The sudden rush hits your body as you realize you have the urge and need to go to the restroom. It looms across to you from the restaurant and the first sign of panic arises in your chest as you think about venturing out to it alone. You attempt to alleviate some stress by turning to a friend and asking her to accompany you to the bathroom, and she grabs her stuff without a second thought. You feel safer knowing she’s behind you as you walk towards the door and as soon as it closes, that’s where most people get lost on what’s really going on behind that women’s restroom sign.
So why is it that girls have to go in groups to the bathroom? Does it really provide for a buffer from the staring eyes of everyone as you walk past on the way, or is just because we want to use the restroom for more than just the norm of relieving ourselves? Either way, it’s hard to for women to explain, and even harder for men to understand.
“I don’t get it,” freshman Chad Downing said, “what are they doing in there that they have to do it in groups?”
Well to a woman, going to the restroom requires more than the act of just using it. “When I say I have to go to the bathroom it actually means I’m probably going to fix my make-up and still make sure my outfit looks as good as it did when I left,” sophomore Steph Sodders said.
So as the restroom doubles for a dressing room and make-up studio, the question still arises as to why woman have to do it in pairs. “I may get the checking yourself out part,” Chad said, “but why can’t girls do that alone? Why must they have their friends with them at all times?”
“It’s weird going by yourself,” Danville High School senior Taylor Reyes said, “why go by yourself when you can easily go with your friends.” Why though? Is it really due to the fear of walking across the restaurant with numerous pairs of eyes only on you, or is more related to just wanting to have someone with you?
“I like to talk to my friends in the bathroom,” Steph said, “it gives me a chance to tell them things I wouldn’t want to say at the table or in front of others.” So now the ladies have turned the restroom into a gab session instead of using it for the intended purpose. It makes one wonder though, what could they really have to talk about in the bathroom that you couldn’t other places?
“Everything!” Taylor said, “Especially if it’s about a boy who may be back at the table. Being able to go to the bathroom with my friends gives me a chance to talk about how much or how little I may like that certain guy.”
“That makes me nervous,” Chad said upon being told these findings, “now every time a group of girls goes to the bathroom that I’m with I’m going to be wondering if they’ll be talking about me.”
It’s not just boys though as Taylor said, it’s everything. From what they’re wearing, to what they’re going to do later, girls see restrooms as a place for the whole lot. And consequently enough, their last thoughts are to actually use it as a bathroom.
“I can’t tell you how many times I’ve ‘gone to the bathroom’, without really going,” Steph says, “I really do see it as not only a restroom, but a physical and emotional check-up as well.”
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