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Aug 20, 2023

A Gym's Urinal Shaped Like A Woman's Mouth: Extreme Sexism Or Upside

In the Italian city of Turin, a gym has installed urinals that appear to be shaped like a woman's open mouth. From Duchamp to Warhol to Mick Jagger, everything we see is in the eyes of the beholder.

In the Italian city of Turin, a gym has installed urinals that appear to be shaped like a woman's open mouth. From Duchamp to Warhol to Mick Jagger, everything we see is in the eyes of the beholder.

McFit gym's urinal shaped like a woman's mouth, Turin.

-Analysis-

TURIN — A photo posted online last week has sparked outrage and debate in Italy. The now infamous image from inside the men's bathrooms of the McFit gym in Turin shows urinals that are shaped like a woman's open mouth. While some are denouncing it as sexist, others are calling it art, or simply a joke — posing the broader question of why it's so important to discuss objectification?

The problem lies in the starting point, in the gaze that conditions all what we see, every perception we have of this country, every single prejudice.

Who said that large red lips, with a hint of teeth from a toothpaste commercial's perfect smile, are inherently feminine? Yes, there's lipstick, the heart-shaped line, but they are objects of fantasy, a creative design that doesn't belong to a specific gender: in this case, urinals that a chain of gyms has hung in its bathrooms in an attempt to use art for an easy laugh.

But our point of view changes, the game collapses, and since the game is always the same, it's time to dismantle it. And it's quite easy to do so. Indeed the inspiration originally comes from the famous design of Mick Jagger's lips and tongue. Yes, a man.