Yellow Spot by elisa otanez

Yellow Spot

Elisa Otáñez

‘‘ We must realize that continuing inequality at the toilet reflects this male-dominated society's hostility to our presence outside of the home. This hostility is often most apparent in public settings that traditionally have been closed to women. Women need to start measuring their degree of equality by public toilets.’’ — Taunya, Lovell Banks ‘‘Toilets as a Feminist Issue: A True Story’’

CONTENTS Abstract Introduction

1 2

A Peeing Dérive: A quest of women using public toilets

Public toilets in cities: The politics of gender in space Women’s body and the public toilet In the city’s arena, men are deciding for women Women need to join the peeing conversation What has been done before?

Men’s urinals: Women as the ‘‘add-ons’’ The struggle for women’s toilets is nearly half a century old Women’s body and the public toilet

Peeing in open areas: The politicization of the female body The margin: Challenging the boundaries of public peeing What has been done before?

Peeing in private busineses The more ‘private’ toilet but still public Let’s get physical: The reason for queues in women’s toilets What has been done before?

The power of communities in the production of space What has been done before?

Disruptive toilets: Design conclusion

Acknowledgements

Bibliography

Abstract

Now that women have joined the workforce and perform in public space, why are toilets still a public good mostly accessible to men? The unequal access to public toilets could be an opportunity to redefine and reposition a different approach to using the traditional public toilet in cities, making it inclusive for others -like women- by focusing in solving physiological needs of users rather than gender focused. This thesis focuses on the current unequal access to public toilets between different genders presenting the obstacles that women confront and some of the design opportunities that can be embraced.

Note: When I use the term toilet or bathroom in, I use it to refer to public sanitation facilities found outside the private sphere and homes: usually found in train and bus stations, restaurants, bars, schools and universities, airports, working places, gasoline stations, department stores and shopping malls, theaters, in streets and public facilities.

ABSTRACT

Public toilets are artifacts through which people are acknowledged as valid citizens, but most importantly, as valid human beings since they recognize the dignity of bodies. Currently, there is a lack of public toilets for women globally which reflects a variety of cultural issues and gender inequalities. Women should not negotiate and juggle with factors foreign to them when it comes to covering a basic human need: not having access to public toilets or being presented with a set of conditions that they didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t agree on -like having to pay to use toilets or having to make long queues- is a form of coercion, segregation, and discrimination from public space. Peeing should not be tied to restrictions: the fact that women and men have physical differences should not be the cause of unequal availability and access to public toilets.

Introduction Toilets are where the continuity of life is located. Lacking public toilets in cities is clearly missing one of the most important components of being in public since; after all, they are the links that connect every other activity, urban and otherwise. 1 Simone De Beauvoir said that one is not born a woman, but rather becomes one, that women are formed by the elements that a culture or society is made by, hence they create themselves through social constructs. 2 The very concept of ‘woman’, de Beauvoir argues, is a male concept: woman is always ‘other’ because the male is the ‘seer’: he is the subject and she the object –the meaning of what it is to be a woman is given by men. 3 Consequently, De Beauvoir’s ideas can be applied to the city. When public toilets for women are missing, this lack functions as the element through which women see themselves reflected and later created. The lack of toilets is the reminder that they are women and of the inequality that they still undergo. Ultimately the public toilet represents a vehicle of citizenship and human recognition that, by its presence or absence, determines if women are acknowledged. Acknowledging women’s bodies in public space is also conceived through words and language. According to Dr. Mithu Sanyal, ‘‘language is connected to our perception of the world. What we can't name, we can't talk about, and ultimately, can't think about.’’ 4. Remarkably, some toilet talk is needed. Toilets have brought civilization to many places, being them the measure to determine the progress of a place or city. Planning a cultured and civilized city where people are active

participants in the public space implies recognizing their biological needs with proper sanitation facilities. But what happens when public toilets are only available for half of its population? This research project which looks at the poor access to public toilets women face will be told through a Dérive of Peeing in cities set forth by real women’s experiences. These small narratives that help portray feminist themes from a spatial perspective show the relevance of problematizing around public access to toilets demonstrating that women are not satisfied with their role in public. The Dérives open a door and trace a path to discuss topics of unequal access to public space between women and men, how women are ‘add-ons’ in a male designed city and aspects of alienation by men. This project is initially inspired on the portable public urinals for men in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, a toilet for men that is placed by the municipality around the city. Through deconstructing this artifact and observing the conditions it brought it there, it is recognized that even though this toilet solution for men is very effective and practical, it does not acknowledge that it leaves out half of the city’s population: women are also part of the public space and are also in need for public facilities. Even though this context of the research focuses mainly in Eindhoven and other cities in The Netherlands, this problem is not an exception to other western cultures. So, ultimately, I will propose a possible design landscape that would make a city more inclusive of women and hopefully, this project can be used as a design case study that could be replicable by designer or citizens in other places where the same issue persists.

Note:

I will mostly focus on women and only peeing since pooping can be postponed with less urgency. Acknowledging that there are many issues to solve regarding gender inequality in public space, this project mostly deals with the female aspects of gender. The context of this thesis hopefully will leave an open gate for others to get involved in including more groups in need like transgender, children, elderly people, disabled people, etc. Approaching the issue through a heterosexual perspective is not a reason for other non-heterosexual groups to not be considered. In a well-designed city, toilet solutions should be thought for the general population. In this context, this thesis focuses on the first next bigger group in need of toilets, women. Hopefully, this design and research exploration will open paths for other designers and citizens to come up with solutions to the next groups in need.

A Peeing Dérive: A quest of women using public toilets There are many women that have wandered around cities, but most of what has been historically documented have been stories of men. The ‘Flâneur’ were the men that wandered cities while making them their own, claiming them one step at a time. But there were many women doing this as well. Virginia Woolf describes in her essay Street Haunting: A London Adventure, her fascinating experience in the city during a mundane quest to go buy a pencil. 5 These stories of women and their ‘street haunting’ are relevant because they reveal what the city has for them and how they relate to it. In the case of this research, it is necessary to have stories of women that reveal their peeing experiences; being this a strategy to bring to life and materialize in words what they think about peeing in public and have never said before. This thesis will come in the form of a Peeing Dérive: a journey and trajectory of women using public toilets in cities. How can these stories be articulated together from a spoken language and put into paper to visualize more concretely what they are experiencing? And how can this fuse with theory? To design solutions we need to know about the places women move around and how they use them. The Peeing Dérive will develop itself around five different settings of gendered spaces where women have confronted an obstacle while peeing in public. These stories are only the first point of entry into the issue of lack of public toilets for women and they will function as a tool to understand the bigger phenomenon. Before each theoretical and cultural reference, the point of entry to each topic is an anecdote of a woman using public

Photograph: Catherine Shaw for the Observer

toilets, either good, bad, awkward or funny. Combining personal experiences with supporting theoretical and cultural resources, this exploration of episodes will suit as the line that will join together each reference by bridging individual experiences, design, and theory, linking each chapter together to tell a bigger story. The Peeing Dérive puts a face to the theory which will bring the reality to the issue. Adrienne Rich mentions in Notes Toward a Politics of Location ‘‘that only certain kinds of people are expected to make theory; that the white-educated mind is capable of formulating everything; that white middle-class feminism can know for ‘all women’.’’ 6 Inspired by this, the Peeing Derive tries to include other forms of theorizing about public space because it belongs -or at least it should- to ‘all women’.

