In our country’s recent political turmoil, a lot of important issues have come to light. Finally someone is talking about the important things like inauguration crowd sizes, twitter typos, and maybe most importantly, bathrooms.

And I have a fairly controversial opinion on bathrooms, which is not something I think most people can say.

Some people argue that the bathroom you use should be dictated by gender identity. Some people argue that the bathroom you use should be dictated by biological sex. I argue that we should all get over ourselves and use the same bathrooms.

In an attempt to be more progressive, and we applaud the effort, New Trier has created ‘gender neutral bathrooms.’ The only thing is, they’re single stall.

Single stall bathrooms are not new, they’re not innovative, they’re not even particularly practical. Lines down the hallway outside the doors of these bathrooms confirm that.

Real progress would be to create a bathroom that both boys and girls could go into *gasp* at the same time.

One of the arguments used against allowing transgender and transsexual individuals into their preferred bathroom is the threat of sexual misconduct.

I would assume that this same objection would apply even more strongly here. I will admit that there may be increased risk of this sort of behavior–peeking through doors, etc.

Sexual misconduct is a significant issue and if the concern is sexual assault, that’s an even bigger issue. It’s so big an issue, in fact, that if the only thing protecting you from sexual assault is a separate bathroom, then you might have bigger problems.

If someone is going to assault you in a public place, they’re certainly not going to let a girl’s bathroom sign stop them (or a boy’s bathroom sign, I suppose). A gender-neutral bathroom is not going to turn a perfect gentleman into a creepy peeper.

These types of arguments appeal to the worst in people. Most people, believe it or not, just want to pee.

According to an article in Time Magazine, the idea of separate bathrooms was put into place as women entered the workplace in factories.

Policy makers argued that because women were inherently weaker, they needed protection from the harsh outside world. It was not only bathrooms that were segregated by sex, but things like train cars and library reading rooms.

Train cars are no longer segregated. Just this last week I read a book in the general vicinity of a male (I know, scandalous). So what makes bathrooms so different?

Some would probably say it’s the private nature of using the restroom, but, at least in women’s restrooms, there are stalls. I’ve never felt overexposed.

Of course, the argument is that it would be more uncomfortable with the opposite gender. That may be true, but it’s not any worse than the way men’s bathrooms are now.

As a female, I may be biased, but I am very much against how men’s bathrooms are set up. The only difference, as far as I’m concerned, is urinals, and they have always made me conceptually uncomfortable. I just don’t understand how someone decided:

“So, like, we have all the guys stand next to each other half-naked and just go to the bathroom.”

That’s objectively weird. And, as implied by the 131,000 results the search “men’s bathroom etiquette” yields, it is very complicated as well. As much as sexism is generally skewed against women, this seems like a pretty harsh injustice for the male population.

Getting rid of the urinal system seems like the only just thing to do. It’s not even that you have to get rid of the structures; you can just put them in stalls. Then everyone can do what they’ve got to do in the privacy of a lockable five-foot box.

And after that, what’s the difference between a men and women’s bathroom other than the faceless figure on a plaque outside the door.

Unless washing your hands is just too scandalous for someone of the opposite gender to see, there’s really no reason to keep bathrooms separate anymore.