歷史奇譚：男女分設的公廁

斯特凡妮·帕帕斯

In North Carolina and other states， a new culture war has erupted. This time， the battlefield is bathrooms.

In March， North Carolina enacted a law （colloquially known as HB21） that requires that people use only bathrooms that correspond to the gender on their birth certificates. The law affects transgender individuals， who identify as a gender other than the one they were assigned at birth. Other states have considered similar bills， to great controversy.

To some people， public bathrooms may seem like unassuming spaces—necessary but not worth too much thought. But these bathroom bills illustrate that public restrooms are the stage for many complex social interactions， and that the availability of a place to relieve oneself is crucial in society.

Public or private？

Gender-segregated public restrooms are either very old or very new， depending on how you look at the question. They arose in the Victorian era， along with widespread plumbing， meaning theyve been around almost as long as the modern bathroom itself. On the other hand， having privacy for peeing is a relatively modern phenomenon.

The notion of privacy itself is shifting constantly， and it can be hard to determine how people of the past viewed the importance of privacy in their bathroom habits. Ancient Rome， for example， is famous for its multiseater bathrooms， where people sat side by side on benches， without partitions， to do their business. However， there are hints that a concept of privacy might have existed. In Hadrian2s Villa， a second-century site in Tivoli， Italy， there were multiseat facilities for servants and staff， according to a 2003 paper in the Journal of Roman Archaeology. However， the emperor and high-status guests seem to have had access to relatively private single-seaters.

“The provision of single-seaters， especially for guests， shows that， when space and money were no object， [the elite] preferred single toilets，” wrote study researcher and independent archaeologist Gemma Jansen.

The first gender-segregated public restroom on record was a temporary setup at a Parisian ball in 1739， said Sheila Cavanagh， a sociologist at York University in Canada and author of “Queering Bathrooms： Gender， Sexuality， and the Hygienic Imagination”. The balls organizers put a chamber box （essentially a chamber pot in a box with a seat） for men in one room and for women in another.

“Everyone at the ball thought this was sort of a novelty—something sort of eccentric and fun，” Cavanagh said.

But for the most part， public facilities in Western nations were male-only until the Victorian era， which meant women had to improvise. If they had to be out and about longer than they could hold their bladders， women in the Victorian era would urinate over a gutter （long Victorian skirts allowed for some privacy）. Some would even carry a small personal device called a urinette that they could use discretely under their skirts and then pour out， Cavanagh said. Strangely， these urinettes were sometimes shaped like the male genitals.

This lack of female facilities reflected a notable attitude about women： that they should stay home. This “urinary leash” remains a problem in some developing nations， said Harvey Molotch， a sociologist at New York University and co-editor of “Toilet： The Public Restroom and the Politics of Sharing”. Women in India today， for example， often have to avoid eating or drinking too much if they have to be out in public， because there is no place for them to go， Molotch told Live Science.

Ladies and gentlemen

Thus， the first gender-segregated restrooms were a major step forward for women. Massachusetts passed a law in 1887 requiring workplaces that employed women to have restrooms for them， according to an article in the Rutgers University Law Review. By the 1920s， such laws were the norm.

Victorian-era Americans were segregated by gender in many spaces， Molotch said. There were ladies-only waiting rooms in train stations， and female-only reading rooms in libraries. As sex segregation has fallen to the wayside in other public spaces， bathrooms remain the last holdout， he said.

“Restrooms are a very funny place， because theyre where the most intimate actions occur that are also in public，” Molotch said. In the U.S.， bathrooms are partitioned with flimsy barriers with lots of gaps， in part because of anxiety over what might go on in a fully private stall. Sex and drugs are the most common of these concerns， he said.

Meanwhile， people observe rigid social rituals to keep up the illusion of privacy. Men， for example， cant be seen looking at the genitals of other men， Molotch said， but also cant be perceived as trying not to look.

“The disgust attached to excretion makes people bothered by the sounds and smells of others， and the shame of this private action makes many people concerned about being witnessed in the act， even indirectly，” said Nicholas Haslam， a psychology professor at the University of Melbourne and author of “Psychology in the Bathroom”. Excretion is seen as unfeminine， Haslam told Live Science， so women are under particular pressure to hide their bathroom activities， especially from men.

“Finally， the act of going to the bathroom makes many people feel vulnerable， exposed， and unsafe，” Haslam said.

Bathroom bills like North Carolinas often reflect ideas about sex and safety， Cavanagh said. However， there are no documented instances of a transgender person attacking anyone in a public bathroom， she said. A survey published in the Journal of Public Management and Social Policy in 2013 did find， however， that 70 percent of the transgender respondents from the Washington， D.C. area had experienced harassment or assault in bathrooms， or had been denied access to facilities.

Ultimately， fears over allowing bathrooms to be used by people of different birth sexes may have more to do with the symbolic nature of public restrooms than with practical concerns. Transgender people challenge the notion that a persons gender and their biological sex at birth are one and the same in all cases， Molotch said， which makes some people uncomfortable. However， he suspects that the backlash will simmer down and that gender-segregated toilets will persist， with an agreement that everyone will mind their own business.

“We all know there is nothing more important to transgender people than to ‘pass，” Molotch said， meaning that transgender people want others who casually encounter them to assume they are just like all of the other members of the gender they identify with. Most transgender people do not want others to wonder whether they are transgender， he said.

