Bathroom As Theatre

[plumtreeblossom]

Sorry to be harping about this again, but I was just reading miles of complaints on TripAdvisor.com about hotels surprising their guests with glass bathroom walls that leave the toilet totally exposed. I LOATHE this invasive and presumptuous trend in "decorating." Seeing so many others uncomfortable with it too was validating, but the fact that there were so many underlines the problem of how widespread it's becoming.

Priceline has landed the Wabbit and me in some pretty shi-shi digs for less than the price of a motel. For the first time in my life, I'm considering looking at European-style hotels with shared bathrooms. Its more inconvenient, but at least I know I'll have real walls! Oh, and all of you people who stay at the Pod; stick to the shared bathroom rooms. The en-suites are being rennovated to have glass bathrooms. Some already have them.

You're probably saying "Plumtreeblossom, why are you so up in arms about this when you only travel a few times a year?" Well, because I DO travel a few times a year, and I don't want my comfort levels dictated to me. I know one person who has seen this over-share design in someone's house, so it's not just hotels. I hate it because it seems to send the message "You are bad to want to hide anything about yourself." It also says "If you need an opaque toilet enclosure, you are a hopelessly unsophistocated hillbilly who ought not darken our chic doorway with your parochial sensitivities."

I need to know just how alone or not I am in this rejection of forced exposure. to that end:



[Poll #1398758]

Comments

[anniemarie75.livejournal.com]

I stayed at a place in Bermuda last year where there was a seperate room for the toilet and sink, but the big tub and another sink were not 10 feet from the bed. It was weird and funny at the same time.

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

I think I might be okay with that arrangement if I was with beowabbit, or certain very close female friends. I have some comfort level with nudity in controlled circumstances. The toilet is the problem. I do NOT share that act with anyone! Even if I was a conjoined twin I would make them put on a blindfold or something.

[anniemarie75.livejournal.com]

I know totally. Some people are so open with it...even my cats want their privacy...well the girl does the boys are ...different :)

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

Yep, if I look at my cat when he's using the litter box, he looks at me funny as if he wished I'd go away.

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

The toilet is definitely the issue, yeah. Lack of any wall at all? Seriously? I mean, all other things aside, what about smell?

BTW, although one of my selections was "romantic partner(s)", I'd have opted for only certain ones. I mean, I've lived with partners long-term... it gets a lot more personal than that, but I won't squick you with details. :)

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

Indeed, the smell. Perhaps the designers are suggesting that it's sexy to share that with your partner while zie is eating hir continental breakfast. (And do we call that an incontinental breakfast? *jazz hands*)

Most of the no-wall bathroom reports were from posh hotels in Asia. If my cultural knowledge is correct (and it might not be), I think there's less taboo there about the fetishizing of toileting. But then, the Tokyo bathrooms I was in had those princess boxes that made white noise to disguise the sounds of elimination, so go figure. In any case, the people reporting on TripAdvisor had been very uncomfortable in them.

[spwebdesign.livejournal.com]

Perhaps the designers are suggesting that it's sexy to share that with your partner while zie is eating hir continental breakfast.

Clearly, the designers were influenced by "2 girls 1 cup"!