When the moderator proceeded with his questions even though Hillary Clinton was not back onstage at the last Democratic presidential debate, I thought, briefly, that he could have waited for her return. Surely, the director had an extra commercial stacked somewhere, but it was no big deal—simply rude. My accompanying thought was that she had been held up by the line at the ladies’ room. That is such an everyday occurrence that it merited no comment, except that the male moderator refused to wait for her return.
And then The Donald had to weigh in. The only part of the entire incident (other than Trump’s insertion of himself into it) that is disgusting is the poorly designed and placed ladies’ rooms. There is not a woman alive who is unfamiliar with the typical long lines at any event, whether it be during the intermission in a theater or a commercial break at a sporting event.
So why is this still an issue? Is it so terribly difficult to resolve? Not really. It is neither insurmountable nor difficult to fix—but it only troubles women, so who cares? It probably doesn’t help that:
83% of registered architects and an eerily similar percentage of legislators in the U.S. are the very people least likely to have to wait in lines.
Earning its own hashtag (#everydaysexism), it was far from the only example during December.
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