歷史奇譚：男女分設(shè)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(lái)納和其他一些州已爆發(fā)一場(chǎng)新的文化論戰(zhàn)，這一次爭(zhēng)論的焦點(diǎn)是廁所。

北卡羅來(lái)納州三月份通過(guò)了一項(xiàng)法案（俗稱(chēng)HB2法案），規(guī)定人們只能按出生時(shí)的生理性別使用對(duì)應(yīng)的公廁。此法案影響了跨性別群體的權(quán)益，因?yàn)樗麄儗?duì)自身性別的認(rèn)同與出生證上不同?；鹕蠞灿偷氖瞧渌恍┲菀苍诳紤]通過(guò)類(lèi)似的法案。

有些人可能認(rèn)為公廁這種場(chǎng)所毫不起眼，雖不可或缺但不值得投入過(guò)多關(guān)注。但這些廁所法案的出臺(tái)不僅顯示公廁是許多社會(huì)群體復(fù)雜角力的舞臺(tái)，也說(shuō)明提供場(chǎng)所供人方便在社會(huì)生活中是非常重要的。

公共還是私密？

男女分設(shè)的公廁既可以說(shuō)由來(lái)已久也可算新生事物，這取決于如何看待這個(gè)問(wèn)題。男女分廁出現(xiàn)于維多利亞時(shí)期，隨著管道系統(tǒng)的廣泛鋪設(shè)而興起，與現(xiàn)代衛(wèi)生間幾乎有著同樣長(zhǎng)的歷史。另一方面，如廁時(shí)保持隱私也是一個(gè)相對(duì)現(xiàn)代的現(xiàn)象。

隱私的概念并非一成不變，所以很難判斷前人對(duì)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(zhǎng)凳上方便，彼此間毫無(wú)遮攔。然而有線索顯示隱私的概念可能已經(jīng)存在。據(jù)《羅馬考古學(xué)》雜志2003年發(fā)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(jì)建筑舊址，仆人和雇工使用多廁位的公共設(shè)施，而皇帝和身份顯貴的客人則似乎會(huì)使用相對(duì)私密的單獨(dú)廁位。

“單獨(dú)的廁位，尤其是為客人提供的，說(shuō)明當(dāng)空間和金錢(qián)不是問(wèn)題的時(shí)候，（精英階層）更愿意使用獨(dú)立的衛(wèi)生間?！毖芯繉W(xué)者兼獨(dú)立考古學(xué)家杰瑪·詹森寫(xiě)道。

加拿大約克大學(xué)社會(huì)學(xué)家及《跨性別公廁：性別、性和衛(wèi)生聯(lián)想》一書(shū)的作者希拉·卡瓦納說(shuō)，有案可查的第一間分男女的公廁是1739年巴黎一場(chǎng)舞會(huì)上的臨時(shí)設(shè)施。舞會(huì)的主辦方將“坐便器”（就是夜壺放在一個(gè)帶座位的盒子里）分放在兩個(gè)房間，一間供男賓使用，一間供女賓使用。

“舞會(huì)的所有來(lái)賓都覺(jué)得這很新奇——有點(diǎn)怪但很有趣?！笨ㄍ呒{說(shuō)。

但直到維多利亞時(shí)期，大多數(shù)西方國(guó)家的公共設(shè)施都只為男性服務(wù)，這意味著女性只能隨機(jī)應(yīng)“便”。如果維多利亞時(shí)期的女性不得不出門(mén)而且時(shí)間長(zhǎng)到憋不住，她們會(huì)在排水溝上小便（維多利亞式長(zhǎng)裙多少可以維護(hù)一點(diǎn)隱私）。卡瓦納說(shuō)，有些人甚至?xí)y帶一種叫作小便器的私人小物件，可以放到裙子內(nèi)使用然后倒掉。而怪異的是，這些小便器有時(shí)會(huì)被做成男性外生殖器的模樣。

