It's our home too
For several years we have heard feminist complaints about "leaving the seat up" to the point that men in bathrooms have become the butt of jokes on every comedy act from local standup to the "Tonight" TV show. I still hear that anti-men rant every month or so, usually with some sincerity. For the past decades, men have reacted in one of two ways. Either we promise to always comply with the female's wishes, or we claim that we have some rights too and she can put it down when she wants it down. More recently, some men have become increasingly aware that the underlying problem isn't about putting the seat up or down. The problem is that the needs of men have never been addressed in residential bathroom design.
Near the end of the 19th century people began moving plumbing indoors. Before that time everyone either went outside to a pit toilet, or used a chamber pot which was carried outside and dumped in the street. Urban homes with the new indoor plumbing were comparatively rare in those times. At the end of the 19th century 95% of people in the US still lived on family farms. Most men in those days just pissed wherever they were in the street, behind the barn, or in a sink or chamber pot inside. Beginning with Victorian modesty women began demanding more amenities and privacy for body functions and the indoor plumbing WC began to become the standard in new houses. By the middle of the 20th century plumbing codes required tub, toilet, and sink as standard in new home construction. After WW II, The needs of Victorian modest women had been codified into construction standards and built into houses. But what about the men?
When men go to our jobs, offices, theaters, and commercial buildings of all kinds, they provide plumbing for the needs of men. Urinals designed specifically for men to piss abound, sometimes lined up in rows. Older public buildings often had long trough urinals where several men could piss at once. But what about our homes? Don't men live there too? Don't we men, who construct and pay for almost all the homes deserve plumbing for our needs in our homes?
No said the feminists, men don't have any right to the bathroom in the home. Men, they said, are dirty, splash on the floor, leave the seat up, and generally are unwelcome. Fancy bathrooms these days even have carpets that catch splash and can't be cleaned. The lead character in Jack Nicholson's film "About Schmidt" was required to piss sitting down by his controlling wife. Some real life men now experience the same demands in their homes. It's gone from complaints about leaving the seat up to denial of basic body functions to men in our own homes.
Men's groups have become concerned that the real problem is that home bathrooms do not have adequate plumbing provided for men. Why not? Don't we live there too? Why can't the world of bathroom design professionals and code writers start providing plumbing for men in our homes? Is there something unacceptable about a man taking a piss in our own home? At least men don't usually piss in the sink like our grandfathers did a century ago. Item 74 of the Demands of Men posted on this blog a few days ago identifies plumbing for men in our homes as a listed demand for equal rights of men.
Whenever you hear women or feminist inspired comics bashing men about "leaving the seat up" come back with, "Why isn't there any plumbing provided for men in our homes? Don't we live there too?"
They no longer expect men to piss in the street with the horses. The time for men's indoor plumbing needs to be addressed and provided for is long overdue. Some people might argue that a man can install a man's plumbing in his own home if he likes, but that doesn't address the problem. Half the men live in rented apartments in which they have no control over the plumbing provided. Most of the men who own their own home have no ability to rip up the bathroom and remodel it to provide for the needs of men. When we go traveling and stay at motels and hotels we need to have plumbing for men provided for us. They provided plumbing designed for women more than a century ago, but no plumbing for men is provided to this day. Plumbing for men is not even considered by the residential building and plumbing codes, only in the commercial codes. Do they think we spend 24 hours a day at work? Or, more likely, they just never noticed that we men have needs at home too. That is where change needs to be made. The needs of men must be addressed and provided for by architects, engineers, inspectors, designers, contractors, and the whole residential construction industry. The needs of men can no longer be overlooked. It's not just "her" home. We live there too.
We men build the houses. We men pay for the houses. We men write the codes. We men need to stop accepting the "seat up" rant of feminism and start demanding that our homes have plumbing for us too.
Near the end of the 19th century people began moving plumbing indoors. Before that time everyone either went outside to a pit toilet, or used a chamber pot which was carried outside and dumped in the street. Urban homes with the new indoor plumbing were comparatively rare in those times. At the end of the 19th century 95% of people in the US still lived on family farms. Most men in those days just pissed wherever they were in the street, behind the barn, or in a sink or chamber pot inside. Beginning with Victorian modesty women began demanding more amenities and privacy for body functions and the indoor plumbing WC began to become the standard in new houses. By the middle of the 20th century plumbing codes required tub, toilet, and sink as standard in new home construction. After WW II, The needs of Victorian modest women had been codified into construction standards and built into houses. But what about the men?
When men go to our jobs, offices, theaters, and commercial buildings of all kinds, they provide plumbing for the needs of men. Urinals designed specifically for men to piss abound, sometimes lined up in rows. Older public buildings often had long trough urinals where several men could piss at once. But what about our homes? Don't men live there too? Don't we men, who construct and pay for almost all the homes deserve plumbing for our needs in our homes?
No said the feminists, men don't have any right to the bathroom in the home. Men, they said, are dirty, splash on the floor, leave the seat up, and generally are unwelcome. Fancy bathrooms these days even have carpets that catch splash and can't be cleaned. The lead character in Jack Nicholson's film "About Schmidt" was required to piss sitting down by his controlling wife. Some real life men now experience the same demands in their homes. It's gone from complaints about leaving the seat up to denial of basic body functions to men in our own homes.
Men's groups have become concerned that the real problem is that home bathrooms do not have adequate plumbing provided for men. Why not? Don't we live there too? Why can't the world of bathroom design professionals and code writers start providing plumbing for men in our homes? Is there something unacceptable about a man taking a piss in our own home? At least men don't usually piss in the sink like our grandfathers did a century ago. Item 74 of the Demands of Men posted on this blog a few days ago identifies plumbing for men in our homes as a listed demand for equal rights of men.
Whenever you hear women or feminist inspired comics bashing men about "leaving the seat up" come back with, "Why isn't there any plumbing provided for men in our homes? Don't we live there too?"
They no longer expect men to piss in the street with the horses. The time for men's indoor plumbing needs to be addressed and provided for is long overdue. Some people might argue that a man can install a man's plumbing in his own home if he likes, but that doesn't address the problem. Half the men live in rented apartments in which they have no control over the plumbing provided. Most of the men who own their own home have no ability to rip up the bathroom and remodel it to provide for the needs of men. When we go traveling and stay at motels and hotels we need to have plumbing for men provided for us. They provided plumbing designed for women more than a century ago, but no plumbing for men is provided to this day. Plumbing for men is not even considered by the residential building and plumbing codes, only in the commercial codes. Do they think we spend 24 hours a day at work? Or, more likely, they just never noticed that we men have needs at home too. That is where change needs to be made. The needs of men must be addressed and provided for by architects, engineers, inspectors, designers, contractors, and the whole residential construction industry. The needs of men can no longer be overlooked. It's not just "her" home. We live there too.
We men build the houses. We men pay for the houses. We men write the codes. We men need to stop accepting the "seat up" rant of feminism and start demanding that our homes have plumbing for us too.
posted by Bob | Thursday, April 28, 2005
1 Comments:
its ok to pee in sinks if you want your neighborhood to turn into an Andersonville
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