Marketing genius.
As a social scientist, I have long been fascinated by the seeming inconsistencies in our human behavior. On the one hand, it seems since the time that I was born, the general public seems to be increasingly comfortable with clothes which allow for maximum exposure of women’s breasts, the outline of male and female posteriors and male genitalia. In many places in the United States there are nude beaches as well as clothes optional resort and camping facilities. Yet, at the same time we in the United States have reacted in a more punitive manner to public exposure. (Yes, I am quite aware that public exposure like sex crimes are about control and not about sex per se.) As far as I can determine, starting sometime in the 1980s in the United States and a few other countries, urinal partitions began to be installed in male public restrooms. While it is true that there were some public restrooms which installed marble partitions much earlier, my personal experience has been that even those historic halls such as Heinz Hall which retained the basic original urinals in the large men’s restrooms on the lower floors had no partitions. Prior to noticing the increasing number of restrooms with partitions I had overheard comments from a few males about their refusal to use a urinal where other men could possibly view their penis. Still, I had no idea that this was such a pressing, public issue which would justify the expense of billions of dollars in public restrooms. Yet, soon places as diverse as restaurants and state run interstate highway rest areas were installing partitions. I could not locate an average price for the purchase of partitions (various materials are available), the hardware to install, and the labor to install them. Many of the less expensive partitions seem to be around $100.00. There are several pieces of hardware which will be required including screws or bolts which will attach to the various wall materials or the material of the partitions. Overall we are talking about a huge amount of public and private (one can be assured that customers end up paying the cost) funds spent for the sole purpose of we males being assured that no one could, with or without magnifying glasses, view our average 3 to 5 inches of penis. Really! Certainly I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge that men in public settings compare their penis size with that of other men. I would also be remiss if I did not acknowledge that some gay, bisexual men who have sex with men, bi-curious men, and other men check out the penis’s of other men. At the same time, the number of men who have been sexually assaulted in public restrooms seems to be a very low number. It is true that historically it has been difficult for men to identify potentially male sexual partners and some public restrooms and parks became common “cruising” areas. Men developed ways of signaling and acknowledging interest in each other. This may be changing as it is safer for men to approach other men for potential dates in both gay and some inclusive bars and other public places.
The real story which piques my interest is a marketing one. Someone convinced a significant number of people that it was good public policy to spend a lot of public and private money purchasing and installing urinal partitions. How is this possible? More importantly, although google has become increasing informative, no matter how limited my search skills, I could find little to nothing about the history of this marketing genius. I did find an article about the environmental impact of various materials for partitions. One can also find the results of some research on the history in other countries of the move away from public, side walk urinals, the development of female urinals, and the design and use of the modern toilet, but one will find very little on the more recent history of urinal partitions. I even googled “stocks of companies making urinal partitions” and did not get specific results. While I have no idea of the current profit margin and the level of competition it would, still, I assume, be a safe and somewhat profitable stock investment.
This would be a wonderful topic for someone needing to do a PhD thesis on a successful marketing technique.
It would also be a wonderful topic for the psychological and sociological factors affecting the comfort or lack of comfort of we males with our own genitals. Apparently many of we men are quite comfortable sharing our enormous beer or food bellies shirtless or nearly shirtless at all sorts of public events in the summer. As women are to be believed apparently in the comfort of one’s own home, many of we males are perfectly comfortable with boxer (underwear) shorts being the costume de jour.
On could also research the possible correlation between the number of behaviors which we have determined to be criminal and requiring that men (and some women) be labeled for life as sexual offenders. This list includes those who unwittingly hired a sexual prostitute, many who unwittingly downloaded or had downloaded the wide variety of material which is now considered child pornography, those who exposed themselves, or those who did not accurately calculate the age difference between them and their sexual partners, or who were not clear about the ages of consent in particular states. In my long years of working as a professional counselor, I have often worked with families whose 15-year-old daughter was dating a college student and decided not to press legal charges as well as those who were eager to press charges. We imprison and label as sexual offenders those with compulsive or addictive sexual disorder.
In my long history of working with victims of sexual assaults as well as those convicted as the “perpetrators” of sexual assaults, I have yet to encounter cases of male bathroom sexual assaults. I have worked with several cases involving the assault of females in bathrooms.
On the one hand, I want to applaud the marketing genius of those who conceived and instituted this very successful urinal partition campaign. On the other hand, I want to question how we taxpayers allowed this to happen. I also want to question the emotional stability of we males who have yet to make peace with or friends with that little bit of protruding skin which allows us to procreate, to enjoy self-pleasuring, and to make it easy to urinate.
I have deliberately, for the sake of this brief blog, ignored the subject of the history of the privacy booth in both male and female bathrooms. I have also ignored the subject of open toilets and, thus, the total lack of bathroom privacy in prison/jail settings.
Perhaps if we could identify the marketing techniques used to promote urinal partitions we could convince most of the world leaders why violence is not the road to peace. Perhaps!
