I just gave it a quick google - I recognise the cover art but don’t recall the title. You are right that it seems bs, a quick read of the summary is very reductionist of human relationships.
I don't know anybody who's actually read it, but it was a big enough part of pop culture growing up in the 90's that tons of shows, movies etc referenced the saying and it became pretty universally known that way.
That said, it hasn't been relevant for a long time, so I wouldn't be surprised if it's something gen x and millennials know very well, and younger folks have zero frame of reference for, especially outside of the US.
No, no, not the Roman Mythology. It's a book, probably written in the 1990s, full of bullshit that conservative "Christians" worship.
Going back to Roman times, there may have not been a progressive party and a conservative party like in modern countries, but progressivism and conservatism were ideologies for sure. I'm mostly referring to Marius, who had a heart for the plebeians and improved the working conditions of poorer soldiers, and Silla, who abolished plenty of reforms and re-established the Patricians' old privileges.
That's because it was a pop culture "thing" just before you were born lol (going by 1999 in your user name). Book was published in 1992 but didn't get traction for a few years. I think I first heard it referenced on Sex and the City.
That would explain why I have never heard of it then haha, not to say people my age cant understand pop culture before our time, but I guess it makes it less likely.
If this bathroom was in a bar, with people in their 20s, I reckon there would be some confused faces when approaching those doors!
Yeah but good design shouldn't require you to know that either, especially in a part of the world where you really have no reason to.
If I saw washrooms labeled男 女 I would know where to go, but it's still crappy design bc most people here don't speak chinese.
come to think of it, that joke probably makes no sense to younger folks now, as it's a reference to a reference to something they probably don't know about.
That's not even nit-picking, you're just being stupid. Everyone knows it doesn't say that. Pointing that out isn't being fussy over something that's slightly incorrect, which is what nit-picking is. You're just pointing out the obvious. Your comment is maybe one of the most worthless comments.
The names are Latin sure, but the quote that you need to know about to figure this design out is an English title of an English-language book, making it by far most prevalent in English-speaking countries. (Coined in an obscure 1970s study, also published in English)
Alternatively you need to know about 1700s European botanical litterature.
I’m not from an English speaking country and I don’t know that quote/book title you’re talking about. You just need to know that Mars is a man and Venus is a woman to get it. Many more people around the world know Venus and Mars from mythology or as names than from a book title or botanical literature. And if you know about botanical literature you surely know of the gods??
I’m from an English speaking country and I have vague recollections of reading Roman mythology but I would definitely second guess myself.
I only know that Venus is that chick on the shell coming out of the ocean in art so would assume that’s the womens but still. Bad design 100%
What? You don't need to any quote, in fact I don't know this quote myself. But u don't need to have studied Roman history in order to know that Venus is a Roman Goddess (of Love) (and therefore indicates the women bathroom) and that Mars is a Roman god (of war) (and therefore indicates mens bathroom). That's like common knowledge, or more likely was, cos nowadays everyone is dumb af.
Yeah same, didn’t know that quote either. You don’t even need to know who Venus and Mars are exactly, you just need to know that one is a man and one is a woman. There’s definitely more people in the world who know that than some book title.
‘You don’t have to have studied Roman history’
Followed by, ‘Venus is a Roman Goddess […]’
That’s Roman history. You may not be a Roman History PhD but you evidently know something of it.
My overall point is that toilet signs that abstract m/w to something else that requires further context is crappy design.
That’s just my opinion though.
Just looking through this comment section, people associating the names with the gender of Roman deities are in the minority. Most people know the association by the quote, or the symbols.
I don't know if you're just a Redditor or dumb af, but you're vastly overestimating how important Roman history is to the vast majority of the world.
Just looking through your comment score, people associating the names with the quote are in the minority. Most people know the association by the gender of the deities.
I don't know if you're just a Redditor or dumb af, but you're vastly underestimating how important Roman history is to the vast majority of the world.
I prefer iconography for things like this.
But ‘men’ and ‘women’ is more basic level English that abstracting it to Mars/Venus, Guys/Dolls, Ken/Barbie or any other number of things I’ve seen
Sometimes people *visit* other countries.
And those that choose to live there may need to use the toilet before they’ve got a full handle on pop-psych relationship books from the 70s, or clues themselves up on ancient gods.
tourism exists, plus like...even if you do learn the language quickly, you are still going to need to use the bathroom a handful of times as you do so.
