Here are a few quotes, two from the New York Times and one from NPR. The first is from an article titled ”Giving Broadway a Makeover, Ladies' Rooms First,” by Glenn Collins, published in the Times on August 9, 2001. This was said by Francesca Russo, described in the article as ”the city's reigning Broadway-renovation architect”:
”When many theaters were originally designed, men had smoking rooms, and women, they had fainting rooms. They were bound in their corsets, which were so tight they couldn't go to the bathroom. And they did faint.”
Here is another from the Times. This one is from an article by Michael Paulson titled ”Have to Go at a Show? Hurry Up, Or Hold It” that was in the edition dated February 12, 2017:
”Most Broadway theaters were built in the early 20th century, and featured spaces where men could smoke and women could rest or touch up their makeup, but limited stalls, because women, based on the customs of the times and the complexity of their undergarments (corsets, anyone?), were less likely to use public toilets, theater owners say.”
This is from an ”All Things Considered” segment on New York City's passage of the Women's Equity Restroom Act, which aired on NPR on June 10, 2005. This was said by Vicki Revere, author of Where to Go: A Guide To Manhattan's Toilets:
”In the late 19th century, women were dressed up like pieces of furniture. With all their undergarments and corsets and truss work and long gowns, they couldn't get in and out of the clothes by themselves. So women were trained from an early age that it was improper to use a public facility.” |
