Turin, urinals in the shape of a woman’s mouth in the toilets: storm on the McFit gym
“If I were you, I’d be ashamed.” Social storm on the McFit gym chain. A photo taken inside a gym in Turin quickly went viral, sparking new controversies on the objectification of the female body. This time, after the case of the woman covered in chocolate in a Sardinian resort and above all the clamor for the rape in Palermo, the urinals in the shape of a woman’s mouth chosen to decorate the bathrooms are causing discussion.
“A gymnasium with toilets in the shape of a woman’s mouth in the men’s bathrooms. I can already imagine the comments of the phenomena that will piss in there… If I were you I would be ashamed”, wrote Greta Squillace, vocal coach and winner of The Voice of Italy on Instagram. A comment that has fueled bitter controversy, up to the imprudent response of the gym itself. “Always feel free to urinate in women’s ones. Spread the love”, replied the Turin center, who was then forced to correct the shot. “That model is present in some of our gyms built between about 2017 and 2019. The more recent ones have wall-mounted urinals of a traditional shape”, the justification after the wave of criticisms received.
McFit Italia explained to La Repubblica that the urinals “are the work of Meike van Schjinde, a Dutch designer who designed them in 2004 on the occasion of World Toilet Day with the aim of drawing attention to the fact that millions of people in world do not have access to sanitation facilities. The urinals in the McFit washrooms were chosen by our internationally operating design team. In our centers we look for a particular style and these objects are considered furnishing elements that characterize our environments. However, when there was the first and only criticism in Bologna years ago, we asked ourselves some questions and in the evolution of our standard we decided to change to avoid wrong messages”, declared the company.
In the meantime, the case has reached the city council, where the leader of the Democratic Party, Nadia Conticelli has called for a boycott of the gym. “Are there men who think that in order to train muscles it is not necessary to urinate in a woman’s mouth? Simple, then they don’t join this gym. We need deeds and not just words to fight violence against women and patriarchy. So let’s boycott the gym until it removes these violent, sexist urinals,” Conticelli said.
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