The purpose of partitions around urinals...

[Mr Ed in Mass]

When I'm a urinal pissing and my name is called,I always turn toward the person calling me,Thank God for deviders

 

[Duane.Ament]

You are right: there are more and more urinal partitions these days than in "the old days" (although I'm not that old!). I think that most men want and expect privacy today. It's the same reason that communal showers have disappeared from college dorms and gyms these days. Everyone wants privacy.

Personally, as many others have shared on this board, I think it's a bad thing. I don't want my children being freaked out by nudity. No, I do not want to raise children where we all walk around the house nude all day long! But this whole "I don't want to go into a communal shower" thing is weird to me.

Why are people so freaked out to show their bodies these days? (Is it because we Americans are getting fatter every year?)

 

[LeeEJ]

Why are people so freaked out to show their bodies these days? (Is it because we Americans are getting fatter every year?)

It's homophobia.

I'm convinced of that. When gayness wasn't so open, it didn't seem to cross anyone's mind that some random guy on the street could be gay.

Now, the ones who would get freaked out about that stuff instantly guess that anyone even remotely "gay-like" must be gay to some degree.

Personally, I think it's stupid.

Everyone wants privacy.

That ^^^ is the nice way to say it. The blunt way to say it is, "Insecure, closed-minded people don't want to be 'scoped out' by all those gay people running around."

 

[chicagoil]

I'm an American living in Switzerland, where they are paranoid about their privacy and thus in every public bathroom in the entire country, there are partitions between the urinals in public bathrooms. Go next door to France or Germany, and there are very few partitions between the urinals.

Over the holidays, I was back home in the U.S., and I hadn't been there in about a year and a half, which is long enough to notice changes that would be too gradual for most people who live there all the time to notice. I noticed a lot more partitions between urinals in public places - movie theaters, at the mall, etc. I agree with others who say that America is becoming more puritanical.

 

[newboy12]

i notice it too, even in airports dividers are being put up. they need to stop this crap and get rid of dividers all together.

They also need to bring back communal showers in dorms, i mean what the hell? why did they go in the first place. Men are getting sexier, eye candy.

 

[NIMBUS]

I think that the problem is not homophobia as such but the fact that gay men these days are so much less subtle and tactful about advertising their presence when hanging around public lavatories (which is nothing new, it's been happening for over a century) and have drawn the attention of both the public and the authorities to their activities. In these days of "rights" people seem to think that it is their right to behave in any way that they want and to hell with showing some (or any) respect for others.

I'm sick of walking into public toilets and seeing all the detritus and evidence left behind that make it quite clear what has been occurring. I don't really have any objection to guys getting their rocks off together when the places are deserted, as long as they behave responsibly and clear up and remove any evidence before they leave, but (sorry to be graphic) so many of them now leave spunky tissues all over the place and puddles of ejaculate everywhere that simply offend the general public :nono: , alert the authorities to the "anti-social behaviour" that has been going on and which just encourage them to install dividers and security cameras and the like. If you're going to do that sort of thing then at least be subtle about it, don't offend other people who might be using the facilities for "genuine" purposes and leave the place free of evidence of your activities.

 

[B_big dirigible]

One of the rudest pieces I've seen of the fringes of civilization was the "men's room" of a train station outside of Leningrad (it was Leningrad then, St Petersburg now). Ah yes, The Trough - little but a channel around three walls of the room. Not only were there no dividers, there wasn't even anything to keep you from falling in. And there was a great cloud of urine steam wafting out constantly. It looked like one of the more unattractive "Doom" levels.

I really think that a door opening onto an alleyway, with a sign giving helpful advice, like maybe Вахта вне для полисменов (Watch Out for Cops), would have been better.

But I suppose The Trough wasn't so bad, comparatively. The next room over was The Pit - I don't want to think about it.

So ... stop complaining, you don't know how good you got it.

 

[No_Strings]

Troughs aren't so bad... urinal soap races can be entertaining!

 

[rubberwilli]

Troughs have all but disappeared in the USA, with the exception of the ball parks and the facilities that haven't been renovated in decades years.

I was in Paris last year and they were everywhere. Hell, the McDonald's on the Champs Elysee had a stainless steel wall with a little divot at the bottom and water cascading down it, both artistic and practical. A friend of mine tried to install a trough like this in his bar here in Chicago (yes, a gay bar) and he was told it was not "code" compliant. It's a piss trough, how is it not code compliant? Water carries it away and that's that.