‘‘ There are very little city public toilets in Holland. But I learned to find the toilets in the schools, libraries, shops, medical centers, cinemas etc. in The Hague, the town where I live.’’ — Tineke

PUBLIC TOILETS IN CITIES: THE POLITICS OF GENDER IN SPACE

Public toilets in cities: The politics of gender in space A ‘cross’, if translated from Dutch, leaps into view in the middle of places of transition like an advertisement billboard in your nose you had no choice but to look at. Eindhoven and many cities in The Netherlands have placed semi-open urinals for men, the urinals have four sections where men can face towards one of its walls and pee standing up. This drive-through-peeing-pit, waiting like a magnet for men to approach them, is the solution for solving a very smelly problem to the city: public pissing by men. They are the materialized element of the masculine and the meeting point where these bodies collide and merge. The city has constructed and risen up its own skyscraper-like urinal. Eindhoven counts a total of around 10 public urinals for men around the city. Some of these portable gray urinals are rented from a private company for approximately € 80 a week, which makes the municipality’s investment in men’s peeing € 4,150 per unit annually. 7 Currently, women have access to only one public pay toilet that costs them 70 cents per use, being them, in this case, the investors. In Amsterdam, one hour and 20 minutes from Eindhoven, the situation is no different: there are 35 public urinals for men while there are only 3 toilets that women can use. This comparison of the number of toilets is obviously unequal when we learn that according to the World Toilet Organization we use the toilet an average of 6-8 times a day. 8 These urinals are usually placed in areas of mobility such as the train station and bicycle parking, in entertainment areas in the center, near bars and clubs, cinemas and shopping areas; their location is of popular knowledge now since they’ve been

in the same place for a long time and most local men know the exact place where to find them. These mobile urinals are a design solution to an obvious and biological need: men who need to pee as they move from one place to another. The realization of men obtaining public places to pee is a combination of the practicality of design and a male-dominated realm.

In spite of women and men having different physical differences, these should not be the reason for unequal availability and access of public toilets. This being the current scenario, we would be talking about a clear case of discrimination based on sex. Here, gender is polarized through the provision of urinals for men and barely any toilets for women; and even when it’s numerically visible, the topic remains mainly ignored. Consequently, in 2018 women don’t have enough access to free and clean public toilets.

PUBLIC TOILETS IN CITIES: THE POLITICS OF GENDER IN SPACE.

The idea of public urinals for men, while an ingenious design solution, is also a symptom of a context that prioritizes men over women since it’s a solution only available to half of the population. One can justify this scenario by saying that it has been easier and more practical for cities to offer a straightforward solution for men since peeing for them is quicker and more functional. But women and men alike have to pee, and in this case, the most human biological need is limited to sexual differences.

PUBLIC TOILETS IN CITIES: THE POLITICS OF GENDER IN SPACE.

Only unisex pay public toilet women have access to in Eindhoven. 2018. Photos by Elisa Otáñez Previous pages: Free urinals for men located in Eindhoven. 2018. Photos by Elisa Otáñez

Next page: Ernest J. Gaines drinking from a water fountain

Women’s body and the public toilet

Some similarities between the lack of public toilets and the Jim Crow segregation laws can be spotted. These laws enforced racial segregation in public toilets and drinking fountains in 1960’s in the U.S. where the signifier defined the signified. Regarding the Black community in this historical reference, it is easier to understand the considerable power of the signage and the lack of it. 9 From this example, we realize how women could have learned to read their place in the current male symbolic of public space as a result of the present lack of availability of toilets for women. We are aware of this by how most women currently don’t demand toilets since this absence has become a social norm. There are some basic and universal expectations of each sex and gender in society. In terms of toilet segregation based on sex differences, it unwraps how sex characteristics (when misinterpreted with gender differences) can be used as a reason to create physical divisions toilet-wise. Whilst there is a real physiological need for men and women to use different toilets -ergonomically speaking- Erving Goffman depicts the scenario of how sex or gender segregated toilets are based more on a cultural understanding of the sexes, more than being based on biological needs: ‘‘The functioning of sex-differentiated organs is involved, but there is nothing in this functioning that biologically recommends segregation; that arrangement is totally a cultural matter. And what one has is a case of institutional reflexivity: toilet

PUBLIC TOILETS IN CITIES: THE POLITICS OF GENDER IN SPACE.

How does excluding female bodies from public space influence and affect their reality? To place oneself in public as women first entitles being able to read the gender you identify within public space, but that which is not named –and showndoes not exist.

segregation is presented as a natural consequence of the difference between the sex-classes, when in fact it is rather a means of honoring, if not producing, this difference.’’ 10 Goffman underlines an interesting scenario which shows where the dichotomous thinking of bathrooms might come from (cultural beliefs, rather than biological), opening an opportunity for discussion about the actual need of segregated bathrooms. Even though one cannot ignore the fact that design solutions are not only about ergonomics and function, that culture, habits, and behavior of users are also part of the design debate, it is inevitable to speculate and fantasize about a public toilet space where men and women would be able to pee in a shared area, simply acknowledging the fact that they only need to use their assigned toilet rather than needing to be divided, or in worst cases, left out of a space. Nevertheless, there are certain circumstances and situations where the biological difference can set the tone of the story. Men’s physiology permits them to piss mostly anywhere. This biological advantage doesn’t come alone, though. Culturally men are also more public with their manners, less embarrassed and usually don’t feel threatened in public while peeing. This is an example where men set the tone of a situation through their biological language but also through cultural elements. Why can’t women be able to set the tone through their own biological language? It is worth analyzing if men’s urinals were brought to life through an organic process (biological and functional based) or if it was merely a consequence of the inequality in the system it was born through. By acquiring knowledge about this and by learning to observe a gendered space, it becomes easier to provide better design solutions.

