Like We Don't Exist

Hello Lovelies! So, unfortunately it's not "enabled" for sharing, but I just saw an article on Facebook from FEMPOSITIVE.com that REALLY got my attention. And it got me thinking. Here's the thing: men need changing tables in their public bathrooms. The article tagline (on RoleReboot's Facebook page) was the quote from one man they interviewed, "It's like we don't exist." Hallelujah! Exactly! And remember my earlier post, "What the Big Stall is For"? Well this would make things SO much easier for everyone! Not only would there be an option of using the "big stall" in public bathrooms to change babies out of the way of the general bathroom traffic, it wouldn't be stigmatized as JUST a "woman's job" any more. And the big stall just might be taken more seriously. One of the main problems with the use of the accessible stall in public bathrooms has always been that the Abled thought it was for them. Or they acted as if it was as much FOR them as for the Disabled. That has always kind of made me feel as if the rest of the world didn't see us--"like we didn't exist." Putting a changing table in the accessible stall in a public men's room would give THEM validation as the attentive, hard-working parents that they are, AND it would make a side of life that nobody sees or acknowledges--VISIBLE. I could see this trickling down to higher visibility for all. The Able-Bodied with children, yes, but also by extension pregnant women who rarely get the attention they deserve either, and of course, the Disabled, who are far, far too often ignored in public restrooms, having to wait for somebody with no physical challenges or mobility aids at all, to finish using the stall and stretching their legs so that those they refuse to see can have their turn. I've had so many people apologize to me as they exited the accessible stall, walking striding past on their perfect legs to the sink:( I've started saying "I'm used to it." Just to get in a little shameless plug, to REMIND them that we should not be ignored. Now there are men who also need the privilege of the big stall, and not just for mobility aids. Maybe now they know what it's like to be unseen, and something will be done to change things. And change babies.