這種女性公共設(shè)施的缺失反映了當(dāng)時(shí)社會(huì)對(duì)待女性的明顯態(tài)度：女人就應(yīng)該待在家里。紐約大學(xué)社會(huì)學(xué)家及《廁所：公共衛(wèi)生間和共享政治》一書(shū)的合編者哈維·莫洛奇說(shuō)，這種“便池約束”在一些發(fā)展中國(guó)家仍然存在。比如在印度，至今女性外出前都會(huì)盡量少吃東西少喝水，因?yàn)橥饷鏇](méi)有女廁可以去，莫洛奇對(duì)科學(xué)鮮聞網(wǎng)說(shuō)。

女廁和男廁

因此，第一間男女分設(shè)的公廁的出現(xiàn)標(biāo)志著女性社會(huì)地位的大幅提升。據(jù)《羅格斯大學(xué)法律評(píng)論》上一篇文章記載，馬薩諸塞州于1887年立法規(guī)定，有女性雇員的工作場(chǎng)所必須設(shè)置女廁。到了1920年代，此種法律條款已司空見(jiàn)慣。

莫洛奇說(shuō)，在維多利亞時(shí)期的美國(guó)，許多公共場(chǎng)所的設(shè)施都男女分設(shè)?；疖?chē)站有女士候車(chē)室，圖書(shū)館有女士閱覽室。他說(shuō)，當(dāng)其他公共場(chǎng)所取消了性別隔離，只有公廁還堅(jiān)守著男女有別的最后陣地。

“公廁是個(gè)非常有趣的地方，人在這里做著最私密的事，可這兒卻是個(gè)公共場(chǎng)所?！蹦迤嬲f(shuō)。在美國(guó)，公廁的隔斷單薄且有很多縫隙，部分原因是人們擔(dān)心在完全私密的小隔間里不知會(huì)發(fā)生什么。性行為和毒品，大部分人擔(dān)心這兩樣，他說(shuō)。

同時(shí)，人們遵守著嚴(yán)格的社會(huì)禮儀以維護(hù)隱私的假象。比如，莫洛奇說(shuō)，男人是不能被發(fā)現(xiàn)在看其他男性的生殖器的，而且也不能被人認(rèn)為他是試圖不看。

“排泄物讓人嫌惡，所以他人方便時(shí)發(fā)出的聲音和氣味會(huì)令人不快，這種私密行為帶來(lái)的羞恥感讓很多人擔(dān)心被人看到，甚或間接察覺(jué)到自己在方便。”墨爾本大學(xué)心理學(xué)教授及《衛(wèi)生間心理學(xué)》一書(shū)的作者尼古拉斯·哈斯拉姆說(shuō)道。排泄行為被認(rèn)為不夠淑女，哈斯拉姆對(duì)科學(xué)鮮聞網(wǎng)說(shuō)，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?！惫估氛f(shuō)。

卡瓦納表示，類(lèi)似北卡羅來(lái)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(shuō)并沒(méi)有記載案例表明跨性別者曾在公廁內(nèi)攻擊他人。而2013年刊登在《公共管理和社會(huì)政策》雜志上的一份調(diào)查卻顯示，來(lái)自華盛頓特區(qū)的跨性別受訪者中，有70%曾在公廁內(nèi)遭遇騷擾或攻擊，或者曾被拒絕進(jìn)入。

歸根結(jié)底，對(duì)允許生理性別不同的人共用衛(wèi)生間的擔(dān)憂(yōu)，更多地與公廁的象征性本質(zhì)有關(guān)，而不是出自實(shí)際考慮。通常人們認(rèn)為性別是由其出生時(shí)的生理性別決定的，所有情況下都是如此，但跨性別者對(duì)這一觀念提出質(zhì)疑，莫洛奇說(shuō)，這令某些人感到不適。不過(guò)他認(rèn)為這些猛烈的反對(duì)終會(huì)平息，而男女分設(shè)的廁所也會(huì)繼續(xù)存在，與此同時(shí)大家將達(dá)成以下共識(shí)——少管別人的閑事。

莫洛奇說(shuō)：“我們都知道，對(duì)跨性別者來(lái)說(shuō)沒(méi)有什么比‘接納更重要?！边@意味著如果你偶遇了跨性別者，他們希望你能把他們當(dāng)作其自我認(rèn)同的那個(gè)性別中的一員。他說(shuō)，大多數(shù)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(yǔ)世界》杯”翻譯大賽獲獎(jiǎng)?wù)撸?/p>