Casting a Feminist Eye on Public Infrastructure
Sarah Fox · 2017
In this submission, I discuss my research on public restroom infrastructure and the distribution of hygiene resources throughout the city of Seattle. Through interviews and observation, I investigate differences to "customer convenience" across restrooms in public parks and community centers. As grassroots organizations begin to upend these systems through the collection and distribution of menstrual hygiene projects, they reorient whose resources are 'cared for' by the state. This discussion of public services and care serves as a foundation for technology field interventions meant to offer a means for collaboration across disparate maintenance practices and redefine the infrastructure of access for people with limited resources.