I'm a female, so I always wait in line to use the bathroom.

我是女生，所以每次上廁所都要排隊。

(all talking)

(所有人一起講話)

Ahhh.

啊……

(crickets)

(蟋蟀聲)

For a typical busy bathroom, women have to wait about 34 times as long as men.

以一個很多人使用的廁所而言，女性要等的時間是男性的 34 倍。

But, contrary to some stereotypes, it's not because they're busy chitchatting or reapplying their makeup inside.

不過不同與大眾的認知，她們並非在裡頭忙著閒聊、補妝。

So then why is there always a line for the women's restroom?

所以到底為什麼女廁都會排隊？

Women spend as much as twice as long in the bathroom as men, and that's because they menstruate, they have more layers of clothes to remove, they always have to enter a stall.

女性上廁所需要的時間是男性的兩倍，這是因為她們有生理期、有比較多層衣物要處理、而且每次都要進隔間。

And they're far more likely to have kids or elderly people with them.

而且更可能是和小孩或長者同行。

But these are just contributing factors to a much larger problem.

不過這些只是大問題其中的一些因素。

Well, in most of the building stock, there are fewer fixtures for women than there are for men.

在大多數建築中，給女性使用的設備少於給男性使用的。

That's Kathryn Anthony, a professor of architecture at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

這位是 Kathryn Anthony，伊利諾大學厄巴納－香檳分校的建築教授。

It is definitely a subtle, but very powerful, form of gender discrimination.

這無疑是一種隱晦的 —— 卻強而有力的 —— 性別歧視。

No question about that, it is plain and simple.

毋庸置疑，說來就是這麼回事。

There's no disguising it.

沒什麼好遮掩的。

She says that in many buildings, the men's and women's rooms are the same size, but because urinals take up less space, men's rooms have more toilets, which contributes to less waiting time for men.

她說在許多建築中，男廁和女廁的空間大小一樣，但由於小便斗所需的空間較小，男廁就有比較多的便器，也因此男性等廁所的時間比較短。

To figure out just how much less, queuing theorists at Ghent University developed a model.

不過究竟多短，根特大學的排隊理論學者開發了一個樣本。

First, they considered bathrooms that were the same size where men have 12 toilets and women have just 10.

首先他們假設兩間大小相同的廁所，其中男廁有 12 個便器，女廁只有 10 個。

Then, they accounted for the time spent per bathroom visit for women and men and the speed of traffic.

然後計算男性和女性在廁所中待的時間長短，以及人流速度。

The model showed that if someone arrives every five seconds, on average, women will wait more than six minutes while men will wait just 11 seconds.

樣本顯示假使每 5 秒就有一個人來上廁所，平均而言，女性需要等 6 分鐘以上，男性則只需要等 11 秒。

So then what would a better toilet ratio be?

所以廁所比例應該多少會比較好？

I would say the ratio should be well more than 1 to 1.

我想最好是大於 1 比 1。

She's right.

她說得對。

According to this model, the women's room should have at least 50% more toilets than the men's room, as they show here.

根據這份樣本，女廁應該至少比男廁多 50% 的空間，如圖所示。

Only then would men and women have nearly equal wait times.

如此一來男性和女性排廁所的時間才會幾乎一樣。

Now, the US is getting closer to this target thanks to the so-called "potty parity" movement.

話說回來，歸功於廁所平權運動，美國的確在朝向這個目標前進。

It took off in 1987 when a California state senator went to a Tchaikovsky concert at the Hollywood Bowl.

這項運動始於 1987 年，當時一位加州參議院議員去好萊塢露天劇場參加一場柴可夫斯基音樂會。

There, he waited for more than half an hour for his wife to use the bathroom.

他在那裡等他妻子上廁所等了超過半個小時。

He realized just how long it took for her, and that was unfair.

他意識到他妻子上廁所需要耗費多少時間，對此感到不公。

She complained, and he complained and said, "wait a minute, this isn't right."

她抱怨了，他也抱怨道： 「等等，事情不該如此。」

Soon after, he introduced a bill to the California Senate, which demanded more toilets for women in large, new public buildings.

不久後他向加州參議院提出一項法案，籲求新的大型公共建設中都應該設有更多的女用廁所。

That started a wave of legislation across some states and also cities and municipalities.

這激發了各州、各城市及各自治區的相關立法。

At least 21 states and several cities have since passed potty-parity policies.

自那時起至少有 21 個州及各城市通過了廁所平權政策。

In 2005, for example, New York City passed legislation that requires a 2-to-1 toilet ratio in places of public assembly, such as baseball stadiums.

舉例來說在 2005 年，紐約市通過立法要求公共集會場所的男女廁比例應為 2 比 1，比如棒球場就涵蓋在內。

But here's the thing: Even where these laws exist, you still find long lines for the women's room.

不過問題來了：即便有了這些規定，女廁還是照樣大排長龍。

And that's because they apply only to buildings that are new or undergoing major renovations, which leaves thousands of older buildings, such as theaters, with too few toilets for women.

這是因為這些規定儘使用於新的或是營建中的大型更新建設，因此上千棟舊建築中的女廁還是不夠多，比如劇院。

Sure, it's a hassle to wait, but that's not the only problem.

沒錯，排廁所很麻煩，不夠問題不止如此。

Long term, it can actually affect your health.

長期來說這其實會影響你的健康。

A lot of women can end up with urinary tract infections and other kinds of health issues.

許多女性可能因此尿道感染或是有其他健康問題。

So, what can be done?

所以，該如何解決？

Aside from waiting for renovations or new construction, there's a new trend: gender-neutral bathrooms.

除了等待改建或是新建設，還有個新趨勢：無性別廁所。

That's a way to alleviate the problem of potty parity altogether, so either nobody waits or everybody waits, but you don't have one group waiting more than another.

這就沒有廁所平權的問題了，如此一來要嘛人人都不用等或是人人都要等，不會有哪一方比另一方等更多時間。

And let's be real.

而且說實在。

Women are already using the men's room.

女性早就在用男廁了。

If the line in the women's room is too long, I will never hesitate to go to the men's room.

如果女廁排太長，我毫無猶豫會直接去男廁。

I probably go to the men's room a couple times a year when it's a dire situation.

情況真的太恐怖的時候，我一年之中或許有幾次會去男廁。

I will literally go in the men's bathroom probably more than I will go in the women's bathroom in New York.

在紐約我進去過的男廁大概都多於我去過的女廁。

I also use the men's room a lot when I'm waiting.

與其排隊等待，我更常選擇使用男廁。

Because, well, we all know the alternative is a lot worse.

因為啊，我們都知道不這樣做只會更糟。