A woman is facing fierce backlash on social media after she tweeted that she felt ‘violated’ when a man used a gender neutral-bathroom while she was in it.
Twitter user @MaryBear__ shared her story last week, explaining that she was washing her hands when two men walked in. She admitted their presence made her feel uncomfortable, even though she was in a gender-neutral bathroom.
‘Man#1, didn’t care and used the bathroom in front of me. Man#2 waited outside the bathroom till I left after seeing me inside. I thanked man#2 for respecting my privacy. I felt so violated,’ she tweeted.
Controversy: A woman is being criticized on social media after she tweeted that she felt ‘violated’ when a man used a gender-neutral bathroom while she was still in it
Story: Twitter user @MaryBear__ tweeted that she was washing her hands in a gender-neutral bathroom when two men walked in
The woman’s complaint quickly went viral, with many people slamming her for having the audacity to say she felt violated simply because a man used the gender-neutral bathroom she was in.
‘Man #1 treated you as an equal in a gender neutral bathroom. Man#2 treated you like a woman. I don’t know which one you want as treatment, but both treated you with respect and neither violated you,’ Twitter user @WinnersWontLose wrote.
Other Twitter users were quick to point out that she was the one chose to use a gender-neutral bathroom, stressing that the two guys did nothing wrong.
‘What were you trying to accomplish with this tweet other than you don’t understand what a gender NEUTRAL bathroom is……?’ one person asked.
Details: The woman said it was a one stall bathroom the men walked into
Getting into it: She explained there was an open toilet but no urinal
Uncomfortable: The woman claimed the man unzipped his pants and urinated next to her
Stating her case: She argued that the man could have raped or assaulted her
Not buying it: The woman claimed the door to the open toilet bathroom didn’t lock, but many found her claim hard to believe
Irony: Even though she was in a gender-neutral bathroom, she said she wasn’t okay with sharing one
Someone else commented: ‘Then just use a female bathroom if you want your privacy respected?? What are you doing in a gender neutral bathroom if you want men to wait outside?’
In a series of follow-up tweets, the woman answered other Twitter users question, explaining it was a one stall bathroom with an open toilet, no urinal.
‘I’m confused here. Why should he have waited if it’s a gender neutral restroom and you were on your way out anyway? Why did you feel violated?’ one person asked.
‘I felt violated because he unzipped his pants and pee’d beside/in front of me. As a woman I was uncomfortable sharing a bathroom w/ a man [sic],’ she replied.
Not having it: Many people slammed her on Twitter for saying she felt ‘violated’
Many agreed that she should have just locked the door, but @MaryBear__ insisted that wasn’t an option.
‘It’s so many people in my mentions saying I’m wrong and should have locked the door. If it was a lock I would have locked the door dummies. I’m over it [sic],’ she tweeted.
However, there were plenty of Twitter users who didn’t believe her when she said there wasn’t lock on the door.
‘Nah nah hold on, I haven’t ever in all my years saw a one person gender neutral bathroom with no lock [sic],’ one person commented.
‘If only 1 person can use it at a time the door locks,’ someone else wrote, while another Twitter user asked: ‘If only one person could use it at a time how were the three of them in there at the same time[?]’
Despite the onslaught of criticism, there were some people who understood where she was coming from.
‘If locking the door was an option I think she would have locked it. And to be honest, if you have a restroom with one sink and one toilet and a guy walks in, sees it’s occupied and whips his stuff out anyway instead of waiting. He’s a creep, there’s no excuse [sic],’ one man tweeted.
‘Ya’ll really trying to attack my neo because she felt uncomfortable being a s bathroom with a man but….. if s**t would’ve t went left y’all a** would nvm,’ someone else pointed out.
Getting it: There were a few people who said they understood where she was coming from
Backlash: Screenshots of her tweet were later shared on Reddit and Imgur, where she has received similar criticism
The woman responded to the tweet, saying: ‘Literally g. If he woulda raped me or assaulted me then he would be the bad guy.
‘I still be humble enough to use the bathroom with white women since my grandmother couldn’t. And now I have to share it with men? I’m not okay w: it [sic],’ she added.
The woman received so much backlash, she ended up making her Twitter account private. However, people had already taken screenshots of her tweet, and they have since been shared on Reddit and Imgur, where she has received similar criticism.
‘She said she was washing her hands like you need privacy for that,’ one person wrote.
Another sarcastically commented: ‘Give us gender neutral bathrooms, but men shouldn’t use them if women are present? Micro-aggression against my bladder! Feeling violated here.