The toilet debate

Stalling trans possibilities and defending 'women's protected spaces

Bibliographic Data

ID3426322
AuthorsCharlotte Jones (0000-0002-7348-4662, University of Exeter, corresponding author), Tig Slater (0000-0001-6739-7784, Sheffield Hallam University)
Year2020
Volume68
Issue4
Pages834-851
Publication date2020-07-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Sociological Review (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0038-0261 • E-ISSN: 1467-954X
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0038026120934697
OpenAlexW3036404624
LanguageEN
Citations received63
References cited23

As one of the few explicitly gender-separated spaces, the toilet has become a prominent site of conflict and a focal point for 'gender-critical' feminism. In this article we draw upon an AHRC-funded project, Around the Toilet, to reflect upon and critique trans-exclusionary and trans-hostile narratives of toilet spaces. Such narratives include ciscentric, heteronormative and gender essentialist positions within toilet research and activism which, for example, equate certain actions and bodily functions (such as menstruation) to a particular gender, decry the need for all-gender toilets, and cast suspicion upon the intentions of trans women in public toilet spaces. These include explicitly transmisogynist discourses perpetuated largely by those calling themselves 'gender-critical' feminists, but also extend to national media, right-wing populist discourses and beyond. We use Around the Toilet data to argue that access to safe and comfortable toilets plays a fundamental role in making trans lives possible. Furthermore, we contend that - whether naive, ignorant or explicitly transphobic - trans-exclusionary positions do little to improve toilet access for the majority, instead putting trans people, and others with visible markers of gender difference, at a greater risk of violence, and participating in the dangerous homogenisation of womanhood

Essentialism · Feminism · Narrative · Sociology · Toilet · Feminism, Gender, and Sexuality Studies · Gender Roles and Identity Studies · Gender Studies · Historical Studies on Reproduction, Gender, Health, and Societal Changes

Tools

Open DOIOpen Access