The toilet debate: stalling trans possibilities and defending ‘women's protected spaces’

As one of the few explicitly gender-separated spaces, the toilet has become a prominent site of conflict and a focal point for ‘gender-critical’ feminism. In this article we draw upon an AHRC-funded project, Around the Toilet, to reflect upon and critique trans-exclusionary and trans-hostile narratives of toilet spaces. Such narratives include ciscentric, heteronormative and gender essentialist positions within toilet research and activism which, for example, equate certain actions and bodily functions (such as menstruation) to a particular gender, decry the need for all-gender toilets, and cast suspicion upon the intentions of trans women in public toilet spaces. These include explicitly transmisogynist discourses perpetuated largely by those calling themselves ‘gender-critical’ feminists, but also extend to national media, right-wing populist discourses and beyond. We use Around the Toilet data to argue that access to safe and comfortable toilets plays a fundamental role in making trans lives possible. Furthermore, we contend that – whether naive, ignorant or explicitly transphobic – trans-exclusionary positions do little to improve toilet access for the majority, instead putting trans people, and others with visible markers of gender difference, at a greater risk of violence, and participating in the dangerous homogenisation of womanhood

Race at the margins: A Critical Race Theory perspective on race equality in UK planning.

Despite evidence of the growing ethnic diversity of British cities and its impact on urban governance, the issue of racial equality in UK planning remains marginal, at best, to mainstream planning activity. This paper uses Critical Race Theory (CRT) to consider the reasons why the ‘race’ and planning agenda continues to stall. CRT, it is argued, offers a compelling account of why changes in practice over time have been patchy at best, and have sometimes gone into reverse

Microwave Current Imaging in Passive HTS Components by Low-Temperature Laser Scanning Microscopy (LTLSM)

We have used the LTLSM technique for a spatially resolved investigation of the microwave transport properties, nonlinearities and material inhomogeneities in an operating coplanar waveguide YBa_2Cu_3O_{7-\delta} (YBCO) microwave resonator on an LaAlO_3 (LAO) substrate. The influence of twin-domain blocks, in-plane rotated grains, and micro-cracks in the YBCO film on the nonuniform rf current distribution were measured with a micrometer-scale spatial resolution. The impact of the peaked edge currents and rf field penetration into weak links on the linear device performance were studied as well. The LTLSM capabilities and its future potential for non-destructive characterization of the microwave properties of superconducting circuits are discussed.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figures, 2-column format, presented at High Temperature Superconductors in High Frequency Fields 2004, Journal of Superconductivity (in press

Planning for women and other disenabled groups, with reference to the provision of public toilets in Britain

In this paper the reasons why it is proving so difficult to implement enabling policies to make urban space more accessible for women and other disenabled groups, with particular reference to the provision of public toilets in Britain, are investigated. Toilet provision is described, and factors are identified which have contributed to the situation, with reference to the governmental, professional, and organisational context. Alternative approaches to implementation are considered and examples are drawn from North American zoning-based systems. Although land-use zoning has a reputation for being socially divisive it is argued that zoning ordinance systems can be used constructively as a means of achieving social provision such as toilet facilities. It is concluded that, although it is important to solve existing problems by modifying existing urban structures, a more radical reconceptualisation of the city is needed to meet the needs of the majority of its users. To achieve this there is a need for a change in the subcultural values of the decisionmakers and for governmental support

Planning for women and other disenabled groups, with reference to the provision of public toilets in Britain

In this paper the reasons why it is proving so difficult to implement enabling policies to make urban space more accessible for women and other disenabled groups, with particular reference to the provision of public toilets in Britain, are investigated. Toilet provision is described, and factors are identified which have contributed to the situation, with reference to the governmental, professional, and organisational context. Alternative approaches to implementation are considered and examples are drawn from North American zoning-based systems. Although land-use zoning has a reputation for being socially divisive it is argued that zoning ordinance systems can be used constructively as a means of achieving social provision such as toilet facilities. It is concluded that, although it is important to solve existing problems by modifying existing urban structures, a more radical reconceptualisation of the city is needed to meet the needs of the majority of its users. To achieve this there is a need for a change in the subcultural values of the decisionmakers and for governmental support.

Porn, pride and pessimism: experiences of women working in professional construction roles

This qualitative study contributes to knowledge about the strategies women use to establish their presence in professional roles in the highly gendered construction sector.The article focuses on construction site culture that is hierarchical and 'laddish' with sexual harassment an entrenched feature of life on site.Women find this threatening but are unable to challenge it, because being part of the 'building team' requires their silence. These negative experiences contrast with the pride expressed in their socially useful work bringing both aesthetic and technical satisfaction. Modernization of the industry that one participant framed as 'dragging it out of the dark ages' was seen as a priority.The two most pressing issues are the long-hours culture and the conflict-ridden nature of the sector. A feminist interpretive lens is used to draw out the continuing problems women face in the industry and concludes that the prospects for change to cultural practices remain bleak