform and building codes adapt, providing gender neutral toilets is going to require quite a bit of clever maneuvering around building codes in order to be implemented.

所以，沒錯，在法律改革和建築規範調整前，需要巧妙規避規定才能實施性別友善廁所。

So those are just my two cents, as a user and designer of washrooms.

以上只是我作為洗手間使用者和設計者的兩點意見。

Do you prefer to go to gendered or non-gender washrooms?

你喜歡有性別區分的洗手間還是沒有的？

Do you wish there were more private, full partitioned stalls?

你是否希望有更多私人、完全隔離的單間？

Are there other ways public toilets can be designed that will improve your toilet going experience?

是否有其它方法可設計公共廁所，改善如廁體驗？

If you enjoyed this video, here are some more you can check out.

如果喜歡這支影片，這裡還有其它影片可以看看。

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