oberlin: It's all about the shower

Micahceous (

micahblitz) wrote in

oberlin,
@ 2003-06-07 15:55:00

Entry tags:

dorms, for incoming first-years

It's all about the shower
I just receieved my residential information and I was wondering which halls offer group showers as opposed to the individual stalls? So far I know only Barrows and Harkness have them. Do any others?

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	barrows? undefinedgeek 2003-06-07 01:07 pm UTC (link)
	wait, barrows and harkness have group? Nuh uh... Barrows has individual... dunno about harkness but group wouldn't surprise me. um... Burton's got group, Fairchild has group (but with dividing curtains). I'm not sure if any other dorms have group... (Reply to this)

	braincloud 2003-06-07 01:16 pm UTC (link)
	burton has group with dividing curtains except for the fourth floor because it is all girls. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	rekling 2003-06-07 01:19 pm UTC (link)
	really? when i lived on burton second floor, only the east side shower had a dividing curtain, the middle showers and west showers were totally undivided. i highly recommend dorms with gang showers. i still miss them. in fact, i miss them even more than walk in refridgerators. maybe i should insist we move into a house with gang showers. -rek (Reply to this) (Parent)

	sunsetscreamer 2003-06-07 01:21 pm UTC (link)
	what Barrows does have is a very convinient gender neutral bathroom. wink wink, nudge nudge (Reply to this)

	(Anonymous) 2003-06-07 02:34 pm UTC (link)
	Harkenss definitely has group showers, and the ones on the second floor have the ideal water pressure (you never realize how important this is until you take showers elsewhere). Usually, they're coed with a sign that can be rotated to male, female, or solitary depending on the preference of the shower taker. Thomas (Reply to this)

	lilyofthewest 2003-06-07 03:10 pm UTC (link)
	It's Burton not Barrows. They're the only ones with true gang showers, though there are others that have all curtain dividers (no walls) and could be temporarily gangified if that's your thing. (Reply to this)

	enfantoublie 2003-06-07 03:15 pm UTC (link)
	woah woah.....wait... what is a group shower? gang shower? why would you wanna shower in groups? O.o or am I missing something? (Reply to this) (Thread)

	lilyofthewest 2003-06-07 04:42 pm UTC (link)
	There's just a big tiled room with lots of shower heads in it. It's a lot like some gym showers are. Showering in groups is kinda fun. Sometimes there are parties in the showers. Sometimes we tape the drains and fill up the whole room like a big bubble bath. They're really nifty. (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

	Re: enfantoublie 2003-06-07 07:47 pm UTC (link)
	o.o .... eep! (Reply to this) (Parent)

	crepuscular 2003-06-07 10:22 pm UTC (link)
	just watch out you don't flood the kitchen... (Reply to this) (Parent)

bohica_susfu
2003-06-08 10:35 am UTC (link)

It's an open shower, much like the ones a person would find in a locker room. There are pluses and minuses, as there are with all things, and I will attempt to point out a few of each.

I myself was somewhat concerned, but really nobody looks or cares. Sometimes there are eight other people in the shower with you (Fairchils 3rd floor has a large shower room), but most of the time I had the place to myself. It's only the people from your dorm, and more realistically, the people from your floor that would be in there. It's not a place where people will come from other dorms just to see naked people, it's just a shower.

Two major major pluses to open showers are that there is almost always an open shower which means there isn't a line in the morning and you won't have to wait and possibly skip showering or miss class. Also, some of the showers in dorms are quite small and difficult to move around in. They are limited in number and there are usually long waits in the morning. And afternoon. And evening. Not a problem with open showers. Room to move, room to stretch, room to bend over so you can shave if you're so inclined.

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

	(Anonymous) 2006-10-02 07:30 pm UTC (link)
	Don't you feel uncomfortable showering with a person who is another gender? (Reply to this) (Parent)

	um (Anonymous) 2003-06-07 04:22 pm UTC (link)
	so...have i missed something? do you wear a bathing suit in a group shower?? or not...! especially if it's coed... (Reply to this) (Thread)

	Re: um lilyofthewest 2003-06-07 04:45 pm UTC (link)
	No...you just shower. The ones in Harkness are coed¹. I believe the Burton ones are usually single sex. ¹Though they often have the "3" system. Depending on which way you face the symbol it can mean men, women, Everyone, or me, myself and I. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	Re: um lilyofthewest 2003-06-07 06:59 pm UTC (link)
	No...you just shower. The ones in Harkness are coed¹. I believe the Burton ones are usually single sex. ¹Though they often have the "3" system. Depending on which way you face the symbol it can mean men, women, Everyone, or me, myself and I. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	Re: um bohica_susfu 2003-06-08 10:24 am UTC (link)
	No, don't worry they are usually not co-ed. The dorm votes on it and all it takes is for one person to be uncomfortable with the idea of co-ed bathrooms and they will not be co-ed. It's a shower, just like any other, so if you are inclined to take showers in a bathingsuit... go right ahead. It is honestly not as traumatic as you think, and I'm pretty damn self-conscious. (Reply to this) (Parent)

bohica_susfu
2003-06-08 10:16 am UTC (link)

Fairchild, Burton, and Harkness are the ones with open showers. They will most likely not be co-ed ('cept Harkness) because all it takes is for one person to object to them being co-ed and then they remain single sex.