PUBLIC TOILETS IN CITIES: THE POLITICS OF GENDER IN SPACE.

A rest stop for Greyhound bus passengers on the way from Louisville, Kentucky, to Nashville, Tennessee, with separate accommodations for colored passengers. September 1943. Photo: Esther Bubley.

In the city arena, men are deciding for women Showing the lack of public toilets for women dissects the many meanings of space where politics, culture, selfexpression and human existence happens. As Clara Greed explains, in order to change toilets there needs to be a change in the general culture of toilet providers and the ideas of what the built environment should look like and who it should be for. 11 In urban planning, decision making is all about priorities. It’s common that if priorities don’t align with the cultural perspective and life experiences of the people making the decisions -which are mostly men- toilets for women will never happen. 12 If this persists to be the case, this sort of decision making in urban planning will continue to reproduce inequalities through rooted systems like dichotomous thinking and divisions of gender. The little interest in providing public toilets is a sign of a lack of awareness of how cities view and cover local needs of inhabitants. Facilities for toilets are usually seen as a big investment to cities from which no money can be gained considering that maintenance of public toilets requires a lot of money. But the provision of toilets has a rather invisible gain since it works as a means to provide well-being to its citizens. Instead of this, cities usually first engage in giving priority to other sectors like entertainment, sports, and other events, when toilets for women should be part of the basis of a city’s infrastructure. Another reason for no toilet provision from cities is vandalism inside of them, drug use and the hard task of maintaining them clean. While these examples are usually true, they shuldn’t be used as justification to avoid -and not even try- to provide public sanitation to women.

In the context of this research, these groups are not only the users of the current urinals but also the municipality, urban planning and architecture companies, academic institutions, private owners or any male-dominated groups which don’t identify directly to the problem. This reveals that the lack of public toilets for women isn’t only an inconvenience for women but also a form of an invisible and institutionalized inequality in the system of how the city is planned. Offering urinals only for men is a sexist way of saying that only men are public beings.

‘‘ Men are mobile, roaming free while women endlessly wait, abandoned or pinned down by duty.’’ — Camille Paglia Sexual Personae, 1990

PUBLIC TOILETS IN CITIES: THE POLITICS OF GENDER IN SPACE.

In the context of power relations in cities, public urinals for men are a clear example of how distinctions between genders suit better the dominant social groups. These groups, which take advantage of their power position, are generally also the groups that are most reluctant to accept and adopt any other form of social structure that alters their reality. 13

Women need to join the peeing conversation The Netherlands has been positioned as one of the first countries with the least gender inequality but its place has been shifting down in the past few years. According to the World Economic Forum, one of the most affected categories of the measure is politics, where the participation of women has decreased from rank 10 in 2006 to number 25 in 2017. 14 This could be a reason why itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s still men taking decisions in city-making. Since women are different from men, they have different priorities in organizing and planning the production of architecture and design. A female approach would focus on the problems inherent for women as users in a man-made environment and the ways in which patriarchal ideology is inscribed in space. By studying and observing patterns of location and gender predomination, a city strategy to do gender mainstreaming in urban policy could be acheived. 15 Likewise, engaging more female experts in realms of public planning and design is important because toilets are the links that conn ect every other activity in public; and having to go home to use your private toilet certainly interrupts the flow of female dwellers. At last, policies could also function as support for architectural norms that could positively affect also function as support for architectural norms that could positively affect public space, institutions, and other public establishments. But how can women communicate properly and publicly this need? Historically, there have been many manifestations around the demand for toilets in cities and institutions. An example of this is the Dolle Minas, a womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s rights activist group and the Geerte Piening case in 2015. This will be expanded on in the next chapter, showing real cases where women have, intentionally or not, demanded their access to toilets.

Prototype Pollee (urinal for women). Photo: uiwe.dk

What has been done before? In 2011 Copenhagen studio UIWE explored the solution of designing a public urinal for women. Taking the Roskilde festival in Denmark as their context, they designed an open-air public urinal prototype where they tested it and collected insights from women users. The Pollee is a urinal with four clusters which is divided by a low wall where women can be together in the same space. 16 Also, the urinal is designed to be used while semi-squatting instead of sitting which makes the use of the toilet faster and cleaner. This helps speed up the queues and avoids hygiene issues since itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a touch-free solution. The proposal makes the experience of using a toilet a more social activity and invites women to become a little more public about their peeing needs.

The target group of the Pollee seems to be clear: women in a festival who probably are less inhibited by privacy issues. But what does a urinal for women look like in a city where the people in it are not involved in the mood and vibe of a festival? Would it still be embraced by women in the same free way and with no inhibition as in a festival? Public urinals in cities for men have existed for many years but urinals for women havenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t been able to position themselves the same way. It would be a good design challenge to find the tipping point of balance when it comes to providing a clean, safe and fast peeing experience for women not only in festivals but also in cities. This is a good example of how toilets and especially urinals for women are something that can be experienced, felt and adapted to womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s needs.

31 PUBLIC TOILETS IN CITIES: THE POLITICS OF GENDER IN SPACE.

‘‘ I once peed in a man’s urinal but I don’t recommend it. Some man made jokes while others stared at me, it was pretty awkward and uncomfortable’’ — Helena

MEN’S URINALS: WOMEN AS THE‘‘ADD-ONS’

Geerte Piening, 2017. Photo: vice.com

Men’s urinals: women as the ‘add-ons’

When Piening refused to pay the fine arguing that she had no other option but to pee in public, the judge reduced the fine to 90 euros but stood ground, arguing that she could have used the urinal for men instead of public peeing. If the city doesn’t provide with toilets, why should women be banned for relieving themselves when no other option is available? If women are not offered options, how can the city reprimand them? Isn’t being without a bathroom bad enough? After Piening’s protest, the journalist Igor Cornelissen interviewed IB Visser, member of the Metropolitan Urinal Committee. He, like the judge, also pointed to the existing urinals saying that they weren’t exclusively designed for men: ‘‘It's a matter of training for women of course: they should not crouch because then you see the buttocks’’. 18 The unfamiliarity and obliviousness of other men to women’s experiences is one of the key factors there is a huge abyss which is keeping them from understanding women’s needs. Taunya Lovell Banks points out this by saying: ‘‘From a feminist perspective, my experiences with toilet inequity illustrate the extent to which males' epistemological power defines equality. Bathrooms are not an issue for them;

MEN’S URINALS: WOMEN AS THE ‘ADD-ONS’

