Saturday, February 14, 2015

Library visitors confused by gender neutral toilet signs

Gender neutral toilet signs in a northern Swedish town library have left visitors confused. Unisex toilets have been installed at the new library in Umeå. But the signs to the toilets have confused many.

A sign hanging between the doors shows a male and a female figure, and arrows pointing in both directions. And in their most pressing time of need, visitors to the library have found they don't know where to go.



“You usually look for a man or a woman, but here they've got both symbols,” library visitor Ida Lundström said. According to Maria Westerlund, section head of Umeå public library, the arrows are meant to show that you can use either toilet. “The arrows don't mean that women should go left and men right.

“But I understand it can be mistaken for a ladies' toilet and a gentlemen's toilet,” she said. “It's always very difficult to be clear when it comes to signs – they can always be understood in different ways. But if this ends up causing problems we may have to look at other options,” she added.

6 comments:

Shak said...

Quite frankly, I dislike using the men's toilet because they have a tendency to pee anywhere in the general area of the toilet.

Anonymous said...

Put up a silhouette of a Scotsman in a kilt.

Lurker111

P.S.: I've come to totally _despise_ sign symbology. If you want to use a symbol, fine. But that doesn't preclude you from adding a _text_ explanation. It's in a library, too, for crying out loud. People are likely able to read.

BoS said...

I forgive you for your bigotry, misandry and arrogance, Shak.

Anonymous said...

As a woman, I dislike the women's toilets because women hover over the toilet seat and piss everywhere. I can't hover to save my dry ass, but I can squat, so sometimes I look at the floor drain as a possibility.

The men's room is always preferable.

And having worked nightclubs for 15 years, I swear, women get up to things in there that you never see in the men's room.

Men's room: Good. Ladies room: Scary.

Williamrocket said...

Sign symbology ???
Is that what it is called ? Thanks for that, I needed a name for such nonsense.
I live in an English speaking country (N.Z.)
I speak English (bron in Wales, grew up in Berkshire)
The email service I use is owned by a NZ company (Telecom NZ).
Yet the entire selection of tasks are symbologinistic crap !
I have to hover over each one, each time, until I have the words come up that tells me what the bloody thing does !!!
HOW IDIOTIC IS THAT ???
I am not dumb, I am not slow, but I do not email much, sometimes only once a fortnight, so every time is a fresh thought process for me.
How about using WORDS !!!

Thank you for reading my rant.
It helps to vocalise.
Here I paste a smiley face icon.

Shak said...

Bos, I'm so sorry that you're so overly sensitive that you feel offended that I don't want to use the men's bathroom. For the record, I used to work in a place where they locked only the women's bathroom on the evening shift. The reason is because, although the men's bathroom was filthy, the females were destructive. I've never seen it personally, but I don't doubt it.