Two gals and one bathroom, why do they go in pairs?

Private talk.

They chat and one girl might fix her makeup or brush her hair while the other pees.

Here are my reasons:

It’s very unnerving to walk across a room, especially if it’s at a party/club/restaurant and have strange men stare you up and down, even more so if you are wearing a dress or heels, which unfortunately has happened enough times for me to become uncomfortable with it. Having another person with you makes this situation less awkward, and even less likely to happen (in my experience) because some men seem to think that a woman walking alone without her date/husband or female friend, is on the prowl, which makes no sense, but it happens more often than us women would care to experience. If I’m going to the restroom, my date is not likely going down the same hallway, so it’s better to go with another female. Safety (perceived or real) in numbers.

If we’re all out at a social gathering, it’s very likely that we’re either with already with a date or we are trying to make some kind of social contact with a male that we would like to date and we don’t want to look stupid/desperate/slutty/ugly. We like to discuss everything with a female who understands what we’re going through. We will probably ask each other if we look presentable, if there is paper stuck to our shoe, lipstick on our teeth, spinach in our teeth, or to make sure our dress is not tucked into our underwear.

Many women’s restrooms are neither clean, nor convenient. I can’t recall the number of times I’ve gone into a restroom, even at nice establishments, where the door doesn’t close completely, doesn’t have a lock that functions properly, doesn’t has an adequate supply of toilet paper in the stall, or a place to hang your coat and purse. Your friend can help you with all of these things, and you can, in turn, help her.

If you’re having a good time, we like to talk about that. If we’re having a bad time, we need someone to lean on, or possibly someone to give us some advice on how to proceed from this point forward, whether things are going good or bad. It’s nice to have a sounding board.

And one of my favorite scenarios. This tends to happen more often in a club/concert setting more so than at a restaurant. You go to this event with a date. Sometime during this event, another female starts flirting aggressively with your date, or makes some comments that allude the idea that this other woman and your date have had a previous relationship, are currently having a relationship that you were unaware of, or seem to be creating a brand new relationship right in front of your eyes. You take a girlfriend to the restroom with you, so that you can ask her if she was perceiving the situation the same way you were, and if so, does she have any practical advice on how to get out of there without causing a scene, or to be seen crying in front of everybody. If she’s a good friend, she will help you clean up your mascara if you’ve been crying, she can help block you on your way out the door you need to leave immediately without your date, and she can retrieve your wrap/phone/lipstick off of the table for you, so that you don’t have to go back and get it while the other woman is rubbing up against your date.

@jonsblond They chat and one girl might fix her makeup or brush her hair while the other pees.
I thought it was plausible but I never would have guessed women actually did that. No guy I know would follow me to the John to keep the conversation going, no matter how private, and certainly not with one of us taking a leak and being in the same locked restroom. Whether you are at the mirror adjusting your tie and not looking at him at the urinal, it just won’t happen.

@Hypocrisy_Central Oh yes, women have no qualms about talking to each other while doing their business. Sometimes we have to ask another woman, even a total stranger, to hand toilet paper or sanitary products under the divider. Talking also masks the sound of piddling, kerplunking and tooting, which are very un-ladylike sounds.

I have never shared an individual bathroom with another woman. I have never used the bathroom while talking to another woman, in person or on the phone. I have never gone to a multi-stalled bathroom in the company of another woman. Both of my sisters and my partner say the same thing. Be careful with generalizations.

What @syz said – this is a generalization.

I don’t ask for company when I need to go to the bathroom. When I’m out with girlfriends and we happen to need the bathroom at the same time, though – of course we will go together. Why not? Is there something about a bathroom which makes it inherently weird for two people to use it at the same time? Might that be a cultural idea, rather?

From an anthropological perspective, I think it is an evolutionary throwback to a bygone era when mankind, and womankind, faced more immediate and inherent dangers in a more unstable, treacherous environment.

Urination is usually done away from the group site of occupation so as not to “foul your own nest” so to speak.

When a man goes and pees he usually does so in an upright position and as such has the ability to continually scan the area around him, keeping an eye out for potentially dangerous hazards or predatory activity which might be lurking unseen.

The female however, urinating in a squatting or half sqat position, has a more decreased range of vision, usually limited to the large clump of vegetation she has positioned herself behind and is therefore in a much more precarious situation, vulnerable to the vagaries of whatever perils may be skulking about in the underbrush. Taking another female, or “spotter”, to stand guard while she is relieving herself would have been evolutionarily advantageous as only those who are not eaten produce viable offspring.