‘‘You can also urinate in a urinal as a woman, which may not be pleasant, but it could be.’’ the words of the judge while sentencing Geerte Piening. 17 Piening, a 23-year-old woman, was fined by police in 2015 because she peed in public. She and two friends had been out in Amsterdam’s Leidseplein district and, at one time during the night, all bars had closed. Considering that the closest toilet for women was a couple kilometers ahead - a 20-minute walk- she had no option but to pee in public. While her two friends covered for her privacy, the police arrived and gave her a fee of 140 euros.

therefore, bathrooms are not an issue, period. But toilet inequity is just one of many instances where men tend to ignore women's problems because they are not a part of a man's world.’’ 19 There is an unspoken necessity of bridging inequalities and reducing gaps between groups of people. Additionally, there must be a public agreement of not shaming women and avoiding blaming them for situations in their environment that they cannot control. An example of this is what Lovell again describes: ‘‘In truth, formal equality rhetoric is used as a cover for many other things. For example, at one level toilet parity is really a controversy over economic resources. In the employment context, the concern is over who will bear the cost of incorporating women into the workforce. Outside the workplace, the concern is who will bear the cost of toilets for women in the public arena. In and outside the workplace women are the ‘add-ons’, we are blamed and often penalized for not fitting into a male designed world.’’ 20

The struggle for women's toilet is nearly half a century old Even though Europe is culturally and historically well known for its open culture of public peeing, the discussion has not made many advances when it comes to designing an equal city for women. And history tells us that the problem of lack of representation of women through public toilets is not a new one.

men are allowed to pee for free in such a beautiful stone building, but the woman has to spend money, which is always a problem 22 …47 years later, not much has changed. Before the sentencing of Geerte Piening, there was already a big revolt happening between the public around the unfairness of the fine. After the sentencing and the finals judge’s words, the issue got even bigger. In a way, the judge had helped to spread the flame. Consequently, in September of 2017 a movement named Actie Zeikwijf (''peeing action'') created by Cathelijne Hornstra started, where she invited women to try and use the urinals for men like the judge had suggested. 23 Many women that were making fun of his statement, tried to use the urinals as a form of manifestation, which needless to say, was ergonomically impossible.

MEN’S URINALS: WOMEN AS THE ‘ADD-ONS’

Take the Dolle Minas, a group of activist women manifesting for women’s rights which, on 24 January of 1970, protested against the lack of public sanitation facilities for women in Amsterdam demanding change. In their act, they tied up pink ribbons on some kurls throughout the city in protest against the lack of public toilets for women. 21 In the archive of the Dolle Mina's available at Atria, there is a poem written by Salomon Cohen dedicated to this action:

Actie Zeikwijf protest, Eindhoven. 2017. Photo: radar.avrotros.nl Next page: Dolle Mina activists, Amsterdam, 1970. Photo: trouw.nl

‘‘ It's always uncomfortable and a bit awkward; you'd always have to be very careful no one sees you. It feels like you're doing something very sneaky. It feels like you're doing something illegal and you just have to get over with it as soon as possible, so I'm always in a hurry. It can be also very funny, when you have your friends standing around you to protect you and to look out for you to make sure no one is watching or passing by.’’ — Welmoed

PEEING IN OPEN AREAS: THE POLITICIZATION OF THE FEMALE BODY

Peeing in open areas: the politicization of the natural needs of the female body Squatting is possible in nature. In a forest, women are allowed to embrace their nature and be close to their bodies. In cities, women face traditional gender norms and peeing is no longer allowed in public; as if their anatomy suddenly changes by moving from one place to another. But what if there aren't any â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;bushesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; to be found in the city, where women can relive themselves? The nature call is still there. The possibilities in this scenario are never the best for women, either peeing in the streets in a moment of urgency (and running the risk of being penalized) or finishing their public appearance by going back home to their private toilet. In this sense, peeing for women is a constant contradiction. There is a juxtaposition of realms in a same dimension: where the most private and intimate collides with the public and chaotic. The public toilet is at once the most private and the most political element. 24 This is why it is complex to understand the needs of bodies that, in essence, are so natural, but at the same time constrained in a male-dominated context that doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t understand the needs of women. A collision exists between the natural need of female bodies which, due to its gender, become alienated, strange and blocked from understanding inside the traditional male-designed city. While being in the city, peeing is no longer a simple public biological comfort but a political issue. When women are excluded from the use of public toilets, a biological need becomes an exceptional example of a politicization of the natural needs of the female body.

Photo: Google Maps

" A male dog marking every bush on the block is a graffiti artist, leaving his rude signature with each lift of the leg. Women, like female dogs, are earthbound squatters. There is no projection beyond the boundaries of the self." â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Camille Paglia. Sexual Personae, 1990.

The margin: challenging the boundaries of public peeing bell hooks and her idea of the oppositional political struggle analyzes the place of the margin as the spot for resistance and struggle of marginalized groups: ‘‘For me, this space of radical openness is a margin – a profound edge. Locating oneself there is difficult yet necessary. It is not a ‘safe’ place. One is always at risk’’. 25 She calls this place a radical opportunity to alter a dichotomous context between two sides. For many women, peeing in the streets might be the margin on which they stand on with or without knowing it. Public peeing disturbs when it is not expected from women. If all women were to go back home to pee in their toilets, what stream of communication can they establish with the public? How can the need of peeing in cities be seen? And how can women be valid citizens and find their position in a city if they are not even represented? Considering bell hook’s theory of the margin, to manage change, women have to become an interruption in the city and a disorder. to some extent Peeing in public is a path for women to understand themselves as participants that have agency in a city. This dynamic of the margin could also be the means of communication in a reality where there can’t be any communication without noise. Massey –quoting Nancy Jay in her article Gender and Dichotomy- argues that ‘‘Within such thinking, the only alternative to the one order is disorder’’. 26 A disorder in a clearly divided public space is an opportunity to rearrange its components, in this case, the radical gender distinctions of public toilets in urban spaces. This is the new politics of location for women.

An improvised place to pee for women in a park of Eindhoven, 2017.

Since positioning oneself is fundamental to knowing a new place, a woman positioning herself out of place is literally a resistance and a first step into dismantling the male symbolic. bell hook’s observations around power relations can be applied to the shortage of public toilets by questioning the place of the struggle within complex and ever-shifting realms of power relations. Do we-women- position ourselves on the side of colonizing mentality? 27 This is clearly an argument that invites women to build new solutions maybe not from within the male-dominated realm. Another example of transgressiveness can be seen in Ernest J. Gaines's novel The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman (1971). 28 In the context of segregated drinking fountains in the US, during one of the last scenes, Jane Pittman subversively drinks water from the ‘‘white’’ and not ‘‘colored’’ water fountain which created a race and gender dissonance. This situation could be contextualized to our time and be seen as women positioning themselves in a male-dominated environment, subversively altering it in the margin of the permitted. Since many dichotomous forms of thinking and opposite concepts are the anchors that trace the parameters of any reality (female-male, mind-body, nature-culture, reason-emotion), these are difficult to revolutionize. One would need to think of different arrangements and mindsets and ask questions like: What are these gender factors that affect the seclusion of women’s access to public toilets?

