Fashioning the Body: Versions of the Citizen, the Self, and the Subject

The second floor of the CAB contains two doorways that are set back away from the main hallway. These two entrances are significantly unique from the rest of the doorways in the building. Here lie two short hallways, one blue, one purple. On the exterior of the entrances are words, respectively to the colors, "MEN 201A" and "WOMEN 202A." Upon entering the short hallway, there are more doors. The MEN entrance says "MEN" again next to a placard with a visual symbol: a simplistic body shape standing straight up next to a figure sitting on a circular shape. The WOMEN entrance says "WOMEN" next to a similar placard, but this standing figure had a triangular abdomen (the sititng figure is identical to its MEN sign).

In the purple WOMEN's entrance, a person has the option to enter a doorless room before entering the closed door straight ahead. This doorless room on the right side in the entrance has dim lighting, white walls, and an orange bed/couch/chaise lounge. This small room is entitled, in a sign in the hallway, "LOUNGE."

In the blue MEN's entrance hall, an average person does not have the option to enter a doorway on the left hand side of the short hallway. This doorway is locked, has a white board on it, and is entitled "JANITOR."

While it may appear the two restooms are markedly different, the layouts inside are mostly the same. Save the fact the women's has three stalls (tall make-shift 'rooms' containing a porcelain bowl filled with water) and the men's has only one… and that the men's has two porcelain bowls (no water) propped on one wall at two different heights. A minimal board divides the two bowls here. In any case, both rooms have three porcelain bowls that produce water next to dispensers of scented liquid and dispensers of paper towels. These sinks are at a low enough height that a person in a wheelchair could use them, but we noticed that the doors did not open automatically, potentially making entrance difficult for some people.

Two devices were notable to me. One, in the main area of the bathrooms (where the sinks were), was a plastic 'box' mounted on one wall of each bathroom. This plastic box could be opened to have a flat-bed fold out; on the front was an image of a koala bear in a diaper with the words "Koala Bear Kare." Evidently this is a space provided for infantile bears on which to sit—what other impression would an unsuspecting bathroom user have? There were no visual or written directions for use in either bathroom. The second device that interested me was the large reflective pane mounted on another wall. Again, both bathroom interiors had these mirrors. Why do we need mirrors in bathrooms? Certainly the implication is to look at ourselves—that we should look at ourselves at least once a day. The mirror is not optional, although it is mounted rather high on the wall—could a person of a lower height or seated in a wheelchair see into this mirror? The signs outside the bathrooms indicated wheelchair accessibility, but I had to wonder if the placement had been a consideration.

When noticing all the little details of the bathrooms (how the stalls have/don't have toilet paper, a small box for trash, a box full of sheets of tissue with a circular cut-out, etc), I couldn't help think about how specific they all were. And how specific their uses are, and how we users are assumed to know exactly what to do with each instrument. "This is to urinate in. This is to wash one's hand in. This is to dry one's hands with. This is to lounge in. This is to look at one's self with. This is to stand on, not sit on, not lie on." Indeed, the bathrooms are set apart from every other room in the CAB. They exist as a specific instrumental space. I, standing inside one, knew the purpose and felt awkward just observing inside a restroom with a notebook and pen in hand. Even more unusual I felt, as a woman entering an (empty) men's room in a public space. I've internalized the concept that women do not use the men's room, do not enter this certain space that provides this certain function.

(Scanned sketches possibly to follow, depending on the misbehaving scanner....)