| Public toilets in Kentucky | |
|---|---|
 Maysville Public Restrooms | |
| Language of toilets | |
| Local words | washroom restroom john |
| Men's toilets | Men |
| Women's toilets | Women |
| Public toilet statistics | |
| Toilets per 100,000 people | 2 (2021) |
| Total toilets | ?? |
| Public toilet use | |
| Type | Western style sit toilet |
| Locations | ??? |
| Average cost | ??? |
| Often equipped with | ??? |
| Percent accessible | ??? |
| Date first modern public toilets | ??? |
| . | |
Public toilets in Kentucky, commonly called washrooms, are found at a rate of around two public toilets per 100,000 people. Public toilets were built to improve public sanitation. Others were built to fight disease. Public toilets were at the center of segregationism.
Public toilets
editwashroom is one of the most commonly used words for public toilet in the United States.[1] Euphemisms are often used to avoid discussing the purpose of toilets. Words used include toilet, restroom, bathroom, lavatory and john.[2]
A 2021 study found there were two public toilets per 100,000 people.[3]
History
editLouisville was one of the biggest cities by population in the United States in 1900.[4] The Progressive Era saw reformists make a major push to address public hygiene. As part of this push, they sought to improve the toilet and sanitation in tenement housing in cities across the United States.[5]
The Rockefeller Sanitary Commission was founded in 1909 to combat hookworm disease in the South. A survey was done of 11 southern states, which confirmed the presence of hookworm in 700 countries. A chief cause of spread of hookworm disease as open defecation in farmland. The Rockefeller Sanitary Commission program helped install public toilets and promote their use as part of their efforts to reduce hookworm disease. This was coupled with offering free exams and health treatment for hookworm disease.[6]
There was a push back against building public toilets in Jim Crow states during the period between 1865 and 1960, because it meant that local governments were not just required to build two toilets, one for men and one for women, but four toilets, one each for men and women who were white and who were colored.[7] Racially segregated public toilets were very common in the 1960s.[7]
In the period between 2017 and 2018, there were several outbreaks of Hepatitis A Virus (HAV) in the United States that were driven largely by a result of homeless people and rough sleepers not having access to proper sanitary facilities, often a result of a lack of public toilets and resulting in open defecation. Early in this period after first emerging in San Diego and resulting in 20 deaths, the outbreak spread to Arizona, Utah and Kentucky.[8]
References
edit- ^ Hess, Nico (2019-08-04). Introducing Global Englishes. Scientific e-Resources. ISBN 978-1-83947-299-2.
- ^ Farb, Peter (2015-08-19). Word Play: What Happens When People Talk. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. ISBN 978-1-101-97129-1.
- ^ QS Supplies (11 October 2021). "Which Cities Have The Most and Fewest Public Toilets?". QS Supplies. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
- ^ "Largest US Cities: 1900". demographia.com. Retrieved 2022-10-12.
- ^ Yuko, Elizabeth (5 November 2021). "Where Did All the Public Bathrooms Go?". Bloomberg News. Retrieved 12 October 2022.
- ^ Tisdale, E. S.; Atkins, C. H. (November 1943). "The Sanitary Privy and Its Relation to Public Health". American Journal of Public Health and the Nations Health. 33 (11): 1319–1322. doi:10.2105/AJPH.33.11.1319. ISSN 0002-9572. PMC 1527454. PMID 18015900.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: PMC format (link) - ^ a b Yuko, Elizabeth (5 November 2021). "Where Did All the Public Bathrooms Go?". Bloomberg News. Retrieved 12 October 2022.
- ^ Frye, Elizabeth A.; Capone, Drew; Evans, Dabney P. (2019-10-01). "Open Defecation in the United States: Perspectives from the Streets". Environmental Justice. 12 (5): 226–230. doi:10.1089/env.2018.0030. ISSN 1939-4071.