Drinking from the ‘’whites’’ fountain. Scene from the movie The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, 1971.

P-Tree at Roskilde Festival Denmark, 2014. Photo: aandeboom.nl

What has been done before?

It is brought forward as a practical solution that gives more freedom to men, whilst it still disregards womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s needs. Women are currently still underserved at most public events and venues, and this solution might just only polarize the problem even further. Once more, what type of demand do women need to act out to deserve an acceptable solution and not only be offered the collateral benefits of another project?

PEEING IN OPEN AREAS: THE POLITICIZATION OF THE FEMALE BODY

Design-wise, creating alternatives to peeing in public have been mostly thought of for men needs. In an attempt to solve open peeing by men in festivals, the studio Aandeboom designed the P-tree, a temporary urinal that can be fixed to trees using straps to attach them. 29 This solution significantly reduces the problem of public peeing, making consequently, the other portable toilets more free and available to women.

‘‘ Last month I went out of the ACU (club) in Utrecht and after we had smoked a cigarette on the streets I realized I had to go back in to pee. The girl working there asked me: ‘‘What for?’’ and I explained since women can't pee in a lot of places. After I went in I wanted to leave a tip for the service so I asked her male colleague if he could change 5 euros and put half in his pocket. He said: ‘‘What service?’’. He didn't want money for a basic need, so I gave him a flower instead.’’ — Jolien 50

PEEING IN PRIVATE BUSSINESES

Private businesses and the privatization of peeing Some cities have increasingly started to support themselves with private businesses, restaurants, bars, and shops to cover the demand for public toilets. Sometimes, municipalities come to agreements with private establishments and they make sure all of them have a toilet to offer to the public. When considering this scenario, women are not completely left to their luck toilet-wise since they generally have access to them in restaurants, train stations, bars or stores. But attention must be put on the fact that only the citizens that can afford to be consumers will be the ones having the privilege of using toilets. This is problematic, since it not only reveals topics of gender but a class issue as well, uncovering another layer. In circumstances where women happen to not be customers of the private business, they have to pay starting from 50 cents to 1 euro to use their toilet. Consequently, the economic scope of opportunities of each gender floats to the surface. Moreover, in this context of pay toilets, women are practically being charged more often because, physically, men can pee anywhere and in many situations, they already have access to free public urinals. Toilets must be a free public good offered for men and women. If public toilets ought to be democratic, public and open to all, shifting the responsibility to other markets and privatize them is a capitalist approach to the most human need. There are also cultural and biological reasons why women use toilets more often and for a longer time. Culturally, women are expected to be more maternal and more often the ones in

Even the fact that we as a society consider the possibility of women moving out of their trajectory and adapting to other toilet solutions (and even pay for them sometimes) is a problematic topic. It ought to be a universal norm that any dweller of a city, independently of their sex or gender, should not be forced to plan ahead in terms of the possibilities (or limitations) that their sex or gender might disclose in public space.

PEEING IN PRIVATE BUSSINESES

charge of providing care. This means that while being in the city, women will be assisting children more regularly requiring better and more access to toilets. Biologically speaking, women also menstruate and pregnant women need to pee more often, which only builds on the fact that women have more requirements toilet-wise. Many people contend that a practical solution is for women to go to private businessesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; toilets but these are not open all night and, in the case of bars, children are usually not allowed in. No matter the time of the day, women need a safe, quick and a clean toilet they can use without fear. Besides, private businesses should not be asked to bare with what the municipality is failing at.

‘‘ I sometimes ask if I can use the toilet in a shop, like Albert Heijn or H&M. People working at Albert Heijn show me their toilet. In H&M they say toilets are only for children. I don't want to explain to everybody that I have X-ALD, a disease similar to MS, that makes me need a toilet immediately. I think you don't have to explain the urge to need a toilet. There are many reasons why you cannot afford to walk another ten minutes to find a toilet’’ — Anonymous

Toilets in restaurants and coffee places in Eindhoven, 2017.

The more ‘private’ toilet but still public The inequality of the public realm takes a different form when it comes to private institutions. In the context of more specific places in institutions like universities, there is not much difference in terms of unequal access and availability of stalls. Lovell Banks mentions that ‘‘Unisex bathrooms are an interesting alternative because they would give both sexes equal access to the same number of stalls.’’ 30 Though the option of having unisex toilet spaces is a possibility many have thought of before, this is a change comes with cultural baggage hard to challenge. In this micro level of the lack of toilets for women, and inside these less -but still- public spaces, the queues created in women’s stalls are the embodiment of another symptom of the inequality in toilet access between women and men. Lovell Banks also mentions how, while waiting in a long queue to use the women’s toilet, she does some preaching with the women waiting in line with her, telling them how unfair it is to have to wait while men just go in and out of their toilet with much ease and comfort. 31 Also Clara Greed, in her essay Creating a Non Sexist Restroom mentions how she also took the women’s toilet as a stage to protest and preach to other women about the inherent inequality in the number of stalls: ‘‘At the micro level, I like to indulge in a little toilet evangelism when I am standing in the queue for the ladies with a captive audience, in spite of the looks I get.’’ 32 For physiological reasons, women take more time than men to pee and due to dress codes, women engage in more steps and movements while men can pee using less effort and number of movements. At some other point, Lovell also mentions: ‘‘Delegate Rollison cited two recent studies one from Cornell

PEEING IN PRIVATE BUSSINESES

University and another from Virginia Tech—indicating that a restroom stop takes a woman up to 23 times as long as it takes a man.’’ 33 This is the reason why women’s toilets usually have long waiting lines: contractors are using the same toilet space with the same amount of stalls without knowing that one sex takes up more time to use the toilet. This incomprehension might result from the fact that the user of the bathroom is typically not its original buyer, which is the builder, the developer, or the architect. 34

