Toilet signs are installed outside most bathrooms to indicate gender separation. Pictures of men and women are the most common form of indicating gender differentiation in toilets.

Toilet Sign Overview

The signs are definitely not uniform at all places and sometimes innovative symbols are used to denote varied things. In some places such as California, the icons are encased in standard geometric forms to stress on the information. A circle usually represents a women's toilet and a triangle stands for the men. However, some activists condemn these signs for perpetrating gender typecasts. Many European toilets in the past and some even presently are only marked "WC", which actually means a water closet or flush toilet. However, since it is unknown to most non-Europeans it causes considerable perplexity. In certain Universities, toilet symbols mark out toilets for transsexuals and homosexuals in gender-neutral public toilets. Further, some toilet codes also indicate if the toilet is accessible by handicapped persons.

Interesting Facts About Toilet Signs

• A nightclub in England has "Men" written on a toilet door, while on the other one it merely has "Not Men" written.
• In gay bars, the signs on the toilet door are designed as unisex or are not placed at all.
• Till recently, some countries had signs at public toilets based on people's skin color.
• Some toilet signs indicate if a member of the opposite sex is inside. For example, a certain sign indicates a woman that there is a male helper on duty within.

Toilet Sign Trouble

A public facility in Turkey marked out a woman's toilet with the sign of a ponytail and a man's without one. A young boy on entering the men's toilet however was alarmed to see a ponytail but was soon reassured when he saw that it actually belonged to a man.