The toilet’s public life

feminist ambivalences in public restrooms

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DOI:

https://doi.org/10.9771/peri.v3i21.60853

Abstract

This essay offers a critique of cis-heteronormativity through the sexopolitical histories of the architectural design of public restrooms, aiming to explore the contradictions of corporeality in gendered spatial production. Considering the significant transfobic expression in contemporary legislative controversies over gender self-determination in the use of public facilities, the text presents a dual argument: the relevance and, simultaneously, the need to problematize the hegemonic feminist model of the public (masculinized) versus private (feminized) spheres in the analysis of gender, space, and power. The essay concludes with a defense of queer speculation in architectural design practice, proposing a reflection on spatial justice from a gender perspective that engages with the ambivalences of feminist enuncia(c)tions.

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Author Biography

Mariana Galacini Bonadio, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro

PhD in Urban and Regional Planning from the Institute for Research and Urban and Regional Planning at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (IPPUR/UFRJ).

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Published

2025-06-20

How to Cite

Galacini Bonadio, M. (2025). The toilet’s public life: feminist ambivalences in public restrooms. Revista Periódicus, 3(21), 115–140. https://doi.org/10.9771/peri.v3i21.60853

Issue

Vol. 3 No. 21 (2025): Defying monogamy: emergent biopolitics of relational dissidence

Section

Free section

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Copyright (c) 2025 Mariana Galacini Bonadio

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