part of the problem is the very existence of such exclusive spaces that force an artificial categorization. most people are not harassers, even among so-called men. I'd like to believe that most people would stand for the most vulnerable. I pose that their presence in spaces where the most vulnerable exist makes the most vulnerable safer, not at higher risk. whereas the artificial attempt to force a separation makes it so that attempts to bypass it are more likely to be carried out by abusers for ill intent.

I still recall a scene from Asimov's Robots of Dawn in which the earthling protagonist is surprised upon finding out that on Aurora (another planet long-before colonized by humans) restrooms were unisex. that stayed with me. years later, I was surprised myself in public restrooms in another country, that were separated, but a cleaning lady often got into men's restrooms to do her work. in Brazil, either a cleaning gentleman is hired to do that job, or the restroom is closed for the cleaning. so this is all up to culture, and it varies across different cultures, so there's little reason to take any such cultural artifacts for granted or for "that's how it has to be". a lot of our current problems follow from past mistakes.

CC: @light@noc.social @quasi@peister.org @Gnomeshatecheese@spinster.xyz