This Dad's Enraging Viral Photo Proves Parenting is Still SO Messed Up
Donte Palmer's message went viral when a photo of how he was forced to change his son's diaper made rounds on Instagram. Due to the lack of diaper-changing stations in men's public restrooms, the father of three boys had to change his son's diaper on his lap while he had to wall squat in one of the stalls.
"This is a serious post," he captioned on Instagram alongside the image. "What's the deal with not having changing tables in men's bathrooms as if we don't exist!"
Palmer added that doing this was routine for him and his son.
"Clearly we do this often because look how comfortable my son is," he wrote. "It's routine for him! Let's fix this problem!"
He's encouraging others to speak out about sexist facilities using the hashtag #fatherslivesmatter — and it's resonating with other dads who've faced this struggle. It's also resonating with moms who are forced to bear the burden of what should be a shared parenting duty. But the lack of facilities for fathers reinforces stereotypical, sexist gender roles that moms alone should be caring for the kids.
"The amount of times I have done this with both my boys is ridiculous!" one father commented. "One day I legit had to do it on the floor. (Yuk!) My son is 3 and had an accident."
A mother wrote: "This is such a real issue!!! My husband and I talk about this all the time, I mean what gives?! So glad you brought some well-deserved attention to it, but hate that you’ve had to change diapers like this at all!"
Palmer isn't the first dad to go public about his frustration with the lack of diaper-changing stations in men's public restrooms, either. In May, Chris Mau went viral when he posted a Facebook status about having to change his daughter on dirty bathroom floors due to a lack of baby-changing stations in men's rooms.
The question is: How many viral posts will have to make their rounds before anything actually changes?
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AnnaMarie Houlis is a multimedia journalist and an adventure aficionado with a keen cultural curiosity and an affinity for solo travel. She's an editor by day and a travel blogger at HerReport.org by night.
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