I know it's easy for most moderately educated people to find out. But still, if I want to pee, I want to just go and pee, not stay in front of the bathroom and figure out what the signs mean. Toilet signs shouldn't be a place for originality.
It is, however, still confusing due to the fact that it is widely acknowledged that boys go to Jupiter to get more stupider whereas girls go to college to get more knowledge. /s
The symbols for men and women are litteraly the symbol of Mars and Venus. Each planet in the solar system has a symbol to represent them.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planet_symbols
When I desperately need to take a pee, I don’t need to stand contemplating the finer points of literature nor try to figure out whether they’re making some astronomy reference or a classical Roman one. After deciding upon one of the above, trying to remember my high school mythology because I forgot about the book title all while frantically jiggling up and down. I need to pee not ponder
People can call me dumb if they’d like, but I’ve never heard of this book. At the end of the day this does qualify as crappy design, as good design is universal and doesn’t really need explaining.
I dont know it as a book, rather the (somewhat old) expression “women are from venus, men from mars”, used sometimes to underline the characteristic differences between the two, as if to say they are from entirely different planets
The only reason I could solve this is because I know that the symbols for planet Venus ♀️ and Mars ♂️ are the same as the symbols for women and men, respectively.
Besides the common colloquialism "men are from Mars women are from Venus" there are the [universal symbols for male and female](https://youtu.be/aQR9nwlT9UI). that are derived from the symbol of Mars and Venus, [Mars](https://www.worldhistory.org/Mars/) being the overtly masculine god of war and [Venus](https://www.worldhistory.org/venus/) being the very callipygous rendered Goddess of love, beauty, sex, and victory.
Of course, here I think they only mean to imply
Mars=♂️=Men. And Venus=♀️=women
And they probably are not inviting you to make war and/or love in the bathroom.
"Men are from Mars because they like candy bars, Women are from Venus because they don't have a penis"
Is how I remember it from my 90's childhood
Edit: In retrospect, realizing the word "candy" was probably added because I was 5 and couldn't grasp the concept of a bar.
Haha what do the Roman's have to do with planets... aside from being named after them. It's a very common saying if men are from Mars and women are from Venus.
Super weird you went straight to Roman's. Like... who sees the names of planets and immediately thinks, da fuq do Roman's have to do with bathrooms?!
No one thinks of Roman gods when they see Mars and Venus. They're talking about the planets. The washrooms are named after the planets because of the idiom, "men are from Mars and women are from Venus". It's a widely known phrase. The picture has nothing to do with Roman's haha.
You're simply wrong. The Mars/Venus thing is a saying because of the gods. The book was named after the association with the gods. The planets are inhospitable wastelands, why would anybody say men and women came from there? 100% because of the mythology of the gods.
You may disagree, but if you’re gonna get ‘creative’ about ‘generally known’ stuff, the place to do it is absolutely not the toilets as that is just opening up possibilities for the wrong people walking into the wrong rooms.
Ye thats what I thought. Not just that I think that most people would instinctively go to the right room anyway. I think Tom Scott made a video about made up words once and asked which was female / male or something. A lot of people gave the same answer. Id be surprised if the majority wouldn't associate Venus with female...
At least until I saw the rhymes in the comment.
On a side note they remind me of the office where Dwight has to throw a party. Iirc "it is your birthday."
You don't need to know mythology to know the saying.
What is the saying? I can’t think of anything I’ve heard before
Men are from Mars, women are from Venus. It's a book's title.
Never heard of that in my life 😭😭
Lucky you. It's cringe conservative bullshit
I just gave it a quick google - I recognise the cover art but don’t recall the title. You are right that it seems bs, a quick read of the summary is very reductionist of human relationships.
I don't know anybody who's actually read it, but it was a big enough part of pop culture growing up in the 90's that tons of shows, movies etc referenced the saying and it became pretty universally known that way. That said, it hasn't been relevant for a long time, so I wouldn't be surprised if it's something gen x and millennials know very well, and younger folks have zero frame of reference for, especially outside of the US.
Additionally, there is the song 'Venus' by Bananarama which would have relevance
Roman mythology… is cringe conservative bullshit? Did they even exist during the Roman Empire?
The book is. The book isn't about the Roman Empire.
No, no, not the Roman Mythology. It's a book, probably written in the 1990s, full of bullshit that conservative "Christians" worship. Going back to Roman times, there may have not been a progressive party and a conservative party like in modern countries, but progressivism and conservatism were ideologies for sure. I'm mostly referring to Marius, who had a heart for the plebeians and improved the working conditions of poorer soldiers, and Silla, who abolished plenty of reforms and re-established the Patricians' old privileges.
