As a resident of North Carolina, I wasn’t surprised when I first heard of “the bathroom bill” House Bill 2. Despite only 36% of the state supporting the bill, it passed easily in the state house and was quickly signed into law. Par for the course, I suppose, in a state where the supermajority party is facing -22 approval ratings. While the bill is (rightfully) perceived as an attack on the rights of transgendered people, I noticed an underlying theme of Gynocentric thinking in its supporters.
The controversial bill dictates that all public and privately owned buildings must meet a set of requirements regarding the gender divisions of multi-use restrooms, stating that all bathrooms must separate by gender, defining gender as the sex stated on the birth certificate.
The main, and practically only reason that anybody supports this bill is that of their opposition to “men in women’s bathrooms.” I’m not here to argue if gender is biological or psychological, or if Caitlyn is still Bruce. Personally, I think she is she, but that’s not the point of the article. Nobody seems to bring it up, but House Bill 2 is a microcosm of misandry.
House Bill 2 wouldn’t exist if the narrative of men as predators didn’t exist. Examining arguments made by the bill’s proponents, they all attempt to justify themselves through fear mongering about the very idea of “men” being within proximity to women. “You think trans people should use whatever bathroom they want?” They ask. “What about men in women’s bathrooms, huh!? What about all the rape that men do? Can we trust them to be around little girls?!”
Interestingly, we seem to trust them around little boys. Are little girls more valuable, vulnerable, or just inherently of higher priority to protect?
The mere hypothetical presence of someone with a penis is enough to be considered a danger to others. Bathrooms are designed for one thing, you shit, you (hopefully) wash your hands, you leave. Peeping and sexual assault aren’t a requirement for using the bathroom! The vast, vast majority of people understand this!
Bathrooms aren’t the only public space divided by gender anymore. Gender segregation of trains and buses have been implemented in Japan, India, and Germany. These ‘women only’ trains were created as a response to sexual assault on public transit, an event that has never occurred in Japan or Germany, and only a few odd times in India, surprising when you consider how many people live in poverty zones in the country. Men around the world are punished for crimes that they didn’t do, and for public transport rape epidemics that don’t exist, with the United States becoming the most recent addition to the crowd with the introduction of House Bill 2.
This why we have stories of men not being able to pick up their children from school because they “look suspicious”, men getting punished for crimes they didn’t commit, and now transgenders being banned from their bathroom of choice just for the slight chance that they maybe might be a man. We don’t accept this demonization of men from the political left, so we shouldn’t accept it from the political right either.
