Introduction
As seen throughout American history, public restrooms have been a haven for the discrimination towards indivuals – seen as less than the white, cis men – by society and the architecture of the public realm. Through our research, we aim to identify how the evolution of the United States’ public restroom has formed into what it is today. We cover how these changes were motivated by necessity, and when it became more focused on the aesthetic. Our research also analyzes how public restrooms contributed to the social construction of society; with the segregation of man and women, and the depictions of what ladies were expected to be within society: private, domesticated, moral, and weak. We identify the inequality that arises from the design of the toilet; the design was made for men then adapted to work for women. It is still seen today, insufficient restrooms for women, not to mention, individuals with disabilities, low economic status, who are tansgender, or people who don’t identify with the socially constructed idea of gender. We also recognize political events that have impacted the development, including activist movements, legislation, and the war.
Individual Research
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Movement Towards Public Restrooms
In the early 20th century, complaints about the lack of access to public restrooms is what ignited people to urge installation of toilets in cities around the United States. In an effort to gain public restrooms in cities, specifically in growing industrial regions such as the Northeast and Midwest, “comfort stations” competed with “washrooms” that resided in saloons. However, after Prohibition in the 1920’s the demand for comfort stations began to die down, but people now had to rely on restrooms in privately owned businesses. This affected those who lived in urban areas the most as these cities were filled with poorer people who didn’t have the same access to restrooms as wealthier people. This created sanitation and health issues as people had to rely on the streets as a restroom since they did not have access to public restrooms.
19th Century Restrooms’ Influence On Gender Segregation and Inequality
Once women were allowed into the workforce, there was a huge shift in the public realm of the United States. This change influenced the segregation of gender, race, and ability within society. It also fueled a lot of social anxiety that continued to push women into a domestic, private lifestyle, through architecture. Inequality rose from the divide, and women were not provided with the equivalent resources, to men, needed in their public restrooms. We can see the effects of it still today; women are constantly stuck in lines when they try to use the public restroom, but men, most times than not, experience no line at all.
Evolution of Bathrooms
Cholera, a waterborne disease originally began spreading in the 19th century, reaching the United States in 1826. The impact of the cholera outbreak created a significant concern for public safety and hygiene around the world. The rise of the Industrial Revolution led to an increase of population that lived closely together. Because of this, the previously common ways of disposing excreta would no longer work, and people needed clean sewage and drainage systems. Thus, The Health of Towns Association was founded and improvements to drainage and sewerage were seen as an essential part of urban planning for disease prevention. In the following years, The Artisans’ and Labourers’ Dwellings Improvements Act (the Torrens Act) further strengthened government regulations. The use of the sewage system transformed American bathrooms; and toilets that were once decorated bowls, became physical furniture that was connected to the sewage system below the house.
Map
This map identifies the location of important places, within the United States, that impacted public restrooms by influence, advocacy, legislation, and more.
Timeline
This timeline identifies how the United States’ public restrooms have changed overtime. It also includes moments in history that have influenced its evolution like legislation, social advocating, and natural/human caused disasters.
Great job with your homepage! It is captivating, clear, and very well done. You provided an interesting take on the social justice aspects of the toilet throughout history, especially those of women and the poor. Well done!
This is a great webpage! The topic is interesting and keeps the readers attention, and everything is written clearly and concisely. I really appreciate how you tied in how bathrooms were used as tools for segregation among women, and people of different races. Great job!
Your timeline has a very nice layout and color scheme creating consistency as well as photo consistency keeping with a sepia/B&W scheme.
Very cohesive webpage! The layout is very simple and concise. I understood everything completely and the way its organized makes total sense. It was interesting to learn about the impact of political environment and social revolutions. The paragraphs do a great job in explaining how much it impacted certain groups of people. Great work!
This page has a great format. There is a nice mix of text and images, and I enjoyed interacting with the map of important public restrooms within the United States.
In addition to legislation, social advocating, and natural/human-caused disasters in the United States history, it might be interesting to look at how population growth and the increase of food consumption have stressed antiquated plumbing systems in many American cities. I just finished the book “The Story of More. How We Got to Climate Change and Where to Go from Here.” By Hope Jahren and there was a really interesting chapter on how our food consumption has grown over time and how sewage systems haven’t been updated to keep up with our waste. Only consider this if you are looking for another angle – I think what you have already is thorough and intriguing!