Everybody Remember This Picture?

( For the screen readers: this is a sign with the silhouette in the international shape for MAN standing next to a much smaller international shape for Disabled: A little wheelchair with arms, feet, and a dot for a head. Underneath the figures, it says "Men." It's a Men's Room sign, in other words.)

So I am finally ready to write about what I thought when I saw this sign. It's under the cut. Before you click on the cut to read it, please remember that I am fully aware that what this sign actually is is a marker of the location of a Men's Restroom and nothing more. It has no direct intentions other than to point out where a guy can find the can.

But also remember that this sign exists within the larger context of my experiences as person who is not only Disabled but uses a wheelchair as in the symbol itself. It hangs on a wall that is part of a building that inhabits a world that is not set up with me in mind, that has in it people whose belief structures belittle and oppress me, even when they don't mean to. This sign also exists in my perception.. Me... A human being with flaws and character defects and issues and problems like everyone else. My reaction to this sign exits in all these contexts and more. You totally don't have to agree; it's kind of besides the point.

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