![]() ![]() People live in Penn Station and in the winter months the smell is overpowering. Very sadly, when I think of Penn Station, I think of a horrible smell. It is true that until Prohibition men and women did not mingle as much in public. Women by the 1920s were also the topic of cigarette advertising (‘torch of freedom” and “slims”). 1920s speakeasies had many women patrons and MCs in NYC. NYC restaurant dining 1st opened to unaccompanied women by 1868. I am just not so sure this is for safety given how many people are usually in Penn Station in public view and the gender-only waiting areas ended (but did safety change?) and did not apply to rail cars where the same people boarded. Penn Station also had a general waiting area in addition to the men only or women only areas. The problem was that the other side, where mostly men were, unfortunately smelled of stale cigar smoke or worse. No women were forced to use that section. The Staten Island Ferry had a women’s only section downstairs until the late 1960’s and the “Ladies Room” was there too. The male I suggest was mainly to allow the male to enjoy “the smoking” (and $#%^ talk) space. They may have enjoyed having that space, but their virtue was never questioned, nor their safety. The men-only spaces you mention in another comment are a different kettle of fish. The mixed waiting area was surely fine if you were traveling with kids. Children would not have been separated from their mothers. You were careful to avoid being in most public places without other women, a husband or a chaperone. Unaccompanied women were generally seen as either vulnerable to attack or, to use the phrasing of the era, having loose morals. Quite single-minded □ But what about families? Were they separated before boarding? ![]() The comments seemed to be focused on unaccompanied women. I think separate waiting rooms would be popular today! Grand Central had a women’s waiting room too. Thank you and Regards Sent from my iPhoneĮven then men were concidered dangerous predator’s Calling women teases was often part of justification for rape. Thanks for the reminder of just how far we’ve come since your kind of thinking was prevalent. Of course this was back in the 1960s 70s, I don’t know if it’s around much anymore but I’m sure it is. Called themselves cockteasers, some women pridefully boasted about that. Just saying.Īw c’mon, I knew many women who intentionally picked up men just to dump them. I can’t imagine all the rude abuses women have to go through everyday. Japan has women-only subway cars to this day because sexual harassment is so bad. As they still are.Īlso, the idea of a women-only underground train would appeal to every girl and woman who has ever been “approached” in an unwanted and disgusting manner or who had to witness men playing with themselves in an almost empty carriage… It made a lot of sense to have gender-specific waiting rooms (also in Berlin): women were permanently bothered by unwanted advances and waiting rooms, where people sometimes dozed off waiting for their train, were dangerously convenient “hunting grounds” for sex predators. ![]() You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.Ģ7 Responses to “Old Penn Station’s women-only waiting room” You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. This entry was posted on Januat 4:04 am and is filed under Midtown, Transit. Tags: Original Penn Station Single Sex Waiting Room, Penn Station 1910 Waiting Room, Penn Station NYC, Penn Station Women's-Only Waiting Room ![]()
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