A woman working at an office in Northern California is drawing attention online after claiming men in her building “won’t stop using the women’s bathroom.” The building manager allegedly placed a sign to deter men from entering, but someone has retaliated with the written comment: “Define a woman.” However, the woman has yet to provide important context on the issue, leaving many to speculate.
“All the women in our office have encountered a man at some point in the bathroom,” Reddit user FarMathematician7106 claims in her r/office post. In deleted replies, the woman has stated she and her co-workers have felt “very bothered” by any “SA possibilities” in the bathrooms. Several people have accused her of ragebaiting by leaving out context, while thousands of others have come to their own conclusion about why men are using the opposite gender’s restroom.
Many Commenters Believe This Issue Might Stem from Possible Transphobia
Some Redditors believe this issue might exist because there are just way more men working in the office building than women. Another possibility was that the bathrooms for men and women were so far apart that using the women’s might have been more convenient. One notable speculation is that the man or men using the women’s bathroom could be trans.
“Is there a man in your bathroom or is there a trans woman in your bathroom?” questioned one commenter. “It almost sounds transphobic,” remarked another. One person accused the woman’s company of not being progressive enough. “Why not just make them gender neutral bathrooms?” added a third.
One Redditor shares a particularly telling approach, saying how a trans person could have written the “Define a woman” comment to either respond to being targeted as a cis male. They also add how it could have been a man playing devil’s advocate. Either way, there’s no way to know without any additional context from OP, besides her deleted comments.
If transphobia is present in the woman’s workplace, however, California law does state that everyone has “the right to use the restroom consistent with their gender identity.” If discrimination is happening here, there could be legal trouble.