It's honestly not as bad as you would think and those dorms tend to have the BEST communities. And while I can understand your apprihension, it's no worse than a locker room and we're all adults. Sometimes it makes mornings easier because you're too tired to care who else is in there and open showers provide more shower heads than individual showers which means you won't have to wait in the morning and possibly miss showering or class.

Also, when I lived in Fairchild, I think there were only a few times when I didn't have the whole shower to myself.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

	Re: micahblitz 2003-06-08 05:00 pm UTC (link)
	thank you so much for your positive feedback! :) (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

	Re: bohica_susfu 2003-06-08 10:55 pm UTC (link)
	you're quite welcome! I find sometimes people are so concerned with presenting the draw backs to every situation that they forget the pluses. Glad to be of some help. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	effusion16 2003-06-08 05:38 pm UTC (link)
	Can you describe what it was like to live in Fairchild? I'm considering it for my dorm (or at least for the dorm I rank #1 in preference--who knows where I'll be placed). (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

bohica_susfu
2003-06-08 11:05 pm UTC (link)

Of the places I lived and the places I saw and visited because friends lived there, Fairchild was my favorite. There is an obscene amount of storage space, the rooms are a good size, the community is know for being very tight and friendly, the co-op is right in the basement and even if you don't eat in a co-op chances are one of your friends in the dorm will and so you get to eat there sometimes anyway. I know the RA on the second floor is going to be kinda a spaz, and I dunno who the other RAs are going to be, but they're usually pretty relaxed and quite chill.

The two main drawbacks, which may not even be an issue for you but I feel it's only fair to present them, are the bathrooms and the lounge. Not as bad as you think, just some minor things.

Bathrooms: The Women's are on the First and Third, the Men's is on the second. If co-ed bathrooms get voted down and you end up living on a floor where the bathroom is not your gender, you're walkin up or down a flight of stairs every time you need to pee or shower. You do certainly get used to it and it gives you a damn good opportunity to meet more people on different floors. I lived in Talcott as well and the bathrooms switch, so you end up only having to travel up or down stairs for a semester... but you still have to travel. It's only a minor nit-picky thing, but it is something to keep in mind.

Lounge: There's only one of them, and it has the TV in it. So if you're a person who like to study in the dorm lounge, this can get rather annoying. It certainly did for my roommate who just could not study in our room and didn't feel like going to the library. On the upshot, there is the co-op right below, and they usually don't mind if you use their space to study as long as you don't eat their food or make a mess.

All in all though, Fairchild is my absolute favorite dorm and I had a lot of fun there and I hope the community next year is as fantastic as it was for me. Best of luck to you!

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

	Re: effusion16 2003-06-09 10:04 am UTC (link)
	Thanks a lot for all your help. Hope I'll be able to secure a spot in Fairchild :) (Reply to this) (Parent)

ilunas
2003-06-09 10:45 am UTC (link)

Well, a lot of great things have already been said about Fairkid, and I second all of them. I'm going to be the RA on the third floor next year. One of the neat things about Fairkid is that the washing machines are on the third floor, so if you live on the second or third floors (as almost everyone does, there are only 10 or so rooms on the first), you don't have to lug your laundry as far. Anyway, it's a great place, come live with us, I'll make sure you feel welcome.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

	braincloud 2003-06-08 10:47 am UTC (link)
	i miss my gang shower. the water pressure ruled, and everyone on my floor (burton 4th) was uncomfortable with showering with other people, so i always got this huge shower to myself. (Reply to this)

	Barrows showers (Anonymous) 2008-07-29 07:17 am UTC (link)
	How is the water pressure on the first floor of Barrows? (Reply to this) (Thread)

	Re: Barrows showers micahblitz 2008-07-29 03:24 pm UTC (link)
	wow way to comment 5 years later. (Reply to this) (Parent)

My first coed group shower
(Anonymous)
2008-09-10 02:13 pm UTC (link)

This was after a race in New York. The area we raced in was a summer camp, presumably used by only one sex at a time, since there was only one shower room with no dividers.

I went in to take a shower after the race, assuming that there would be a men's area and a women's area. Nope. Just one locker room and one shower room. I had been to nude beaches before, so that was OK. But I knew most everyone in the room, so it was a bit of a turn on to see many of my platonic female friends nude. Some were a little embarrassed, but many were quite casual about it. I still have fond memories about the experience.

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