This is a little off topic, but I've always been curious... how in the world are you supposed to use the toilets in Europe that are two foot holds and a hole in the porcelain on the floor. It looks like a shower tray but you're supposed to piss and shit there? How do you ensure that you're not shitting onto or into your pants...talk about hovering. And there aren't any hand holds or bars their to hold onto either. I find that more disgusting than anything else, you have to stand in the middle of it to do your business. ICK!

 

[playainda336]

It's homophobia.

I'm convinced of that. When gayness wasn't so open, it didn't seem to cross anyone's mind that some random guy on the street could be gay.

Now, the ones who would get freaked out about that stuff instantly guess that anyone even remotely "gay-like" must be gay to some degree.

Personally, I think it's stupid.

That ^^^ is the nice way to say it. The blunt way to say it is, "Insecure, closed-minded people don't want to be 'scoped out' by all those gay people running around."

Or people just want their privacy. So what if they are insecure. Is there something wrong with them for not wanting to share or is there more wrong in the person infringing on their civil liberties not to is the better question.

You should have the choice and it's not always about "gay"-ness. Some people do see it like that. I'm not going to act like they don't. But even still. You shouldn't make someone become an object of infatuation if they don't want the attention.

Personally, I don't get freaked out at a urinal, but the bottom line is this:

You go to the urinal to pee.

As long as that is allowed, then what is the problem?

 

[B_big dirigible]

And there aren't any hand holds or bars their to hold onto either. I find that more disgusting than anything else, you have to stand in the middle of it to do your business. ICK!

The really classy ones have really classy little handles for you to hold onto. Or so I have been informed - I've never been in one that classy, m'self.

I do have to admit that I really admire the casting and machine work on those Pit things. The big diamond knurls to keep your shoes from slipping off are rather elegant, in a 19th century sort of way.

 

[LeeEJ]

This is a little off topic, but I've always been curious... how in the world are you supposed to use the toilets in Europe that are two foot holds and a hole in the porcelain on the floor. It looks like a shower tray but you're supposed to piss and shit there? How do you ensure that you're not shitting onto or into your pants...talk about hovering. And there aren't any hand holds or bars their to hold onto either. I find that more disgusting than anything else, you have to stand in the middle of it to do your business. ICK!

I don't know how I arrived at my method, but I was desperate, and HAD to take a monster shit one morning at a hole-in-the-floor "toilet" just up the road (literally) from Paris.

I positioned my feet, made sure that my pants were securely gathered among my ankles, crouched down, and let loose. Amazingly, everything went into the hole, and since I was crouched low, other parts of my flesh didn't get in the way. I cleaned up a lot more easily than I expected.

By contrast, my least favorite toilet seats are the ones that cradle my butt. Nothing causes me to use half a roll of toilet paper more than having my butt cheeks pressed together during a poop.

 

[LeeEJ]

This is a little off topic, but I've always been curious... how in the world are you supposed to use the toilets in Europe that are two foot holds and a hole in the porcelain on the floor. It looks like a shower tray but you're supposed to piss and shit there? How do you ensure that you're not shitting onto or into your pants...talk about hovering. And there aren't any hand holds or bars their to hold onto either. I find that more disgusting than anything else, you have to stand in the middle of it to do your business. ICK!

I don't know how I arrived at my method, but I was desperate, and HAD to take a monster shit one morning at a hole-in-the-floor "toilet" just up the road (literally) from Paris.

I positioned my feet, made sure that my pants were securely gathered among my ankles, crouched down, and let loose. Amazingly, everything went into the hole, and since I was crouched low, other parts of my flesh didn't get in the way. I cleaned up a lot more easily than I expected.

By contrast, my least favorite toilet seats are the ones that cradle my butt. Nothing causes me to use half a roll of toilet paper more than having my butt cheeks pressed together during a poop.

 

[NIMBUS]

I don't know how I arrived at my method, but I was desperate, and HAD to take a monster shit one morning at a hole-in-the-floor "toilet" just up the road (literally) from Paris.

I positioned my feet, made sure that my pants were securely gathered among my ankles, crouched down, and let loose. Amazingly, everything went into the hole, and since I was crouched low, other parts of my flesh didn't get in the way. I cleaned up a lot more easily than I expected.

