I had a copyediting teacher who said that she took issue with restrooms labeled “ladies” as they seemed exclusive. I’ve always considered myself a lady so that has never made me feel unwelcome. However, I think the sign above would be a perfect solution to the dilemma of how to mark restrooms without resorting to the clinical sounding “female” or excluding youngsters by labeling them “women.” Or maybe I was just a little too tickled by a bathroom sign at the mall.
But I did learn something crafty to share! Moondoggie and I went to a cultural/historic dance presentation yesterday where we learned that the term “bark cloth” comes from the ancient practice of making cloth from the paper mulberry tree in Tahiti! Women would beat the strips of bark until they were soft and came together in sheets, then make clothing from it. Kings would get dyed and painted cloth. Who knew?
I am having fun trying to find things to photograph with the iPhone that turn out ok enough to show you. But I will post pictures from my real camera on flickr when I’m home!