Why do we do this in society?

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In society we do we class men and women separate from each other sometimes?. For example restrooms for girls and restrooms for men. Another example would be an all girls school or an all boys school.

Because cis-males and cis-females have different personal needs, social structures, and learning styles, as well as differences in physical anatomy.

Because women don't want men to see them doing their toilet thing.

And men don't want women to see them doing their toilet thing.

It's that simple.

I have no desire to go into a lady's bathroom. That's their domain. That's their private area.

Because humans like to categorize people into groups?

Honestly I think it's unnecessary.

It preserves a mystique, a false division between people, who are really more similar than different. Some people are very invested in gender roles, I don't understand it.

I'm kind of repelled by people who play up the extremes, like big jock guys and girly girls. Except bears - bears are cool, because they know what they're doing... Hmm, maybe I just hate it when people play through the extremes without consciousness.

There's a lady named Simone De Beauvoir who wrote a book called "The Second Sex" about how women are socialized to become women. It's pretty eye-opening.

Such as, when we are children, we tend to play with the same sorts of toys and play the same games. When kids get older, they see that certain genders are supposed to act certain ways and have certain lives in store for them. If you happen to be a quiet boy or a bossy girl, there are not as many acceptable roles for you to imagine yourself in.

There are also books about masculinity. The sociology chair in the graduate department at my school studies that.

Successful people who are quietly assertive don't seem to get much publicity, but when the first female president gets elected, we may see some of that change.

I think that the current situation has a lot to do with lack of appropriate role-models. Take the entertainment industry, for example. Action heroes tend to be men, while women are usually relegated to the roles of victim, mom, token "b***h", secretary, nurse, or sexual reward for the male hero. Men are portrayed as having jobs where they get involved in car chases, gun battles, fist-fights, high-level decisions and sexual encounters with the victim, the mom, the token "b***h", the secretary, or the nurse.

We need real-life women who are not afraid to make decisions, take risks, fight dirty, get injured, and still not seem like a victim for men to rescue. We need those women to succeed in roles that were traditionally male, and not complain about not "having it all".

We need more women like Sally Ride, Oprah Winfrey, Hillary Clinton, Sigourney Weaver, and my wife - women who aren't afraid to step out and away from the men in their lives and establish identities of their own.

Please note that I've said "WE need ...", repeatedly. Men need these role-models too. Otherwise, we may never learn what a really respectable woman is like.

^ Amen to that, Fnord.
And in a similar way we (inclusive, men, women and others too) need examples of men who are able to be sensitive and loving without bravado, be caregivers, mentors and teachers who value wisdom taught with compassion and patience and gentleness, be confident about embracing their childlike and playful sides without aggression or hiding it behind being "camp," able to be emotionally honest and to treat women as equals not objects who need protection, without regarding any of the above as p****, sissy, weak or gay.

Tradition

Let's just pretend there are no differences and continue towards being a society where we're not any particular gender.