What has been done before? Coming pretty early to its time, Marian Loth, a Dutch designer from TU Delft, designed Lady P in 1999, a urinal for women as a solution for the struggles of using a public toilet. 35 Produced by the Company Royal Sphinx and backed up by an extensive ergonomic and behavioral research, she designed a urinal for women that could be used while standing up and with no need for any urination devices. ‘‘The toilet is a very natural place with a very natural purpose. You have to adjust it to your anatomy.’’ Marian Loth explains that any artifact that women need to integrate into their bodies (like urination devices and portable funnels) is a contradiction to their physiological anatomy. The queues and waiting time to use a female toilet is sometimes due to the secluded stalls that toiles are in. By introducing a semi-open stall, the queues would speed up and reduce the waiting time. Also, this openness would make women familiarize themselves with a sense of collectiveness in the space, which likewise provokes a safer space. With this, Loth expands on her positioning about how women and men behave in a toilet space: ‘‘The main difference is behavioral, a woman is more alert, she wants to overview her environment, and therefore she sits with her back to the wall. And a man has more power so for him it’s less important, therefore he turns and faces the wall.’’ Loth created the most optimal circumstances for a use of a female urinal ergonomically speaking, but this implied to establish a new toilet tradition around the experience of peeing for women. When Lady P was installed, the urinals were placed inside conventional closed stalls, which didn’t regard Loth’s initial space design. This pushed women to take

the same amount of time to pee or just decided to use the traditional toilet instead. The little regard for this new approach to peeing ended up with having to remove the units from their place. Considering the traditional positioning of the bodies while peeing as Loth mentions above, what would an outcome where men and women peeing together in the same space be like? It would be interesting to look into a sequence of physical arrangements in a space that would fit the physiological and psychological needs of both men and women.

PEEING IN PRIVATE BUSSINESES

Lady P, urinal for women designed by Marian Loth. Photo: mediamatic.net

‘‘ I was walking with my 3 year old nephew and he needed to pee. A stranger offered his toilet and I was so thankful because there was no public toilet and no restaurant around.’’ — Cathelijne

THE POWER OF COMMUNITIES IN THE PRODUCTION OF SPACE

The power of communities in the production of space Communities have an inherent knowledge that could make them accountable and empowered in the different ways of creating their city. Through inhabiting and gaining control of their environment, citizens can shape their city landscape. This is the case of â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;placemakingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, which encourages making connections between people in order to reinvent public spaces, all of this through locally based collaborations. In this way, the urban space is shaped collectively, and consequently, the shared value is maximized. It also promotes paying attention to aspects of culture and the many social identities that are contained in a place that supports its continuous evolution. 36 Another theoretical framework for the production of space is Henri Lefebvreâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s work of understanding the ways representation helps create, and being created by, social space. Rather than considering the production of the urban realm simply through the activity of the building industry and urban design professions, Lefebvre is interested in how space is produced conceptually as well as materially. 37 This shows the importance of how women are represented in public through artifacts like toilets and how this constructs them in response, considering that social condition makes an impact on the spaces we make ourselves. 38 So what if it was communities creating the means for this in the absence of public planning? And what could be the role of citizens in the production of their urban space toilet-wise?

Public Cleaning Toilet Disco. Photo: publictoiletcleaningdisco.tum-

What has been done before? The Public Toilet Cleaning Disco (PTCD) is a design project (2014) by a group of Dutch designers based in Beijing. 39 The PTCD used the designer and the community as changing agents in Beijing'sâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; gentrification urban transformation of the area. The most affected element in this urban gentrification evolution was the public toilets â&#x20AC;&#x201C;hutongs- of the area, having many disappeared or abandoned by public services. And the ones that were left were being transformed into consumption and recreation areas.

The Public Toilet Disco used a fun way to take a stand over this social issue. By taking mops, cleaning supplies, lights, and music as their triggering tools, it toured the city of Dashilar to clean toilets with the help of locals. The event invited people to a party, which functioned as an activating trigger to involve locals living in the area. By using a fun experience of engaging with public space and citizens, the PTCD started a discussion about what gentrification does to transform an area using the role of the designer as mediator and the community in its process. The PCTD is a good example of a design activation that not only offers a solution to the issue of abandoned toilets, but also embodies the political message that they want to convey. The lack of toilets not only biological but also cultural and political since it deprives women of a full range of experiences any dweller should be able to enjoy. Women are still not full citizens in the sense that they haven’t been granted full and free access to the streets. 40 The shortage and barrier doesn’t only keep women in the private sphere but also strengthens the reproduction and division of the ‘separate spheres’, reinforcing stereotypes and expectations which continuously divide women from men. Toilets must be tailored to the context they are designed in, depending on the culture, city or access to resources. While designing public toilets for cities is best to take into account the culture of the place, their habits, and needs.

65 THE POWER OF COMMUNITIES IN THE PRODUCTION OF SPACE

DISRUPTIVE TOILETS: DESIGN CONCLUSION

Disruptive toilets: design conclusion Where do women dwell the most in the city? Where do they run their errands? Are they the ones taking children to school? Are they using the bus or the train? Places like food markets, shopping areas, train and bus stations and nightlife areas are currently frequent meeting points in cities. Locations with organic flow of people, full of life and mobility, and thus, where real and genuine needs emerge, are potential sites for implementing toilet solutions for women. When it comes to providing public toilets for women, places like these need to be identified and then tested to implement change. Covering all needs of women is a challenging task, but it can be achieved if designers start to show interest in what women need. For example, a survey made for this research in 2017 to 200 women in Eindhoven, Amsterdam, The Hague and other Dutch cities where the issue persists, revealed the same experiences, demands, and aspirations when asked about their experience of peeing in cities. Eighty percent of women in the survey say they use public toilets primarily for peeing, while also the majority says they look for toilets that are close to them. These are real needs that are currently not being addressed and must be solved. The Yellow Spot is a pilot toilet designed to test peeing needs of women as well as potential locations for placing public toilets in the near future. Materializing the absence of toilets for women -a need that has remained unseen in many Dutch cities as well as globally- by installing a temporal and mobile toilet is a way to start recognizing this shortage. Furthermore, it explores an alternative model of city making where a plausible product is first tested and consequently directed towards a definite design solution. The objective of offering a temporal toilet is also a critique of the municipality and its inability to provide solutions. Likewise, it is a strategy to

In an urban context where city planning decisions are specially controlled and planned, a toilet built by an independent agent suits as a disruption in the urban fabric. An improvised toilet construction provokes a dissonance in the urban sphere since it breaks and disrupts with the planning. This condition is what makes the project stand out as a communication strategy in a traditional urban setting since spotting an improvised toilet usually reveals the importance of having access to a dignifying one. The Yellow Spot establishes a new strategy for social transformation by opening a stream of communication about how toilets for women need to be designed. Also, the integration of gender perspective in the processes of ideation, building, testing, and iteration, contributes in avoiding stereotypical assumptions about women (critical in a project that refers to topics about body and gender). The design contribution of the Yellow Spot positions itself not as a conventional provision of ‘a toilet’ (like the generic portable plastic toilet booth), but as a toilet designed around covering specific needs of women. Product wise, the Yellow Spot shares design premises with other toilets such as that it is ergonomically focused and that it contains elements of portability and temporal architecture. In concept, it differs from the traditional toilets for women since it not only focuses on function but also integrates

