Public toilets in Sweden – taboo topic or not? Well, today I want to chat with you about this particular topic. Having lived in three countries and traveled somewhat extensively, I find public toilets to be fascinating. Bathroom, toilet, WC, toalett; call it what you will; we all need them. In Indonesia, I squatted while wearing a toddler on my back, splashing off with a bucket of water. France had bidets, while in the United States, I relied on paper seat protectors. Across Europe, I alternately marveled and cursed at the concept of a coin-operated door.
Recently, a new revelation came to me about toilets across England and Sweden. The many I have used were fundamentally different from the public toilets in the United States. How? Well, let me tell you.
It all came to me the other day when I was in the Världskultur Museet in Göteborg. The bathroom sign included three symbols: a woman, a man, and a half woman, half man. This was the first time I’ve seen an all inclusive toilet. No doubt, I needed to check it out. Inside, it was rather anticlimactic. The bathroom looked exactly like all the others I’ve seen in Sweden. The doors and walls were floor to ceiling and protected the privacy of any occupants.
What’s the issue with US toilets?
That’s when it hit me! This is the fundamental problem with the toilets in the United States. Just a minute and I will get back to that. Did you know we have a toilet problem in the United States? There is a huge controversy right now regarding which gender has the right to use which bathroom. In particular, some States are demanding that transexuals use the toilets designated on their birth certificate.
This means that someone who identifies as a female and has female parts will have to use the men’s room if she was born a man and vice versa. How awkward is that?
Now then, back to that problem. What is the problem with the bathrooms in the United States? The stalls themselves are the problem. The walls and doors often start a foot or more above the floor and end just a few inches over 5 feet.
I’m a very short woman even in the United States and it’s not unheard of for me to be able to see over the stall. Several of the bathrooms in Pike Place Market in Seattle come to mind…not something I ever want to experience again! Furthermore, in the Mens Room, often they only have one or two stalls with doors and the rest of the bathroom consists of a line of urinals that are fully exposed. Can you imagine how fathers feel when they bring their daughters out in public and need to take them to the toilet? Horrified, I’m sure.
In Sweden, at least in Göteborg, the doors and walls of the stalls go floor to ceiling. Many even have sinks inside the stall. How convenient is that? This set up makes privacy concerns moot. There is no chance of someone peeking into your stall while you handle those delicate issues of nature. Father’s don’t have to worry about what their daughters may see and don’t have to send them alone to the womens’ restroom before they are ready. Sometimes, this convenience comes at a price (between SEK 5 and SEK 10), but one learns quickly enough to travel with a bit of change at hand.
If you are seeking a bit of fun, you might even seek out the toilets that require a cell phone code to operate. That bit of craziness took a little while for me to figure out, but for a local who has a phone plan and doesn’t have change, it really is quite brilliant.
I’m not saying the Swedish system is perfect—case in point—the lack of toilet seat protectors (what is up with that??). What I am saying is that putting the responsibility on the builders to ensure the privacy of consumers is a brilliant move. It ensures everyone has privacy in an often unavoidable situation.
Thanks for sticking with me through what could have been a rather stinky toilet article. I hope you found it informative and maybe even a bit entertaining.
Written by Jessica Arifianto
Hej! I’m Jessi, a newbie to Sweden and a blogger over at When Quirky Met Nerdy. Nearly three years ago I left the United States with my husband and young son to begin this crazy awesome journey, from Seattle to Surrey, to Sweden. Göteborg became our home during the height of the snowstorm this past January and it’s been an adventure every day since. I hope you enjoy my newbie stories–thanks for reading!
Hej! I totally agree with everything in your post 🙂 I just wanted to comment on your raised eyebrow on the toilet seat cover matter 😀 Yes we usually don’t have covers at our public toilets, and I can see how you think that’s a bit strange. But for me, growing up here, you learn from a young age a trick or two from your mother in that matter, and I think there are plenty of us out there. The trick is, pull three strands of toilet papper and put them on the seat to cover front, left and right. Sit down caaarefully and do your thing. The hard part is not to whisk them away with your butt. 😀 This trick works on any toilet of course, and is known to be used even in a drunken stupor at local venues and home party binges 😀 So don’t be alarmed by the lack of covers, do one DIY! 😀
Jennie, I love your comment! It made me smile and nearly laugh aloud on the tram tonight. My grandmother taught me some of those same toilet paper tricks when I was a child and I too am now teaching my son 🙂 Clearly we should not discount the wisdom of our parents and grandparents generations. DIY it is!
Love your posts Jess!
Thanks Nancy! I enjoy writing them 🙂
Hej Jessica! Growing up in Europe you will see there is no seat covers in any of the toilets you go so or you use the toilet paper thing in 3 or you grow nice thighs while squating and doing your bussines at the same time. And having visited half the continent I will agree that the Scandinavian way of toilets (full door and sink inside) is the best way of public toilets ever, not only Sweden, Denmark and, Norway too… You don’t even feel bad to have to pay a little bit to use it!
Hej Lilly! I hadn’t realized yet that all of Europe forgoes the covers, that is good to know! Might have to work on those thigh muscles soon 🙂 The other day I found gorgeously clean bathrooms that were actually free in a local shopping center! I suspect they will soon start to charge, but for now, it is quite refreshing. Thanks for reading!
I have seen seat covers in Sweden, but they are quite rare. I wonder if maybe it’s an environmental thing. We have a thing for recycling here in Sweden and perhaps seat covers are considered wasteful in general because they would need to be taken care of differently than toilet paper. At the very least I assume it would be a bad idea to try to flush them down the toilet. Just a thought.
That could definitely be it Johanna 🙂 I suspect it also has something to do with the fact that they are primarily a mental reassurance for people and not particularly useful for any health reasons (toilet paper works just as well for tidying a seat). Thank you for reading and commenting!
My first visit ever to a toilet in Sweden made me think “Oh nice, I could shoot up cocaine no issues in Northern European toilets all day.” Not that I was going to, but they lend themselves to that. This is the case for some toilets in say, the Civic Center library in San Francisco where half the population shoots up and smokes crack. Or, a fully private bathroom lends itself to have sex since no one can see what is going on there (on a not so fun note – rape).
These are just different cultures. You have to just remember that. How people behave in one country doesn’t reflect how another nation behaves.
That is all great, but what about thousands of homeless and unemployed people that don’t have money to pay to use the toilet, like me, what should we do, shit on the street? I have problems with this every day, trying to find that rare and usable free toilets outdoors or in libraries. And trust me, because you pay it 5 or 10 kr, it doesn’t mean they are cleaner and better then the free ones. At least, they should put smaller price on this outdoor toilets, like 1 kr (that is afforable even for homeless like me, one bottle gets 1 or 2 kr for PANT), and free toilets indoors, like libraries, government facilities and shopping malls ( like example with Triangl shopping mall in Malmö)…