This article is not debating whether or not all-gender bathrooms are appropriate. This article is NOT to be political. This article is addressing the importance of consistency. Moreover, it addresses consistency's importance when it pertains to signs that are imparative to the public. Signs that are not for the purpose of advertisement but are to inform the public should be easy to read and should be succinct. Signs and their text should be synonymous.
So, the other day I was in my university's student center. My university (UAB) is pro-diversity, pro-safespace, pro-LGBTQ, etc. During my visit I had to urinate, as human beings tend to do. So, I go to the restroom to use said facilities and at the end of the hall is the All-Gender Restroom sign. Seeing this sign was not unusual because I had seen the same sign before. However, for some unknown reason I observed the sign more carefully than I usually do (which is just a glance) and I noticed something that stood out to me. Beneath the text "All-Gender Bathroom," there were four people: a man, a woman, a child, and a man in a wheelchair.
Restroom signs for men have the little man on them. Restroom signs for women have the little woman on them. So why the Hell does the restroom sign for all-genders have a nuclear family and a man in a wheelchair on it. Now you may think to yourself, "this guy is an idiot. Obviously the family is meant to represent a family bathroom and the man in the wheelchair is meant to signify that the bathroom accomodates people with disabilities." No, I understand what the sign means. But, the second thought that came to my mind is this: "is this sign trying to tell me that families and people with disabilities are genders? Because they are incorrect if that is the case." Now, most people would not think twice about this but I have! And I have reasoning for why this sign is an atrocity on the sign makers behalf:
Signs with depictions of people on it usually pertain to the text on said sign. Wet-floor signs depict people slipping on wet-floors. Pedestrian signs depict people crossing the roads. If the "men at work" or "men working" sign depicts anything other than its text, it depicts men at work. So, there is a lack of consistency between the majority of signs used to inform the public and this specific All-Gender Restroom sign. This sign does not pertain to its text, because this sign is the same sign they use for the family restrooms. This sign does not even show all of the genders. Actually it only shows the two main genders (or if you do not believe in sociology the only two genders). This would also be fine if the sign had said Gender-Neutral Restroom, but it does not. The sign says "All-Gender Restroom," which there is a sign for. It is the man depiction and the woman depiction merged together.
I am not ragging on handicap accessible bathrooms or family bathrooms. It is very important to accomodate the people in our society with disabilities. Also, it is very important to have family bathrooms so that anyone and everyone who needs to use a facility such as that can. I am simply saying that the sign is misleading in a mior and comedic way, and that it appears that UAB changed the name of the family bathroom in the student center to seem more inclusive while putting as little effort into it, leaving the majority of the family bathroom sign up.