DISRUPTIVE TOILETS: DEIGN CONCLUSION

bring closer the topic of lack of toilets to citizens so they learn about the criticality of a city’s role in recognizing women’s needs as citizens. Protests and manifestations usually point towards an issue or problem, but a toilet pilot could suit not only as a materialized envision of a demand, but the first test of a possible design solution. Rising awareness about the lack of toilets for women is the first step that forms the foundations for design action.

political and gender issues in the way the project is communicated. Altogether, the Yellow Spot toiletâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s implicit language of impermanence suggests that its functions become permanent, meaning that a proper toilet design must be provided. Language-wise, it does not follow stereotypical demands of females, but it follows the need of females: the urgent need to pee in the city. Thus this is not the proper toilet that will solve the big scene and come to stay; the Yellow Spot is a strategy of projection and a continuum, a catalyzer that consequently achieves obtaining dignifying toilets for women in cities.

71 DISRUPTIVE TOILETS: DEIGN CONCLUSION

TUTORS Jan Boelen Michael Kaethler Tamar Shafrir Dick van Hoff Brecht Duijf Stéphane Barbier Bouvet

This research is the result of the Social Design Master program in Design Academy Eindhoven. Printed on 14 of may 2018, Eindhoven, The Netherlands Elisa Otáñez

Acknowledgments I am using this opportunity to express my gratitude to everyone who supported me throughout this project. This thesis project and Master program were possible with the support of the Faculty of Architecture and the Autonomous University of Nuevo León. I am sincerely grateful to Francisco Fabela, who since the beginning believed in me and in my potential as a young creative. I also want to thank greatly Maria Ledezma who also made this academic journey possible with her support which was crucial throughout the whole program. From the beginning, my family supported me unconditionally and guided me with love and moral support through every decision I made. I thank infinitely Jaime Otáñez, Nancy Mendívil and Andrea Otáñez for being the people who always believed in me even though I had doubts. Nancy Otáñez and Luis Castillo, who were always present with valuable academic advice and critical points of view for my project and throughout the Master's program. I counted on their support even before starting this academic journey and their help was essential to get here. I am also sincerely grateful to Robin van den Reijen for being part of the construction of ideas for my project, always sharing his constructive criticism and helping me make many design decisions. His moral support was also very important to keep me going forward. I thank Marian Loth for being a great inspiration and an example to follow as a woman and designer. Her opinion and knowledge on the subject of bathrooms for women were illuminating and decisive to reach my own conclusions. I also thank Cathelijne Hornstra, whom I greatly admire for her passion for social causes, her dissatisfaction with injustices and her initiative to change them, without a doubt she inspires me to be the designer I want to be.

Agradecimientos Aprovecho esta oportunidad para expresar mi gratitud a todos los que me apoyaron a lo largo de este proyecto. Este proyecto de tesis y máster fue posible gracias al apoyo de la Facultad de Arquitectura y la Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León. Estoy sinceramente agradecida con Francisco Fabela, quien desde el principio creyó en mí y en mi potencial como joven y creativa. También quiero agradecer enormemente a la Dra. María Ledezma, quien también me apoyó en mi proceso académico y su apoyo fue crucial para completar mi maestría. Desde el principio, mi familia me apoyó incondicionalmente y me guio con amor y apoyo moral a través de cada decisión que tomé. Agradezco infinitamente a Jaime Otáñez, Nancy Mendívil y Andrea Otáñez por ser las personas que siempre creyeron en mí aun cuando yo tenía dudas. Nancy Otáñez y Luis Castillo, quienes siempre estuvieron presentes con valiosos consejos académicos y puntos de vista críticos para mi proyecto y a través de todo el programa de maestría. Conté con su apoyo incluso antes de iniciar y fueron personas cruciales para lograr llegar aquí. También estoy sinceramente agradecida con Robin van den Reijen por ser parte en la construcción de ideas para mi proyecto, compartiéndome siempre su crítica constructiva y ayudándome a concretar muchas decisiones de diseño. Su apoyo moral también fue muy importante para seguir adelante. Le agradezco a Marian Loth por ser una gran inspiración y ejemplo a seguir como mujer y diseñadora. Su opinión y conocimiento sobre el tema de baños para mujeres fue iluminador y decisivo para llegar a mis propias conclusiones. También agradezco a Cathelijne Hornstra a quien admiro mucho por su pasión por las causas sociales, por su espíritu inconforme hacia las injusticias y su iniciativa para cambiarlas, sin duda ella me inspira a ser la diseñadora que quiero ser.

ENDNOTES (1) Harvey L. Molotch, Toilet: public restrooms and the politics of sharing. New York University Press, 2010. Greed, Clara. Creating a Non Sexist Bathroom (2) Simone de Beauvoir. The second sex. Vintage Classic, 2015. (3) “Becoming A Woman: Simone de Beauvoir on Female Embodiment.” Philosophy Now: a magazine of ideas, philosophynow.org/issues/69/Becoming_A_Woman_Simone_de_Beauvoir_on_Female_Embodiment. (4) Mary Katharine Tramontana. “Stop Calling It a Vagina.” Vice, 9 Mar. 2015, www.vice.com/sv/article/exmjye/stop-calling-it-a-vagina. (5) Virginia Woolf, et al. Street haunting: a London adventure. The Press at Chelsey Court, 2014. (6) Adrienne Rich, Notes toward a Politics of Location (1984) (7) http://krosinternationalusa.com/ (8) ‘‘World Toilet Organisation’’ N.p., n.d. Web. 2017 <worldtoilet.org/> (9) Elizabeth Abel. “Bathroom Doors and Drinking Fountains: Jim Crows Racial Symbolic.” Critical Inquiry, vol. 25, no. 3, 1999, pp. 435–481., doi:10.1086/448930. (10) Erving Goffman ‘‘The arrangement between the sexes’’, Theory and Society, Vol. 4, No. 3. (Autumn, 1977), pp. 301-331. (11) Greed (12) Greed (13) Doreen B. Massey. Space, place, and gender. University of Minnesota Press, 2009. (14) “The Global Gender Gap Report 2017.” World Economic Forum, www.weforum.org/reports/the-global-gender-gap-report-2017. (15) Jane Rendell, et al. Gender, space, architecture: an interdisciplinary introduction. Routledge, 2000. Rendell, Jane. Introduction: Gender, Space, Architecture. (16) http://peebetter.dk/pollee-the-new-female-urinal-2/ (17) Wolthuizen, Josien. “Toch Wildplasboete: 'Vrouwen Kunnen Ook in Urinoir Plassen' Amsterdam - PAROOL.” Het Parool, 18 Sept. 2017, www.parool.nl/amsterdam/toch-wildplasboete-vrouwen-kunnen-ook-in-urinoir-plassen~a4517144/. (18) Paul van der Steen. “De strijd voor vrouwenurinoirs is al bijna een halveeeuw oud.” Trouw, Trouw, 22 Sept. 2017, www.trouw.nl/samenleving/de-strijdvoor-vrouwenurinoirs-is-al-bijna-een-halve-eeuw-oud~a375e027/.

