vagina-dialogues:

I went to one of the Korean spas downtown today and it was so awesome – I’ve started working out pretty heavily again recently, and literally every muscle in my body is sore. I feel like a new person.

The way these traditional types of spas (jimjilbang) work is that you check in and then first go to the men’s or women’s locker room. Inside those sex-segregated portions of the spa, there will be a “wet” area (you have to shower yourself really clean before getting in any of the pools or saunas), rows of lockers, sinks and vanity areas with toiletries, and various saunas and hot/cold pools. In this area, you’re expected to be nude when showering or using the facilities. It’s intimidating at first, but it’s comforting being around normal and non-sexualized female bodies of all ages, body types, and races/ethnicities.

Once you’re done with that part, you put on these hilariously ugly “spa uniforms” (aka brightly colored t-shirts and these weird khaki board shorts) and can go use the common areas, which have a bunch of dry saunas, usually a quiet room to nap or rest, a large communal area, and a restaurant or cafeteria.

Just in my one visit today, I saw a number of fairly old Korean ladies who were able to relax and chat in their private space, away from their husbands or other males. I saw two women who were able to shed their hijabs in the sex-segregated areas (giving them the freedom to swim and bathe), as well as an observant Jewish woman who could remove her tichel among other women.

This is why (among a thousand other reasons, ofc) sex-segregated spaces matter. Female-only facilities are vitally important for many women and it’s so incredibly privileged and arrogant to assume that the feelings of a dysphoric male should take away the freedom of all the groups I just mentioned, just to name a few.