Toilets Stories

The distance from China to high tea might be long...
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If you have spoken to Irene, you would immediately understand she is very "Green". In Taiwanese political terms, Green means those who do not want to see unification and who do not like Mainland-related things.

As the super salewoman and manager to her father's garment business, she worked in Mainland China and managed the factory with few hundreds workers. The first thing she did when going on board was to install partitions in toilets and insisted in seperating female and male ones. I have never been to those areas, it is very hard for me to imagine why. She then explained to me, in her factory, there were hundreds of people coming from rural inland provinces, where education and information were not accessible. Doing the business in open space is so convenient yet no one thinks inapropriate. What surprised both Irene and me is the fact that women did not feel the need to hide themselves.

My mom went to my father's home town in late 80s. It was still very conservative and communism-geared. Government officials praised non-stop my mom's beauty because she is chobby. Anyhow, she couldn't use the open-air toilet (which is a hole on the floor), she then unfolded her umbrella but this act attracted more people to watch.

Irene was travelling to the medium size city near ShangHai in early 90s, the queue to a single toilet was consisted of people of both genders. They all dressed nicely but there was one woman, still waiting in the line, but had her skirt pulled up and panty-hose down. I guess it does save some time if you are really in a hurry.

I don't understand what could make a woman losing her sense of being a woman. Is it the great culture revolution? Or is it the hardship all Chinese went though from beginning of this centry until recent?