(19) Taunya Lovell Banks, ‘‘Toilets as a Feminist Issue: A True Story’’, Berkeley Journal of Gender, Law & Justice, Vol. 6, Issue 2. (September 2013). (20) Lovell Banks (21) “Dolle Mina.” Atria, 30 June 2017, www.atria.nl/nl/publicatie/dolle-mina. (22) “Openbaar plasrecht voor vrouwen.” Atria, 22 Sept. 2017, www.atria.nl/nl/nieuws/openbaar-plasrecht-voor-vrouwen. (23) ‘‘Actie Zeikwijf‘’ http://www.actiezeikwijf.nl/ (24) Rem Koolhaas and Irma Boom. Toilet. Marsilio, 2014. (25) bell hooks. Feminist theory: from margin to center. South End, 2005. (26) Massey (27) hooks (28) Bob Christiansen, et al. The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman. (29) P-Tree Urinal - AANDEBOOM, www.aandeboom.nl/P-Tree-Urinal. (30) Lovell Banks (31) Lovell Banks (32) Greed (33) Lovell Banks (34) Alexander Kira. The bathroom. Bantam Book, 1977. (35) https://www.tudelft.nl/en/ide/organisation/personal-profiles/phd-candidates/loth-m/ (36) “What is Placemaking?” Project for Public Spaces, www.pps.org/reference/what_is_placemaking/. (37) Henri, Lefebvre. The production of space. Blackwell, 2016. (38) Rendell (39) “PUBLIC TOILET CLEANING DISCO.” PUBLIC TOILET CLEANING DISCO, publictoiletcleaningdisco.tumblr.com/. (40) Elizabeth Wilson. The sphinx in the city: urban life, the control of disorder, and women. University of California Press, 1992.

BLIBLIOGRAPHY Abel, Elizabeth. “Bathroom Doors and Drinking Fountains: Jim Crows Racial Symbolic.” Critical Inquiry, vol. 25, no. 3, 1999, pp. 435–481., doi:10.1086/448930. Beauvoir, Simone de . The second sex. Vintage Classic, 2015. “Becoming A Woman: Simone de Beauvoir on Female Embodiment.” Philosophy Now: a magazine of ideas, philosophynow.org/issues/69/Becoming_A_Woman_Simone_de_Beauvoir_on_Female_Embodiment. Christiansen, Bob, et al. The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman. “Dolle Mina.” Atria, 30 June 2017, www.atria.nl/nl/publicatie/dolle-mina. Goffman, Erving ‘‘The arrangement between the sexes’’, Theory and Society, Vol. 4, No. 3. (Autumn, 1977), pp. 301-331. hooks, bell. Feminist theory: from margin to center. South End, 2005. Kira, Alexander. The bathroom. Bantam Book, 1977. Koolhaas, Rem and Irma Boom. Toilet. Marsilio, 2014. Lefebvre, Henri. The production of space. Blackwell, 2016. Lovell Banks, Taunya ‘‘Toilets as a Feminist Issue: A True Story’’, Berkeley Journal of Gender, Law & Justice, Vol. 6, Issue 2. (September 2013). Massey, Doreen B. Space, place, and gender. University of Minnesota Press, 2009. Molotch, Harvey L. Toilet: public restrooms and the politics of sharing. New York University Press, 2010. Greed, Clara. Creating a Non Sexist Bathroom P-Tree Urinal - AANDEBOOM, www.aandeboom.nl/P-Tree-Urinal. Rendell, Jane, et al. Gender, space, architecture: an interdisciplinary introduction. Routledge, 2000. Rendell, Jane. Introduction: Gender, Space, Architecture. Rich, Adrienne. Notes toward a Politics of Location (1984) Steen, Paul van der. “De strijd voor vrouwenurinoirs is al bijna een halve eeuw oud.” Trouw, Trouw, 22 Sept. 2017, www.trouw.nl/samenleving/de-strijdvoor-vrouwenurinoirs-is-al-bijna-een-halve-eeuw-oud~a375e027/.

Tramontana, Mary Katharine. “Stop Calling It a Vagina.” Vice, 9 Mar. 2015, www.vice.com/sv/article/exmjye/stop-calling-it-a-vagina. Wilson, Elizabeth. The sphinx in the city: urban life, the control of disorder, and women. University of California Press, 1992. Woolf, Virginia, et al. Street haunting: a London adventure. The Press at Chelsey Court, 2014. Wolthuizen, Josien. “Toch Wildplasboete: 'Vrouwen Kunnen Ook in Urinoir Plassen' Amsterdam - PAROOL.” Het Parool, 18 Sept. 2017, www.parool.nl/amsterdam/toch-wildplasboete-vrouwen-kunnen-ook-in-urinoir-plassen~a4517144/. ‘‘Actie Zeikwijf‘’ http://www.actiezeikwijf.nl/ “Openbaar plasrecht voor vrouwen.” Atria, 22 Sept. 2017, www.atria.nl/nl/nieuws/openbaar-plasrecht-voor-vrouwen. “PUBLIC TOILET CLEANING DISCO.” PUBLIC TOILET CLEANING DISCO, publictoiletcleaningdisco.tumblr.com/. “The Global Gender Gap Report 2017.” World Economic Forum, www.weforum.org/reports/the-global-gender-gap-report-2017. “What is Placemaking?” Project for Public Spaces, www.pps.org/reference/what_is_placemaking/. ‘‘World Toilet Organisation’’ N.p., n.d. Web. 2017 <worldtoilet.org/> https://www.tudelft.nl/en/ide/organisation/personal-profiles/phd-candidates/loth-m/ http://peebetter.dk/pollee-the-new-female-urinal-2/ http://krosinternationalusa.com/