The American Standard Lynbrook 1.0 Urinal is a Men’s Room classic. The shiny chrome plated copper plumbing juts out from the wall at five-foot five-inches and takes an immediate 90 degree turn to meet the flush valve which is triggered by the four inch toggle-switch handle. The piping continues down from the valve handle for about a foot and a half before meeting the body of the Urinal which is made of solid white vitreous china, a kiln fired ceramic that is impervious to water. Extending out eight and a half inches from either side of the chrome piping connection, the top of the urinal forms a six-inch ledge that is flush with the wall. From the top, the urinal measures 23 ¾ inches down to meet the apex of the inverted hump base that encloses the exit plumbing and also attaches to the wall. In addition to the two pluming points that connect the urinal to the wall, the back of the ceramic body is mounted flat to the wall at two points.
The face or working end of the urinal is framed on the right and left side by privacy barriers that extend out ten inches on either side to protect the user during use. Just prior to the base of the working end of the urinal is a lip that protrudes out four inches past the privacy barriers and toward the user. There is a bowl at the base of the working end, also enclosed in the inverted hump, that is constantly holding water and stands at the ready to collect nature’s calling. Once the call is complete and the flush handle is pulled, one gallon of fresh water is released from the top plumbing. Gravity carries this fresh water down the working end of the urinal and to the bowl where it replaces the used water after forcing it and it’s contaminants to exit the bowl via the plumbing contained in the inverted hump.
Who invented the urinal?
What was the reasoning for inventing a urinal?
What is the difference between a men’s restroom and a women’s restroom?
Is the urinal sexist?
Does the urinal influence men’s ideas of sexual equality?
This is the urinal that I am focusing on. It is the most common brand and style that I have encountered.
This is the site for the US’s Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. From a summary of Title VII, “Title VII prohibits both intentional discrimination and neutral job policies that disproportionately exclude individuals on the basis of sex and that are not job related.”
This is the site for the National Organization for Women. In 2004, Virgin Atlantic was due to install urinals in JFK Airport that were shaped and painted like women’ mouths. NOW was extremely offended and complained to Virgin, which got the urinals replaced.
This is John Banzhaf’s journal entry on the sexual disparities of public restrooms. He is a professor at GWU and looks at numerous issues including the unequal number of toilets for men and women, having pay toilets where it would cost less to use a urinal than a toilet but how unfair that would be, and having women urinals that give women the same choice men have which requires women to expose themselves without the provided protection of a closed stall.
Joel Stein wrote this article in the LA Times about his want for a urinal in his home. He asked numerous people for their opinion on urinals and got a lot of good in site as to what women and real estate moguls think about urinals.
This is an advertisement for Peter Potty, a training urinal for little kids. Here is a quote, “Why is it that all those potty training toilets for our sons are of the sit-down variety? Because women control the world… no longer will your son have to suffer the indignity of peeing like a girlie.”
In a society where gender discrimination is grounds for judicial prosecution, the public restroom constantly provides men with proof of the divide between the sexes. The urinal is the only common and everyday fixture intentionally created for and used solely by men. In a place were women are not permitted, the urinal communicates to men that men and women will never be equals, the fact that men and women can perform the same duties is incorrect, and men will always be provided with opportunities that women will not be provided with.
1 comment:
The urinal is a very interesting piece of material culture to research. I really liked how descriptive you were when describing the urinal and what it was made of. Where are urinals manufactured. How significant is the urinal in present culture. Also since urinals are only in public facilities for men, why aren't they a fixture in personal bathrooms in the home.
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