And as she, in her turn, reciprocated for the other female, they both benefitted from the arrangement and would have continued the relationship, later handing it down from mothers to daughters throughout the ensuing generations until it became what we would refer to as “second nature” and thus leading eventually to the present day potty patrols oftimes seen parading toward the restroom doors.

I hope this is beneficial. I hope to do a thesis on it at some future time.

Once I can get the funding.

It’s not just women.

^^ Bet they didn’t wear suede shoes. ^^

I think the only time I did stuff like this was in high school. Though never in a single stall type bathroom. I tend to pee alone.

The only time I’ve been in a single person bathroom with someone else is when it was a young child or someone I know who needed and asked for my assistance.

If it’s a multi-stall bathroom, the only time I enter one with another female is when it’s a fellow traveler and we both need to go.

I haven’t gone out clubbing in a few years, but yes, historically women team up, the buddy system, especially younger women.
Having a comrade to flounce across the club with, someone to talk to when freshening your makeup, arranging your boobs in your bra, brushing your hair, chit chat while engaging in grooming and talk about the guys that have caught your eye or vice versa.
Part of female social interaction.
Sometimes it;s just the basic fact you both have to pee at the same time. lol

Agree with private talk.
Girls around me often go to bathroom together. Sometimes more than two.

@Kardamom Oh, excellent! I can definitely say that I was assailed much more aggressively if I crossed the floor by myself.
One time the guy I dated for several years took me to a jazz club. When we got inside he immediately left me alone to go use the bathroom. So, there I was, standing near the entrance, apparently alone and I got hit on by at least 5 men in the couple of minutes he was gone. I was so PISSED at Jerry for being so fucking clueless, for not obviously escorting me to a table, and making it known that I was there with someone. But…he’s a guy so he doesn’t understand the bullshit we women have to put up with.

@Pachy That is the only way this guy will end up in a single stall with another bloke, that or forcibly handcuff and him being big enough to drag me in there.

…...We don’t go into the stalls with our friends. We stand out side and do stuff in the mirror and talk.

@Dutchess_III I believe most of us are talking about the single bathrooms. The one that is meant for just one. It only has one toilet in it.

I’m pretty sure women only go in pairs in social settings, like bars. Bars have multiple stalls in one big room. I mean, if I’m out to lunch with a friend at a hotel or something, in the middle of the day, I certainly didn’t ask to be accompanied to the bathroom!

Running commentry and non-stop gossip.

We do have an urge to talk About Everything, don’t we!

The OP said some women. He’s not making a generalization. There are some women who do this. just sayin’

I agree with @jonsblond. I don’t know if it’s an age thing, part of the country thing, or if we have known someone for a long time that influences whether women do this or not? This happened more with my friends from the northeast. Even my girlfriend from FL who I met as an adult I would guess would think nothing of being in the same bathroom together is from CT. I’ve never shared a public bathroom with her, but we have stayed in hotels together and we usually sleep in a king together and aren’t too worried about closing the bathroom door.

Also, what Kardamom said that in some places we stay in pairs for safety reasons.

I’ve done this at large parties and bars. I also do this in my home with my daughter if we both need the bathroom for different reasons. We only have one bathroom in our house with four adults and one child.

@jonsblond I think maybe that’s part of feeling comfortable or not. If you grow up having to share bathrooms maybe it seems more normal. We had 1.5 bathrooms for the 4 of us growing up and most of my friends had similar situations when I was young.

One to hold the purse and guard the door. I’m agree with above. When you grow up sharing one bathroom, you don’t have much of a choice. But we were all experts at not looking. There was 7 of us. Sometimes that meant, one in the shower while someone brushed their teeth and someone peed. Of course only females all allowed or boys.
But I remember going into a weird bathroom or two in some back room where you just don’t feel safe going alone as an adult. So if my daughter or my sister happen to be with me, I’m alright with one of them going with me. Also, some of the dive bathrooms you really don’t want to put your purse down but you may need an item out of them. Like a sanitizer. Some bathrooms are so bad you won’t can’t trust touching the faucet handles. So I always carry sanitizer to clean my hands. But you need someone with clean hands to reach into your bag. LOL

@JLeslie I agree. My daughter and I will use the toilet if we desperately need it when one of the men in our home is using the shower.

@jonsblond we didn’t have to do that since we had 1.5 bathrooms, but I don’t find it odd that you would do it. I did more than once go into the bathroom to get something while my dad was showering and I would just tell him I’m coming in. The shower curtain was opaque, I couldn’t see him.

