There’s a running joke that women travel to restrooms in packs, emerging 20 minutes later as best friends. According to new data, though, there’s a lot of truth to it.
A survey of 2,000 American women, commissioned by Always and Secret, found that 62 percent average four positive interactions per month with strangers in public restrooms—totaling an estimated 2.4 billion stranger-to-stranger exchanges each year. Nearly four in ten women reported up to 24 positive interactions with strangers annually, all of it happening under awful lighting, between paper towel dispensers.
The interactions range from cutesy to helpful. Compliments lead the pack (40 percent have given one, 38 percent have received one), followed by handing off period products, offering emotional support, and the occasional, surprisingly deep conversation. And while 7 percent said they’ve had one of those soul-baring exchanges, 21 percent walked away with a lasting friendship. In a bathroom. With a stranger. At a bar, probably.
Casual small talk comes in at 58 percent, no surprise there—there’s something about waiting for a stall that dissolves social barriers in a way that a networking happy hour really never quite pulls off. Hair, makeup, and accessory comments clock in at 26 percent, with outfit questions at 19 percent. The rest of the world might be glued to their phones, but in the women’s restroom, people are still actually talking to each other.
What Are Women Doing in There?
It’s also worth noting that 55 percent of women visit public restrooms with friends, while 15 percent spend more time in them than they do at home. Top reasons for the extended stays include fixing hair and makeup (33 percent), freshening up (33 percent), and just…chatting (23 percent). Meanwhile, 90 percent of women believe these spaces should feel safe and secure, and 49 percent think free period products should be available as a baseline.
Always and Secret used the research to partner with Coachella on a “Refresh Room“—essentially a VIP porta-potty experience designed around what women actually need to feel human again mid-festival. Leah Mahoney, brand director for Always Period Care, called it a celebration of “women supporting women, even in fleeting moments with complete strangers.”
Here’s what the data says women are actually doing in there:
- Casual small talk (58 percent)
- Giving a compliment (40 percent)
- Receiving a compliment (38 percent)
- Handing someone a period care product (12 percent)
- Offering emotional support (8 percent)
- Receiving a period care product (8 percent)
- Having a surprisingly deep conversation (7 percent)
- Receiving emotional support (7 percent)
- Giving someone gum or mints (6 percent)
- Giving someone a bandage (6 percent)
If you’ve spent any time in a women’s restroom on a Saturday night, this isn’t shocking data. What’s interesting is that someone actually quantified it, and that the number is 2.4 billion interactions a year. That’s a lot of, “Oh my god, I love your earrings.”
Social media promised us connection and delivered us doomscrolling. Apparently, the real thing has been happening in the bathroom all along.
The post The One Place Women Have Their Best Conversations (and What They Talk About) appeared first on VICE.
