by Mandy Van Deven- India –
What do former U.S. Senator Larry Craig, women in Victorian England, and transgender activists have in common?
Toilets!
The first multi-disciplinary book about potty politics to be published, Ladies and Gents: Public Toilets and Gender, explores the ways in which one of our most private public spaces is laden with cultural, social, and ideological meaning. From ablism (discrimination in favor of the able-bodied) to ethnocentric hygiene, this collection of essays encourages us to consider what toilets—their design and functionality—say about societies around the globe. I spoke with editors Olga Gershenson and Barbara Penner, who spearheaded the project, about how they came to write about the water closet, why the loo is still taboo, and what about their work struck a nerve among conservatives.
Since it’s not the most obvious subject matter, how did you come to edit a book about toilets?
Olga Gershenson: I am a cultural studies scholar, and I specialize in Jewish Studies. So Ladies and Gents is a bit of professional detour. In fact, the subject of toilets was a complete accident – no pun intended (laughs). I was teaching a course on gender, and bumped into a totally unexpected subject: toilet accessibility for folks who are transgender, gender-variant, or just plainly don’t look their sex. I was stunned that for all these people something I took for granted was a hurdle and a risk. I tried to do more research on the subject, couldn’t find much material, and realized there was a need for a book about toilets and gender. Five years later—here we are.
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