Why Do Men’s Restrooms Stink? A Reflection on Privilege
So far in my life, almost every public restroom I have used had a distinct, unpleasant stench—except for a few in high-end places. One day, I casually brought this up in conversation with a female friend, and to my surprise, she mentioned that women’s restrooms don’t smell as bad as men’s restrooms do. This got me thinking. One particular instance stood out to me. My friend and I were at a library where the men’s and women’s restrooms were right across from each other. When we both came out, I complained about how awful the men's room smelled. She, on the other hand, said the women's room was fine. This seemed like such a minor observation at first, but as I thought more about it, I realized it might be a reflection of something much deeper—an ugly consequence of patriarchy. The one thing I noticed in that men’s restroom was that most of the men using the urinals weren’t flushing after use. There was a small knob that on...