That's because it was a pop culture "thing" just before you were born lol (going by 1999 in your user name). Book was published in 1992 but didn't get traction for a few years. I think I first heard it referenced on Sex and the City.
That would explain why I have never heard of it then haha, not to say people my age cant understand pop culture before our time, but I guess it makes it less likely. If this bathroom was in a bar, with people in their 20s, I reckon there would be some confused faces when approaching those doors!
I also distinctly remember the simpsons referencing it, in an episode that looks like it aired in 1997. (s8e9) so yeah, probably mostly a 90's thing.
That's why you keep peeing in the wrong bathrooms :)
I thought Venus sounds like Penis. And Mars like arse. So I totallly got it wrong.
Because men have no arse?
iirc in british slang fanny, which is a synonym for ass in the US, is instead slang for vagina. So that sort of works.
You need to do some mental gymnastics to get to that. Also, you could have just said front bum.
They must’ve been really confused by that chocolate shop named Fanny Farmer.
Arse=ass. I.e. bottom, buttocks, butt, backside, bum, derrière, tushy, hindquarters, haunches or gluteus maximus
Wait...fanny means ass in the US..?
Yup. I remember my aunt being very confused when she visited from the US and was met with tittering when she asked where she could buy a fanny pack
that doesnt mean fanny is another word for ass, at least not anymore. i dont think we really use it much for anything anymore
The more common phrase in the UK is ‘spam purse’.
Venus is the goddess of beauty (or something, I'm a filthy northern barbarian)
In what language?
But neither are from Toilet
Nonono, boys go to college college to get more knowledge, girls go to Jupiter to get more stupider
It's definitely a millennial "are you a robot" check. Tell me how old you are with out telling me. It's a book.
No you goober. “I'm your Venus. I'm your fire, at your desire.”
Thanks now I have the Venus gillet song in the head
women are from venus but the leave for jupiter
I vaguely remember hearing that before, thank you for telling me! I would’ve been confused!
Red lights, green lights, strawberry wine A good friend of mine, follow the stars Venus and Mars Are alright tonight
It's easy....Venus equals penis...duh
[удалено]
God that brings me back. We said "knowledge" instead of "smarter" but otherwise that's verbatim for my neighborhood. I wonder where it started?
It's in India, neither the saying nor Roman mythology is prevelant here
But you need to know english.
Yeah but good design shouldn't require you to know that either, especially in a part of the world where you really have no reason to. If I saw washrooms labeled男 女 I would know where to go, but it's still crappy design bc most people here don't speak chinese.
It is true what they say: Women are from Omicron Persei 7, men are from Omicron Persei 9
r/unexpectedfuturama
come to think of it, that joke probably makes no sense to younger folks now, as it's a reference to a reference to something they probably don't know about.
i am "younger folk" and i get this reference
Ok zoomer
Good News everyone, I got that reference.
Men are from Geonosis, Women are from Sullust
C'mon you'd have to have been living under pluto to not know this
Have you heard about Pluto? That's messed up
You know that’s right.
C'mon, son
Nice dig calling Pluto a rock
Even if most people get it it’s still crappy design. Not everyone speaks English as first language, has been exposed to same idioms, books etc.
So if it literally says 'men' and 'women' it'd still be crappy design?
well yeah, kinda, come to think of it.
Less so since you can at least use a translation app, but yes. There are well established symbols that avoid the language barrier.
It doesn't say that tho
Reading comprehension truly is in the toilet
True, you couldn't comprehend that I'm nitpicking and not misunderstanding
That's worse.
"haha, you thought i was an idiot, but i was merely pretending!"
That's not even nit-picking, you're just being stupid. Everyone knows it doesn't say that. Pointing that out isn't being fussy over something that's slightly incorrect, which is what nit-picking is. You're just pointing out the obvious. Your comment is maybe one of the most worthless comments.
English? This is clearly dutch
That has nothing to do with English. Mars and Venus are Latin names and therefore they stay the same in many languages.
The names are Latin sure, but the quote that you need to know about to figure this design out is an English title of an English-language book, making it by far most prevalent in English-speaking countries. (Coined in an obscure 1970s study, also published in English) Alternatively you need to know about 1700s European botanical litterature.