In my experience you want to tell your friend something about some guy who is in the vicinity! In that case, it’s definitely an age thing, giggle. I just don’t think older women would do it. Of course, usually older women aren’t going to bars, I don’t think.

I only ever see that in movies. I go to the can on my own, because I’m such a lonewolf samurai.

Gossip talk and/or drugs party favors.

What fool would take a purse into a bar?!

^ What fool would take a purse into a bar?!
A woman in a mini stretch dress with no pockets

@Dutchess_III I have taken a purse every time I have entered a bar. It contained items may be needed, like cash, credit card, ID, cell phone, and possibly darts and tampons. How did you get by in a bar without some of this stuff?

@Hypocrisy_Central I have never worn a mini stretch dress with or without pockets.

I carried my cash and ID in my pocket. When I went to bars we didn’t have cell phones, but if we had I would have carried it in and put it on the table. Also, I never started my period unexpectedly.

^ When I went to bars we didn’t have cell phones, but if we had I would have carried it in and put it on the table.
And guarded them all night? I have known people, some even friends, that have had phones and even laptops palmed from under them while they were in the same room in venues a lot more lit and less crowed than a dark bar of club with lots of people milling about. Cell phone on the table no matter where it is, that is just trouble looking for a participant.

I have a small purse with a long strap that sits on my shoulder and crosses my body. It goes with me to concerts, bars, shopping, zoos and restaurants. I’ve never had a problem or ever worried about someone taking it from me.

See, I can’t see me out on the dance floor with a purse hanging off of my shoulder. I finally realized I really have no reason to take it in any business with me, as long as I have my card / cash with me. No reason, and it sure is nice.

I hate taking any purse into a nightclub. I tuck money or a card in my bra if I have to. If I’m with my husband he can hold my license. When I say nightclub I mean a dance club. A regular bar it doesn’t matter.

When I was younger I sometimes asked the bartender to hold my purse. If I was driving I had to deal with the car keys at minimum. That’s one reason to have a Ford with a combination lock.

Isn’t that the reason fashion came out with the clutch purse, minimum carry but a place to carry what was needed?

No. Clutch purses are a nightmare regarding protecting your things. Easily grabbed out of your “clutch”. If you need to use your hands you have to set it down there for the taking. The best way to protect your stuff in a purse is a strap diagonally across your front like a mailman’s bag.

The point is, if you go to a bar you have to leave your purse unattended if you dance or shoot pool or whatever. I always took just my cash or card and my ID in. Oh, and my cigarettes. If I started my period unexpectedly (which I never did) I could just run out to the car to get a tampon.

The other girl is probably just standing and talking to her. It’s not a big deal especially among close friends. I graduated in an all-girl Catholic school when i was in high school and it’s even common to change clothes together. And when we go to our friend’s house for instance, it’s also no big deal to shower together. It’s nothing, just a friendship, camaraderie thing.

@extremely_introverted Welcome to Fluther! We appreciate your input.

@rojo Thank you for welcoming me! ^-

@extremely_introverted I graduated in an all-girl Catholic school when i was in high school and it’s even common to change clothes together. And when we go to our friend’s house for instance, it’s also no big deal to shower together.
Changing clothes is not as bad, I guess, unless they were stripping down to the birthday suit, but when one is peeing that certainly is different, I guess with gals, it is different as she is sitting and you may hear it but not actually have to see it. I have heard of girls who would avoid gym class because they had to shower in a multi-person shower (seeing how overweight some Jr. high and high school girls are, I would not want anyone seeing me naked either)

I was at a Starbuck where you had to have a code to use the restroom because of the neighborhood. Two women came in and got the code from the brista. When she did not see one standing in the hall to go to the women’s room she asked her coworker what happened to the other girl, which he answered he believed they both went into the ladies room. She said she thought that was fricken weird, she said my friends and I are real close but we pee alone.

I don’t know but in our place I don’t think it would be a big deal unless the girl looks like a lesbian or it happens all the time. I mean it’s not like we would always shower together or change clothes together. There are just instances that it would be convenient if we just shower together or change clothes together like for instance if we are in a hurry and there’s only one bathroom. Well sometimes we do it because chatting and laughing while showering is just fun. It just depends on the girl and her friends I guess. I mean surely not all girls are comfortable that her friends would see her naked even if they’re very close. Personally I just don’t find it weird, it’s fine with me because their privates parts absolutely do not mean anything to me simply because I’m not just not sexually attracted to them.