Things that crack me up #45
I love me some variations on Wheelchair Guy.
Image description: A color photo posted to Flickr by clagnut shows a pale blue spray-painted Wheelchair Guy on a brown wall in a London bar. Wheelchair Guy's hands are upraised, with the right one holding a big wrench and the left one holding a large spoon.
Details from clagnut: "The Gents' symbol was displayed with kitchen utensils and the Women's was displayed with tools. Hence the combination for the unisex Disabled loo."
6 comments:
Of course, I would be somewhat concerned about anyone bringing a spoon into either the gents' or the ladies'... ;) Anyone wielding a wrench I'd assume was off to do some plumbing.
Very good point!
Actually, i really like that. The disabled person is portrayed both as capable of meaningful, practical work and as transcending gender roles. :)
Yes, there's the whole "male/female/disabled" thing, which is obviously problematic, but symbolically and taken on its own, i think this image is really positive...
Shiva, I agree with you the image is very positive both for disability and gender reasons. I'm not sure what the problematic "male/female/disabled" thing is you're talking about. Could you clarify?
The only thing I see as problematic -- or strange and funny, really -- is wielding an eating utensil in a public restroom.
The idea that people can be divided into 3 categories - male, female and disabled.
Thus, either disabled is a gender, or disabled people are desexualised/degendered, or all non-disabled people fit the traditional gender binary and only disabled people can be transgendered.
In the UK there seems to be a lot of debate over whether there should be:
a) "male" toilets, "female" toilets and (non-gendered) "disabled" toilets, as there usually are now;
b) "male" and "female" toilets with accessible toilet stalls within each of them;
or c) all toilets degendered and, where space allows, made accessible (with at least one accessible toilet anywhere there are toilets).
I support option c), but the debate can get pretty heated - it's come up on the BBC's "Ouch" message board a few times...
Oh okay. Got it. Just to clarify, then, when I said the image is positive for gender reasons I meant because it breaks gendered stereotypes by reportedly having just the wrench for the women's restroom image and just the spoon for the men's.
But I prefer gender neutral bathrooms, so long as there's privacy for the weird acrobatics of climbing onto high toilets that I do with my assistants in there.
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