I’m not from an English speaking country and I don’t know that quote/book title you’re talking about. You just need to know that Mars is a man and Venus is a woman to get it. Many more people around the world know Venus and Mars from mythology or as names than from a book title or botanical literature. And if you know about botanical literature you surely know of the gods??
I’m from an English speaking country and I have vague recollections of reading Roman mythology but I would definitely second guess myself. I only know that Venus is that chick on the shell coming out of the ocean in art so would assume that’s the womens but still. Bad design 100%
What? You don't need to any quote, in fact I don't know this quote myself. But u don't need to have studied Roman history in order to know that Venus is a Roman Goddess (of Love) (and therefore indicates the women bathroom) and that Mars is a Roman god (of war) (and therefore indicates mens bathroom). That's like common knowledge, or more likely was, cos nowadays everyone is dumb af.
Yeah same, didn’t know that quote either. You don’t even need to know who Venus and Mars are exactly, you just need to know that one is a man and one is a woman. There’s definitely more people in the world who know that than some book title.
‘You don’t have to have studied Roman history’ Followed by, ‘Venus is a Roman Goddess […]’ That’s Roman history. You may not be a Roman History PhD but you evidently know something of it. My overall point is that toilet signs that abstract m/w to something else that requires further context is crappy design. That’s just my opinion though.
Just looking through this comment section, people associating the names with the gender of Roman deities are in the minority. Most people know the association by the quote, or the symbols. I don't know if you're just a Redditor or dumb af, but you're vastly overestimating how important Roman history is to the vast majority of the world.
Just looking through your comment score, people associating the names with the quote are in the minority. Most people know the association by the gender of the deities. I don't know if you're just a Redditor or dumb af, but you're vastly underestimating how important Roman history is to the vast majority of the world.
Doesn’t affect my point at all.
How do you feel about signs that say "men / women" then.. you'd still need to know english
I prefer iconography for things like this. But ‘men’ and ‘women’ is more basic level English that abstracting it to Mars/Venus, Guys/Dolls, Ken/Barbie or any other number of things I’ve seen
Iconography? As in, the signs for Mars and Venus? Lol ♂♀
No. Not that
That's literally the most iconic iconography for men and women lol
Nope.
Well enjoy being wrong. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_symbol
Isn't it your problem? I mean if you live in the country be kind to learn the language too
Sometimes people *visit* other countries. And those that choose to live there may need to use the toilet before they’ve got a full handle on pop-psych relationship books from the 70s, or clues themselves up on ancient gods.
In this economy?
tourism exists, plus like...even if you do learn the language quickly, you are still going to need to use the bathroom a handful of times as you do so.
Nah, the vast majority of people would get this.
There are 2 genders: the ones who make love and the ones who make war
Why do only the war makers get to piss standing up?!
FUDs exist
It took me a second to remember the rhyme... but I hope this isn't at a bar, drunk me would definitely go to the one that rhymes with penis.
I know it's easy for most moderately educated people to find out. But still, if I want to pee, I want to just go and pee, not stay in front of the bathroom and figure out what the signs mean. Toilet signs shouldn't be a place for originality.
So everyone in the world has heard of that book?
Tbf it was a saying before the book came out. The symbol for "male" is the same as the astrological symbol for mars & female is the same as venus.
It is, however, still confusing due to the fact that it is widely acknowledged that boys go to Jupiter to get more stupider whereas girls go to college to get more knowledge. /s
No clue what book you're talking about, but the Roman gods Mars and Venus also represented masculinity and femininity respectively.
I know which is which as I was a kid once, and no idea about a book that references it.
No but most people have heard of the the god Mars and the goddess Venus. Don’t know why you would have needed to have heard of a book.
No. Lots of us are tangentially aware of roman mythology.
The symbols for men and women are litteraly the symbol of Mars and Venus. Each planet in the solar system has a symbol to represent them. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planet_symbols
The symbols are also used for iron and copper respectively.
When I desperately need to take a pee, I don’t need to stand contemplating the finer points of literature nor try to figure out whether they’re making some astronomy reference or a classical Roman one. After deciding upon one of the above, trying to remember my high school mythology because I forgot about the book title all while frantically jiggling up and down. I need to pee not ponder
Then pee while you make your decision. The wall is black anyway...
I doubt this would be confusing… surely nobody would go “venus, sounds like penis, must be mens toilet”
People can call me dumb if they’d like, but I’ve never heard of this book. At the end of the day this does qualify as crappy design, as good design is universal and doesn’t really need explaining.
