After enjoying a Sunday afternoon movie at a local theater, I, along with what seemed like most of the female audience, headed for the Ladies Room. The credits had not even faded, and it wasn’t just those of us past 50 either. As I rounded the corner and opened the door to the bathroom, I was greeted with a site familiar to anyone born of two X chromosomes. There was a line. A long one. But of course.
As I always do, I guess to vent my frustration, I said something to the woman in front of me, a kind of aside but loud enough for everyone to hear, something like, “Wouldn’t you know it; there’s always a damn line in the Ladies Room.” And as always, there were the requisite nods of agreement, and I felt a little better. But, I’m here to tell you, it pisses me off. It’s unfair. An outrage. It suddenly dawned on me; if this isn’t sex discrimination then what is?
The discrimination angle must have occurred to me as a result of doing some work for a couple of employee rights lawyers– writing copy for the firm’s website. Discrimination’s been on my mind lately; not only is there a lot of it out there in the world, it takes lots of different forms – age, race, national origin, disability, sexual preference and, of course, gender. And although a line in the Ladies Room has been exempt from the charge thus far, I would argue that this kind of gender injustice is the worst kind. Being passed over for a promotion may sting, but it’s nothing compared to being kept from carrying out nature’s imposing call.
The theater, the train station, a restaurant, a lecture, a wedding, you name it. There are always women waiting in line to use the facilities. Take a look, however, at the adjacent door, the one marked Men or more elegantly, Gentlemen, and I challenge you to recall ever seeing, and I mean ever, a man tapping his feet, awaiting his turn.
Once again, it’s discrimination against you know who – not just in the boardroom, but in the bathroom, the most important place of all. Forget the precious time we’ve wasted; never mind the things we’ve missed. And though it might be a stretch to call it pain and suffering, the wait can be downright uncomfortable and at times, humiliating.
How did this happen, I wonder. Are these facilities all designed by men? And if so, you’d think they would have recognized the need. Haven’t they noticed that our plumbing is different? That it takes us longer?
If the discrimination argument doesn’t hold water with you, here’s another line of reasoning, also gleaned from my recent work. “Reasonable accommodation.” Yes, I know that “reasonable accommodation” applies to an employer’s obligation toward a disabled employee – to provide whatever assistance is needed to successfully perform the job. Whether it’s providing a chair or rearranging a work schedule, there are Federal and State laws that mandate it. My brilliant legal mind tells me it’s not such a big leap to think that women should be afforded “reasonable accommodation” too. After all, who’s not disabled when they’ve gotta go?
What a wonderful world it would be if we women never had to wait for an available potty ever again. Besides being the right thing to do, it sure would go a long way towards making one half of the population a lot happier. Come to think of it, it would probably do the same for the other half as well – those on the other side of the door, patiently? waiting for us to finish up – powdering our noses or whatever it is we do in there.
Sixties Chick 