It happened to me, many years ago, at a camp site in the Pyrenees. The toilets were flushed by water fed from the stream. One morning, after a huge and lengthy thunderstorm throughout the night, I went to use them. Luckily I was "on the ball". I unlocked the door to leave before I attempted to flush the toilet. Just as well - it was like a cascade. The water pressure was so high that I just opened the door and ran like hell!!! :biggrin1: I saw it flood out of the pan and all over the floor of the cubicle and was eternally thankful that I had the presence of mind to get out of there quickly!

 

[D_Bob_Crotchitch]

With all the comments about people being bladder shy, and about the rules of picking which urinal to use, the dividers make sense. Plus, it will keep some of you from drooling onto the mans drawers.

 

[davidjh7]

I suspect it is a mix of the reasons brought up here. People are far more aware that there ARE gay men than they were before, so are likely to be more conservative about being seen. When guys felt that they weren;t being looked at, dividers weren;t necessary. Also, people have become far more sensitive than ever before. Plus, there is the litigation issue---the easiest way for any establishment to avoid any kind of threat of legal action, is just to bow to the wishes of the most litigous, usually the loudest spoken, group. Everybody has a right to privacy when doing their business---in a public place, you expect that there is always less privacy than at home, but you want to maintain a certain level of personal dignity as well. The only downside I can see to dividers, really, is that the guys who WANT to scope out their neighbor are denied the chance. Granted, I have looked before, but I have never openly stared--that's just rude no matter what. I'm gay, I like cocks, it is in my nature. But I certainly am not going to pick some random guy and start grabbing his crotch, either. Maybe a reason for increased dividers can be explained by this old joke....
"What's two words will empty out a mens room faster than any other? 'Nice dick!'":tongue:

 

[Matthew]

to piss off the meat gazers!

This post cracks me up every time

 

[Bonanza65]

since the US has been on this sexual predator thing and news media now cover news stories of men be arrested for masturbation in bathrooms.

Bldg management are putting them up (afraid of lawsuits) and complaints of local womens (mothers) groups. Boys today are being raised that no person should ever see their private parts. It also cuts down on men who like to hang out in rest rooms all day stroking their dick at the urinal under the pretense they are peeing.

As for the boys men who have complexes about peeing in public (because some idiot said things to them to make their self esteem crash) they have and always will go pee in the toilet stalls. that hasnt changed.

in restrospect I dont think the majority of men would spend the money to have them put up in they were in charge of doing so. But the events to blame are:

- newsmedia now publishing anything sexual and lewd as a hot story
- tort laws and evagelical judges that make it possible for anyone to sue
any person for anything and when punitive damages
- feminine activists under the guise of purging all america of sexual predators (remember a 17 black boy in atlanta was sentence to 10 yrs in prison for having his 15 yo girlfriend give him oral sex) AND he is in the Sexual Predator database.
- pussywhipped men who, in a position of authority, will not stand up to a request from some boys parents saying they should have urinal dividers.. women dont pee in front of other women. and little johnny is being psychologically harmed.
- todays society is political correct and building management wants no press. No press or TV coverage is good press. so they install what ever they need to sqelched it. And personally if you have shareholders i dont blame them.

BUT worse of the urinal dividers was the law that president bush 41st passed the american disabilities act. This costs so much money to developer buidling the large as hell handicapp stalls (and too handicap parking places). so you say, why is that bad. well if you notice that fast food rest and gas stations cant afford to build these huge bathrooms so they just build 2 restrooms for single use for one person at a time. so during a busy summer day you come in and have to wait in line just to go pee. so now i see men dont deal with it and just go pee outside behind the bldg or next to car in parking lot. thats classy

 

[N2jocks]

The purpose of partitions at urinals is for privacy and they are required by many building codes throughout the country and the world.

 

[PacknThick]

The purpose of partitions at urinals is for privacy and they are required by many building codes throughout the country and the world.

Not really the world.... I been to countries where its a big ole round a bout tub looking thing and u just piss inside. and other places where its just urinals. Its abodily and human thing to piss so why waste money on something not really needed, until the Gays come. Plus sex, sexual objects and anything to do with SEX is pretty open in other countries, especially Europe. I know Im getting off topic but satellite tv over there has porn around dinner time, and talk shows with porn clips, HARDCORE.