北卡羅來納和其他一些州已爆發一場新的文化論戰，這一次爭論的焦點是廁所。

北卡羅來納州三月份通過了一項法案（俗稱HB2法案），規定人們只能按出生時的生理性別使用對應的公廁。此法案影響了跨性別群體的權益，因為他們對自身性別的認同與出生證上不同。火上澆油的是其他一些州也在考慮通過類似的法案。

有些人可能認為公廁這種場所毫不起眼，雖不可或缺但不值得投入過多關注。但這些廁所法案的出臺不僅顯示公廁是許多社會群體復雜角力的舞臺，也說明提供場所供人方便在社會生活中是非常重要的。

公共還是私密？

男女分設的公廁既可以說由來已久也可算新生事物，這取決于如何看待這個問題。男女分廁出現于維多利亞時期，隨著管道系統的廣泛鋪設而興起，與現代衛生間幾乎有著同樣長的歷史。另一方面，如廁時保持隱私也是一個相對現代的現象。

隱私的概念并非一成不變，所以很難判斷前人對如廁隱私看得有多重要。比如，眾所周知古羅馬的廁所是多廁位的，大家肩并肩坐在長凳上方便，彼此間毫無遮攔。然而有線索顯示隱私的概念可能已經存在。據《羅馬考古學》雜志2003年發表的一篇論文，在哈德良別墅，一片位于意大利蒂沃利的二世紀建筑舊址，仆人和雇工使用多廁位的公共設施，而皇帝和身份顯貴的客人則似乎會使用相對私密的單獨廁位。

“單獨的廁位，尤其是為客人提供的，說明當空間和金錢不是問題的時候，（精英階層）更愿意使用獨立的衛生間?！毖芯繉W者兼獨立考古學家杰瑪·詹森寫道。

加拿大約克大學社會學家及《跨性別公廁：性別、性和衛生聯想》一書的作者希拉·卡瓦納說，有案可查的第一間分男女的公廁是1739年巴黎一場舞會上的臨時設施。舞會的主辦方將“坐便器”（就是夜壺放在一個帶座位的盒子里）分放在兩個房間，一間供男賓使用，一間供女賓使用。

“舞會的所有來賓都覺得這很新奇——有點怪但很有趣。”卡瓦納說。

但直到維多利亞時期，大多數西方國家的公共設施都只為男性服務，這意味著女性只能隨機應“便”。如果維多利亞時期的女性不得不出門而且時間長到憋不住，她們會在排水溝上小便（維多利亞式長裙多少可以維護一點隱私）?？ㄍ呒{說，有些人甚至會攜帶一種叫作小便器的私人小物件，可以放到裙子內使用然后倒掉。而怪異的是，這些小便器有時會被做成男性外生殖器的模樣。

這種女性公共設施的缺失反映了當時社會對待女性的明顯態度：女人就應該待在家里。紐約大學社會學家及《廁所：公共衛生間和共享政治》一書的合編者哈維·莫洛奇說，這種“便池約束”在一些發展中國家仍然存在。比如在印度，至今女性外出前都會盡量少吃東西少喝水，因為外面沒有女廁可以去，莫洛奇對科學鮮聞網說。

女廁和男廁

因此，第一間男女分設的公廁的出現標志著女性社會地位的大幅提升。據《羅格斯大學法律評論》上一篇文章記載，馬薩諸塞州于1887年立法規定，有女性雇員的工作場所必須設置女廁。到了1920年代，此種法律條款已司空見慣。

莫洛奇說，在維多利亞時期的美國，許多公共場所的設施都男女分設。火車站有女士候車室，圖書館有女士閱覽室。他說，當其他公共場所取消了性別隔離，只有公廁還堅守著男女有別的最后陣地。

“公廁是個非常有趣的地方，人在這里做著最私密的事，可這兒卻是個公共場所。”莫洛奇說。在美國，公廁的隔斷單薄且有很多縫隙，部分原因是人們擔心在完全私密的小隔間里不知會發生什么。性行為和毒品，大部分人擔心這兩樣，他說。

同時，人們遵守著嚴格的社會禮儀以維護隱私的假象。比如，莫洛奇說，男人是不能被發現在看其他男性的生殖器的，而且也不能被人認為他是試圖不看。

“排泄物讓人嫌惡，所以他人方便時發出的聲音和氣味會令人不快，這種私密行為帶來的羞恥感讓很多人擔心被人看到，甚或間接察覺到自己在方便?！蹦珷柋敬髮W心理學教授及《衛生間心理學》一書的作者尼古拉斯·哈斯拉姆說道。排泄行為被認為不夠淑女，哈斯拉姆對科學鮮聞網說，所以在這一壓力下女性極力避免被他人，尤其是男性看到自己上廁所。

“最終，上廁所這件事讓很多人感到敏感、暴露、不安全。”哈斯拉姆說。

卡瓦納表示，類似北卡羅來納州這樣的廁所法案通常反映出性與安全的觀念。然而，她說并沒有記載案例表明跨性別者曾在公廁內攻擊他人。而2013年刊登在《公共管理和社會政策》雜志上的一份調查卻顯示，來自華盛頓特區的跨性別受訪者中，有70%曾在公廁內遭遇騷擾或攻擊，或者曾被拒絕進入。

歸根結底，對允許生理性別不同的人共用衛生間的擔憂，更多地與公廁的象征性本質有關，而不是出自實際考慮。通常人們認為性別是由其出生時的生理性別決定的，所有情況下都是如此，但跨性別者對這一觀念提出質疑，莫洛奇說，這令某些人感到不適。不過他認為這些猛烈的反對終會平息，而男女分設的廁所也會繼續存在，與此同時大家將達成以下共識——少管別人的閑事。

莫洛奇說：“我們都知道，對跨性別者來說沒有什么比‘接納更重要。”這意味著如果你偶遇了跨性別者，他們希望你能把他們當作其自我認同的那個性別中的一員。他說，大多數跨性別者不希望別人好奇他們到底是不是跨性別的人。

（譯者為“《英語世界》杯”翻譯大賽獲獎者）