Big Sister is watching you

So there you are at the motorway service station, trousers open, bladder full - and being eyed by large-format photos of women. You can see the laughter, the bashfulness, and the interest in their faces. Welcome to the wonderful world of North Macedonian sanitary design, where going to the toilet becomes a performance under the loving gaze of the fairer sex.

I'm sorry, is that funny? Or maybe it's just a bit silly? While men have been enjoying looking at women on posters, in adverts and in shower gel bottle formats for decades, it seems that the tables have turned here: The woman was the observer, and the man was the glassy-eyed piker. I'm wondering whether it might be a reversal of the balance of power? Or maybe it's just the return of facility management?

I don't think it's misogynistic, though. I'm sure you're not feeling contemptuous of men, are you? Maybe both, maybe neither. Maybe it's just a playful, if slightly eccentric, way of finding humour in the unexpected. But more likely, it's just a soft, barely there version of what used to be considered 'cheeky' and is now more like a shy smile. Welcome to North Macedonia!