Written February 29, 2016
As a social scientist, I have long been fascinated by the seeming inconsistencies in our human behavior. On the one hand, it seems since the time that I was born, the general public seems to be increasingly comfortable with clothes which allow for maximum exposure of women’s breasts, the outline of male and female posteriors and male genitalia. In many places in the United States there are nude beaches as well as clothes optional resort and camping facilities. Yet, at the same time we in the United States have reacted in a more punitive manner to public exposure. (Yes, I am quite aware that public exposure like sex crimes are about control and not about sex per se.) As far as I can determine, starting sometime in the 1980s in the United States and a few other countries, urinal partitions began to be installed in male public restrooms. While it is true that there were some public restrooms which installed marble partitions much earlier, my personal experience has been that even those historic halls such as Heinz Hall which retained the basic original urinals in the large men’s restrooms on the lower floors had no partitions. Prior to noticing the increasing number of restrooms with partitions I had overheard comments from a few males about their refusal to use a urinal where other men could possibly view their penis. Still, I had no idea that this was such a pressing, public issue which would justify the expense of billions of dollars in public restrooms. Yet, soon places as diverse as restaurants and state run interstate highway rest areas were installing partitions. I could not locate an average price for the purchase of partitions (various materials are available), the hardware to install, and the labor to install them. Many of the less expensive partitions seem to be around $100.00. There are several pieces of hardware which will be required including screws or bolts which will attach to the various wall materials or the material of the partitions. Overall we are talking about a huge amount of public and private (one can be assured that customers end up paying the cost) funds spent for the sole purpose of we males being assured that no one could, with or without magnifying glasses, view our average 3 to 5 inches of penis. Really! Certainly I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge that men in public settings compare their penis size with that of other men. I would also be remiss if I did not acknowledge that some gay, bisexual men who have sex with men, bi-curious men, and other men check out the penis’s of other men. At the same time, the number of men who have been sexually assaulted in public restrooms seems to be a very low number. It is true that historically it has been difficult for men to identify potentially male sexual partners and some public restrooms and parks became common “cruising” areas. Men developed ways of signaling and acknowledging interest in each other. This may be changing as it is safer for men to approach other men for potential dates in both gay and some inclusive bars and other public places.
The real story which piques my interest is a marketing one. Someone convinced a significant number of people that it was good public policy to spend a lot of public and private money purchasing and installing urinal partitions. How is this possible? More importantly, although google has become increasing informative, no matter how limited my search skills, I could find little to nothing about the history of this marketing genius. I did find an article about the environmental impact of various materials for partitions. One can also find the results of some research on the history in other countries of the move away from public, side walk urinals, the development of female urinals, and the design and use of the modern toilet, but one will find very little on the more recent history of urinal partitions. I even googled “stocks of companies making urinal partitions” and did not get specific results. While I have no idea of the current profit margin and the level of competition it would, still, I assume, be a safe and somewhat profitable stock investment.
This would be a wonderful topic for someone needing to do a PhD thesis on a successful marketing technique.
It would also be a wonderful topic for the psychological and sociological factors affecting the comfort or lack of comfort of we males with our own genitals. Apparently many of we men are quite comfortable sharing our enormous beer or food bellies shirtless or nearly shirtless at all sorts of public events in the summer. As women are to be believed apparently in the comfort of one’s own home, many of we males are perfectly comfortable with boxer (underwear) shorts being the costume de jour.
On could also research the possible correlation between the number of behaviors which we have determined to be criminal and requiring that men (and some women) be labeled for life as sexual offenders. This list includes those who unwittingly hired a sexual prostitute, many who unwittingly downloaded or had downloaded the wide variety of material which is now considered child pornography, those who exposed themselves, or those who did not accurately calculate the age difference between them and their sexual partners, or who were not clear about the ages of consent in particular states. In my long years of working as a professional counselor, I have often worked with families whose 15-year-old daughter was dating a college student and decided not to press legal charges as well as those who were eager to press charges. We imprison and label as sexual offenders those with compulsive or addictive sexual disorder.
In my long history of working with victims of sexual assaults as well as those convicted as the “perpetrators” of sexual assaults, I have yet to encounter cases of male bathroom sexual assaults. I have worked with several cases involving the assault of females in bathrooms.
On the one hand, I want to applaud the marketing genius of those who conceived and instituted this very successful urinal partition campaign. On the other hand, I want to question how we taxpayers allowed this to happen. I also want to question the emotional stability of we males who have yet to make peace with or friends with that little bit of protruding skin which allows us to procreate, to enjoy self-pleasuring, and to make it easy to urinate.
I have deliberately, for the sake of this brief blog, ignored the subject of the history of the privacy booth in both male and female bathrooms. I have also ignored the subject of open toilets and, thus, the total lack of bathroom privacy in prison/jail settings.
Perhaps if we could identify the marketing techniques used to promote urinal partitions we could convince most of the world leaders why violence is not the road to peace. Perhaps!
Written February 29, 2016
RSS Feed