No sympathy here. Dump the pantyhose, learn to pee quickly, wash, and get out. No new stalls needed; give 'em a trough like the guys get at baseball stadiums.

Men use the men's room to do #1 or #2. For women a trip to the can is a social event. Men go alone, and women with a retinue. That is one reason for their taking longer. Women's rooms very often have couches and chairs; the only seats in a men's room is the toilet. Were women to go in and do their business it would not be such a seeming inequity.

Furthermore, if you ever notice building plans and blueprints, most of the time the women's rooms are larger. As a man myself, I have not been in too many of them, but at least on paper it seems as if the fair sex does have the special advantages that they need already. Remove the couches and chairs and let them go in for the job at hand without socializing and what they have ought to be enough.

talk about our feelings?

how about the fact that women have 3 bodily functions instead of 2 that they are using the bathroom for... that alone would drive up the numbers.

there would still be a damn line. As a woman, I have never understood why it takes other women so goddamn long to pee. I can be in and out in under 25 seconds. And that's with pantyhose. What these other women do in there, I don't know. Personally, I don't like to hang out by the toilet so I minimize my time there. To each their own, I suppose.

Heck, they won't be standing next to me at the urinal anyway. And equality works both ways, so those rare times I walk into the women's bathroom by accident won't be nearly as embarrassing.

As long as there's the same number of toilets (of whatever specification) and sinks and janitor visits, I'm not going to worry about it. Maybe women should wear less complicated underwear? Maybe they should have gone before they left the house? Maybe they should practice peeing standing up? If so many women don't know what's up with women and women's bathrooms, I don't suppose I ever will. Never mind.

Anyway, what's up with the headline? Women need JOHNS? To help address the gender/wage gap? Is Mr. K cranky about something today?

I agree that women need more stalls.

However, I can tell you that hanging out and talking about feelings has never caused me to linger in a bathroom stall. And in all my over 50 years as a female I cannot remember hearing such chatting going on (maybe I've forgotten an isolated incident or two). Believe me, the lines do not happen because women enjoy spending time in public bathroom stalls!!!!!

Good Grief!!

Why not?

Our customary gender discrimination is antiquated and anyway one barrier after another is crumbling. The thought of a woman standing at my side spraying the wall as at one of the older stadium men's johns however does give me pause. Maybe images like that one will keep the Larry Craigs in check.

Since our social systems have shown all kinds of erosion in standards of conduct and we've gotten used to each slide, I'm sure we'll accommodate the change. And golly, it'll certainly frost the sensibilities of the Religious Right.

I am an architect. I will tell you - I have no power to control the number of stalls in restrooms.

As is often the case with design decisions, this is determined by an obscure code book (in this case, the National Plumbing Code). It specifies how many stalls & urinals per gender are required in any given building type.

Of course, clients could decide to put more than the absolute minimum toilets in the women's rooms. But that means spending more money and space than is required. I can tell you, clients rarely want to do THAT.

I haven't been using public restrooms quite as long as srra, but good lord, where are you guys getting the idea that we're all sitting on the toilet chatting it up?

I've never been a toilet socializer, myself, but the women who do go to the bathroom in groups are chatting at the sink. Or, really, in the long, long, long line for the stalls. It's a long wait. I do understand why someone would like a little company.

But it doesn't have a thing to do with how long a toilet's in use, and it sure ain't slowing down the line. (Also, I hardly ever see a women's room with the fancy couches some guys seem to think we always get.)

Most public toilet use is peeing, and men simply have more places to pee. All we'd like is the same amount of places.

Yes, it's faster, peeing, for you guys, and would be even if we're dressed exactly the same. (I'm usually in jeans and certainly not in pantyhose, myself.) You just need to unzip. Plus we always need to wipe, guys, and I know a bunch of you are fine with just a fast shake.

One little public-health addendum: pregnant women need to pee much more frequently than the rest of us--even women not yet visibly pregnant. Something to do with all the extra fluids the body processes to construct a baby. Don't blame these urgently uncomfortable women. Don't even give them more places to pee than the boys. Sometimes have to pee more often, always at best take a little bit longer to pee, okay. Whatever. Just, the same amount. Thanks!

Signed,

have used a men's room a few times myself--but I'm afraid only after I've determined it's empty.

Whenever I see the line to the women's bathroom extending around the hall like a disneyland ride, I don't think twice about "crossing that line" into the men's room. Yes I've got some looks from guys who I can imagine had to be thinking "does she realize this is a men's room?" Actually I've mastered quite well the art of peeing standing up. I was once using the urinal and literally stopped a dude in his tracks when he saw me (ya couldn't see anything I was wearing a skirt and thus covered up) But he saw the stream and was like WTF?! Of course I was not always able to do this, the art of female/peeing/standing-up was practiced in many a drunken blur walking home after a show and seeing all my male friends stopping to relieve themselves behind a bush. So I realize, hey I can pee standing up too. Lo and behold. And no it's not some messy affair where it just dribbles all down the leg. I can aim shoot and project a stream 4+ feet in front of me, I've participated in pissing contests and didn't come in last. So yes I'm all for the equalizing of the bathrooms stuff. Frankly though, I don't understand why it takes some women so long to go - I mean unless there's that special occasion which requires a stall, but peeing? 1-2-3 and I'm done. And those of you who may be weirded out by the standing up thing, well surprise, it's just a matter of learning the technique - it's just girls are not taught as kids how to aim and shoot, and as in the case with all little boys, it just requires a little practice. (And no, I do not have a secret penis lurking down there) Is it really that surprising that some women don't care to stand in long lines and don't give a damn about using the mens room, or that some women, like me can learn to pee standing up and even use those urinals in the mens room? (I also know men who prefer to pee sitting down.) So why do we need separate bathrooms anyways? I guess my point is, like the girl in your post, I don't give a damn where the bowl is. If I have the choice of waiting in line for 15 min or not waiting in line at all, I don't care what the sign on the front of the door says, our piss all sounds the same falling into the porcelain. So what's the big deal.