It is almost always mothers who are responsible for changing baby’s diapers in public spaces. A habit that women, but also men, would like to see evolve.
When changing a baby’s diaper in a public place, it’s always the same problem: it’s up to mothers to take care of this task. Because very often, it is women who are responsible for changing children in public places. An additional inequality and an additional mental load that the novelist Baptiste Beaulieu wanted to denounce in an Instagram post. “The message sent is always the same: it is up to the girls to take care of the little ones”, he denounces. The reason is very simple: there are no changing tables in the men’s toilets and very rarely mixed changing areas. “But how can we change mentalities and allow men to invest in their parenthood if such stupid, but fundamental, details close the door in your face?“, he emphasizes. So, what do fathers who take care of their child alone do? Most of the time, they change babies in the stroller or on a bench.
Many parents found themselves in this message. In comments to her post, which was liked by more than 23,000 people, a mother shared her experience: “With two young children, I have to pee, change 2-year-old baby 1 who weighs his weight, then change baby 2 who has to wait in a toilet that is not very clean… and dad gets impatient because it takes a long time . And then obviously, for women, the wait is longer! So yes, it would be time to create these spaces dedicated simply to babies, and not to mothers.”
A global problem that also affects the stars. A few years ago, in 2015, actor Ashton Kutcher pointed out the lack of gas stations in the United States that had changing tables in public men’s restrooms. On social networks, a group of young fathers had also launched the #SquatForChange movement, understand “squat for a change” your child’s diaper, to protest against the absence of these changing areas in the men’s toilets. An absence considered sexist by some.
The solution that could then suit all parents would be to generalize “mixed changing areas” except in public places, underlines the author Baptiste Beaulieu, as is the case today in France or elsewhere in certain motorway areas, shopping centers or airports.