Lips aren’t sealed over “misogynist” urinals
Image: The controversial 'lip-shaped' urinals / Photo: Cool Chica via Meike van Schijndel
Suggestive urinals in Sydney’s Ananas Bar and Brasserie have sparked controversy once more following their reappearance in the restaurant.
The urinals, shaped as red lips, received international attention and were removed last year after accusations of mysogyny over the concept.
“I was surprised to learn that the ‘lip urinals’ had been restored to that restaurant,” said feminist writer and former political advisor, Anne Summers. “I had thought the owners understood that they were very offensive to many women and had accepted that it would be insulting to their female customers to have such items in their male toilets. Apparently not.”
Dutch artist Meike van Schijndel designed the urinals, basing them on the iconic Rolling Stones’ lip logo. Ms Summers said the urinal lips have a very different connotation.
“The Stones’ logo was androgynous. The urinals are clearly meant to be women’s lips. They are bright red, clearly implying lipstick. Men are therefore being asked to point their penises at a women’s mouth in order to pee,” she said.
A spokesperson from Ananas said the majority of Sydneysiders did not take offence.
“Dutch Designer Meike van Schijndel’s work evokes the infamous Rolling Stone’s lips logo – based on Mick Jagger’s mouth – to introduce colour and imagination into the bathroom and is in her words, ‘an art piece with a wink to reality’. The urinals were reinstated after a poll of 22,000 people in a leading Sydney newspaper found that more than three-quarters felt that branding them as ‘offensive’ was ridiculous,” said the spokesperson.
“The last word is best left to van Schijndel herself: ‘Lighten up, it’s just a cartoonish-looking mouth, there are worse things in the world to get all worked up about’.”
Misogyny has been a hot topic of conversation in Sydney’s public domain in recent times following Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s famous speech in parliament last year labelling Opposition Leader Tony Abbott as misogynistic.
“These urinals are only one example of an issue that has been escalating,” said Ms Summers. “They demonstrate a lack of sensitivity to the views of women customers and will certainly mean that many women will make sure not to patronise their place.
“What, I ask, is the female equivalent to this? I cannot think of one. Why is it always images of women in such raunchy, confronting ‘art’? How about a little gender equivalence, or even equality in images in contemporary art?”
Sean Carroll, who lives near Ananas, believes the urinals are a harmless and decorative design. “I don’t believe them to be offensive. I think we can at times go overboard with political correctness in this country and this outcry is an example of that,” he said.
