I must write an essay on the organization of a particular object for one of my Library school courses. The object in question could be anything: grocery store, smartphone, Facebook… We are to show how the way an object is constructed affects the way we interact with it physically and mentally, and also how its organization tells us something about those who constructed it (basic ontology/epistemology). In light of Ottawa recently passing the Bathroom Bill to amend the Human Rights Act and and Criminal Code to ban discrimination based on gender identity, I immediately thought: why not a semiotics of the public washroom from a Queer perspective.

A surprising amount of ink has been spilled about the social codes and physical design of public toilets. I had a queer critique based on Judith Halberstam’s work in mind, but also planned to incorporate York prof Sheila Cavanagh’s recently published Queering Bathrooms: Gender, Sexuality and the Hygienic Imagination. Once I began researching–that is, spending approx 35 minutes using my favourite resources, Google and the UToronto library catalogue–I discovered a veritable poo-poo platter of writings on this most essential of topics: how do we organize public, private spaces?

NYU’s Laura Noren (under the name “flaneuse”, *heart*) runs a sociology/graphic design blog, which includes an excellent and brief article on better bathroom design. Noren has also edited, with NYU colleague Harvey Molotch (writer of award-winning article Peeing in Public) a collection entitled Toilet: Public Restrooms and the Politics of Sharing which I hope to get my hands on.

Of course, all good researchers know that one’s search is not truly thorough if it does not lead you to that continental jack-of-all-opinions, Slavoj Zizek. I present to you this near-perfect analysis of the organization of public washrooms. Unlike Zizek, I would argue that ideology is clearly at work the moment you must choose the “appropriate” sign to represent yourself. That being said, I present to you, in 2 minutes or less, bathroom ideology from the semiotic triangle to the pubic triangle. Thanks, Zizek.