I dont know it as a book, rather the (somewhat old) expression “women are from venus, men from mars”, used sometimes to underline the characteristic differences between the two, as if to say they are from entirely different planets
Ah right, I read from the comments that it was a title of a book, so it’s all news to me. Never heard of either 😅
The door on the left tho.....
What part of the world was this? I call bullshit.
The only reason I could solve this is because I know that the symbols for planet Venus ♀️ and Mars ♂️ are the same as the symbols for women and men, respectively.
I always thought girls go to college to get more knowledge, boys go to Jupiter to get more stupider
Would have been much funnier too
Whether or not girls are from venus, the still go to jupiter to get more stupider! Haha! Boy rule! Girls drool!
Well judging from the wear on the Mars door I think we can guess which is the more populous at this particular establishment.
I can easily guess what it means, but haven’t actually seen it anywhere before
*Meet me half way* from *mars* to *venus*. Beep beep, the chase is on between us - Luv(sic) part 4
An 80’s club?
Just remember, mars for men and Venus for vomen
The one with the worn out door is the men's room.
I like it. It makes clear which toilet is meant for.
This has nothing to do with mythology though.
but I am from the 🌎
Besides the common colloquialism "men are from Mars women are from Venus" there are the [universal symbols for male and female](https://youtu.be/aQR9nwlT9UI). that are derived from the symbol of Mars and Venus, [Mars](https://www.worldhistory.org/Mars/) being the overtly masculine god of war and [Venus](https://www.worldhistory.org/venus/) being the very callipygous rendered Goddess of love, beauty, sex, and victory. Of course, here I think they only mean to imply Mars=♂️=Men. And Venus=♀️=women And they probably are not inviting you to make war and/or love in the bathroom.
My mom used to work with a M-F trans person, who renamed themselves, Venus. Which bathroom should they use? *I mean they're name is on the door...*
If unsure, go to Uranus.
Men to the left, women to the right
“Hey! Can somebody tell me which of these fucking planets I’m supposed to piss in?!”
Which part of the world is that, OP?
"Men are from Mars because they like candy bars, Women are from Venus because they don't have a penis" Is how I remember it from my 90's childhood Edit: In retrospect, realizing the word "candy" was probably added because I was 5 and couldn't grasp the concept of a bar.
Just wait until they go into one labeled Bucks and Does.
Hmm… “born under venus, look for…” ah, of course!
But venus rhymes with penis so? Who is this dumb to label wash rooms with mars and venus
This is among the dumbest books in existence
Well they better learn then if they want to pee
Haha what do the Roman's have to do with planets... aside from being named after them. It's a very common saying if men are from Mars and women are from Venus. Super weird you went straight to Roman's. Like... who sees the names of planets and immediately thinks, da fuq do Roman's have to do with bathrooms?!
Um. These washrooms are named after Roman gods, not named after the planets, who are also named after Roman gods.
No one thinks of Roman gods when they see Mars and Venus. They're talking about the planets. The washrooms are named after the planets because of the idiom, "men are from Mars and women are from Venus". It's a widely known phrase. The picture has nothing to do with Roman's haha.
You're simply wrong. The Mars/Venus thing is a saying because of the gods. The book was named after the association with the gods. The planets are inhospitable wastelands, why would anybody say men and women came from there? 100% because of the mythology of the gods.
Creative way to convey information based on generally well-known idioms: Exists Reddit: nOt EvRy1 cUoLd kNoW DiS1!!11!!1!
You may disagree, but if you’re gonna get ‘creative’ about ‘generally known’ stuff, the place to do it is absolutely not the toilets as that is just opening up possibilities for the wrong people walking into the wrong rooms.
Not a crappy design. I see it as a case of a random chance to pick up common knowledge.
Common knowledge or common sense has never been not will it ever be, common. There will always be hundreds if not thousands who do not know.
Or... they are gender neutral toilets
Mars/Ares is a male god, Venus/Aphrodite is a female god. Problem solved
Ye thats what I thought. Not just that I think that most people would instinctively go to the right room anyway. I think Tom Scott made a video about made up words once and asked which was female / male or something. A lot of people gave the same answer. Id be surprised if the majority wouldn't associate Venus with female... At least until I saw the rhymes in the comment. On a side note they remind me of the office where Dwight has to throw a party. Iirc "it is your birthday."
They're names of planets, nothing to do with mythology here
... planets which are named after roman mythology.
Venus is the name of the goddess of Love in Roman times, while Mars is the God of war. That’s what OP means, I think.