According to an article from Buzzfeed from April, a senator is trying to pass a bill that requires changing tables in men’s bathrooms. Before stumbling upon this article, I had heard about new father Ashton Kutcher bringing up the same topic and issue, but other than that it was actually something that I never really crossed my mind. When I was younger, my dad would take my sister or I into the men’s bathroom without hesitation when it was just him, because what else was he going to do? Send a four-year-old into a bathroom alone, no thank you. 
It never really occurred to me that without those changing tables, men would have to resort to holding their children while changing them? My biggest question is why does there even need to be a bill for something like this? Shouldn’t it just be a requirement for all bathrooms, whether it is men’s or women’s?
I think that this is a great topic to bring up. I also wrote a blog post about Fathers and how they do not get so much attention when they are taking care of their children. One thing I forgot to mention in my blog post was how diaper changing tables are definitely an equality issue. I am so glad you brought up this topic. I believe their should not need a bill for this, I mean seriously? Public restroom, and non public restroom should just have them anyway! However, if it is coming down to fathers not being able to take their kids to the bathroom to change their diapers… then yes the nation needs this bill!
I honestly never knew there were not changing tables in men’s bathrooms and I do agree that there should be because some men are single dads and some men take their baby or kid out while their wife is doing something else. It gives the Dad a sense of responsibility and probably would make him feel more comfortable knowing he could change a diaper in the bathroom, rather than in his vehicle or other places not equipped with a table. I also agree a bill should not have to be passed to obtain this, but if it does, then I think the bill should pass with no question.
As a stay at home dad in the early 2000’s I found that a good number of places I went with my infant/toddler daughter had changing tables in the men’s room. Albeit this was in large urban areas. Those that didn’t have the tables in the men’s room often let me use the women’s room with an employee standing guard. I also became quite adapt at making sure the little one was nice and dry before going into the facility.
I don’t think legislation is necessary. I do think more consideration should be given to male caregivers, especially in more male dominated facilities (i.e. the autopart store).
Just my two cents.
I think that because of gender roles in our society, it has been odd for many people to think about the issue of not having changing tables in men’s public bathrooms. Chapter 7 of our textbook gave us some information on “parental communication about gender” and explained that fathers tend to spend less time with their children in one-on-one communication than mothers did. However, this is changing because the generation of fathers that we have today is showing an increase in how much time they spend with their children one-on-one. I believe this is true as well, because I see how my dad and some of my friends’ dads are different than today’s fathers. I think that this will continue to increase and that it is about time for men to have access to changing tables in public restrooms as well.
I had never given this topic much thought until now. I always just assumed that fathers who had small children with them would either have accessibility to a changing table in the mens bathroom, or be able to use a family bathroom. I agree that it seems a little absurd that a bill has to be passed to make this a requirement. It surprises me that it even needs to be put to a debate, or why anyone would be opposed to making these available in restrooms. Overall, this poses an interesting debate about the fact that father figures are becoming more involved in raising children in society today.
I think this is a really cool topic. I think there a lot of things we can take from this because diapers and daddies are rarely thought of as a common thing. I also think that if more dads stayed at home it would go against the gendered norm because most dads go to work instead of staying home and most moms stay at home. This is really interesting and Im looking forward to this growing into a bigger topic.
I think this is a really cool topic to bring up because I don’t think many people think about it. I’ve noticed that a a lot more malls and public places are starting to have family bathrooms. But I really do agree that there should be changing tables in mens bathrooms. I actually think its kind of sexist that there aren’t already some in their bathrooms. I think it make’s sense to mainly have them in public places such as pool, parks, amusement parks, churches, restaurants ect. rather than putting them in office bathrooms and such as well. Now that I think of it I see women having to get up from the table all the time to change their babies diapers but not once have a see a male do that for their child. I wonder if it really is because of the lack of changing tables in mens restrooms. I really don’t think that they need a bill for this though. I think it should just be an understanding that there should be changing tables in both sexes bathrooms in public places.