The Turkish bath spas decided to make a mixed-gender bathhouse promoting equality between the sexes. Do you know how this plan backfired?
The Turkish baths are known as “Hammam” in Arabic. It generally refers to a place where devotees cleansed themselves with water before entering the Mosque.
As traditions evolved, these bathhouses expanded into single-sex spas across the world, offering massages with exotic herbs from South East Asia along with steaming facilities for its visitors.
The Harrogate Turkish bath in the U.K was built in 1807 with Victorian architecture. It is one such famous spa that had single-sex spa baths where nudity was allowed. Later in 2011, the spa closed its men’s single-sex spa due to financial concerns and reopened in 2016.
To avoid such financial complications and promote equality between the genders, the bathhouse decided to convert the entire premises into mixed-sex bathing sessions.
However, the Harrogate Council of North Yorkshire has not approved this decision after the bathers experienced their concerns against this decision. The council also imposed a ban on nudity and ordered to maintain single-sex sessions to promote inclusivity.
The world is not divided by two types of genders anymore. There are people who identify themselves as transgender, transsexual, or suffering from gender dysphoria. It is important to make these individuals feel included and imposing swimwear in baths is the best way to help people feel secure and comfortable with their gender identity.
