Skip to footer

Ashton Kutcher fights for diaper changing stations in men's rooms

After posting on Facebook about the how difficult it is for him as a man to find bathrooms with changing stations, Ashton Kutcher began a Change.org petition to get changing stations installed in more public restrooms.

|
Evan Agostini/Invision/AP­
Actor Ashton Kutcher attends a special screening of "JOBS" hosted by The Wall Street Journal at the Museum of Modern Art on Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2013, in New York.

A few weeks ago, actor Ashton Kutcher took to Facebook to complain about how public restrooms never have diaper-changing stations in the men’s rooms. What was meant as an offhand comment got the new dad’s post over 244 thousand likes and a flurry of feminist approval.

With all of the positive response, Kutcher decided to actively try to rectify the situation with a Change.org petition asking asking Target and Costco to provide universally accessible changing tables in all their stores.

“It seems this idea of diaper changing stations has struck a chord. It's a pet peeve of mine when people just complain … and don't do anything to improve their condition. So lets do something. In for equality?” Kutcher posted on Facebook.

The petition has over 80 thousand signatures as of Wednesday afternoon.

Kutcher chose to focus the proposal on Target and Costco because they are companies that support families and, as leaders in the industry, are in the position to inspire change in other stores as well.

Target’s public relations department responded to the petition shortly after it went live, saying that changing tables are already a staple in all their restrooms and have been for 25 years, adding that “ in the event a changing table is unavailable, we encourage our guests to notify a team member and we will be happy to offer an alternative private location to meet their needs,” according to the Huffington Post.

The idea of installing changing stations in all restrooms is not a new one. A bill was proposed in California that would have required that facilities with changing tables in women's restrooms also provide them in men's restrooms. However, the governor vetoed the bill, saying that, while it would be a good business practice he was not willing to legislate it.

The lack of changing tables in men’s rooms may support the institutional assumption that women are always the primary child care provider. It may also undermine the role fathers play in their children's lives.

"I would like my daughter to experience a world where gender doesn't dictate one's responsibility or limit one's opportunity," Kutcher said in an interview with A Plus. "Having changing tables in men's rooms is just a tiny step in the process of rectifying legacy gender discrimination. Men who are aware of this bias want to participate equally in the child care process and our society should support that. It's time to get our hands dirty."

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.
editor@csmonitor.com
Subscribe
Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

QR Code to Ashton Kutcher fights for diaper changing stations in men's rooms
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/Family/2015/0325/Ashton-Kutcher-fights-for-diaper-changing-stations-in-men-s-rooms
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe