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PostPosted: Tue Sep 07, 2021 9:27 pm 
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Joined: Mon Jan 25, 2021 2:13 pm
Posts: 455
Location: Southern Ontario, Canada
My wife and I were watching the NASCAR races on the weekend. I had never considered this before but those drivers are in their cars for 3+ hours straight. So I googled. Some reports say the drivers do not wear a diaper but just go in their fire suit (gross). When they win, someone throws a bucket of water/Gatorade on them to eliminate the smell and disguise the wetness. In some cases they can make it without urinating because of the hot conditions and the amount of perspiration.

I read a book last year about some helicopter pilots in Afghanistan. Some of the flights were so long that they just urinated in their pilot seats. The author related how the cleanup crews really hated that.

Astronaut Jerry M. Linenger wrote in one of his books how he was proud to say that he never wore a diaper in his space suit. But I might remember this wrong -- perhaps he said he never had to "use one".

Those of us who are incontinent are left to marvel at the resistance to a most obvious solution. If astronauts and divers can use "protection", why is there so much resistance in other areas? The stigma knows no bounds.


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PostPosted: Wed Sep 08, 2021 9:08 am 
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Joined: Mon Jun 18, 2018 4:52 pm
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Location: Central Texas, USA
I’m not sure that I can go more than an hour watching family channels on TV (Hallmark and the like) without seeing a commercial about adult pull-ups, “briefs”, and such. I go to a grocery store or pharmacy and I see part of an isle of incontinence products. I know we’ve all seen them. My point is that I’m not sure that there’s much of a stigma anymore. The reality of it all is that, for me, I don’t think it’s anyone’s business what I’m wearing under my dress. Being a modest type to begin with, I try to keep my medical condition to myself, as well as the products I buy and use, but I’m anything but ashamed or trying to hide anything. This has been a learning process for me over the many years dealing with this issue however. It didn’t start out well for me, as you all may recall from my childhood recollections shared here. To this day, I still have nightmares and depression for days about some things but that aside, I’m not ashamed of anything. Self confidence is key, in general, for all of us! Don’t define yourself by something so insignificant as continence. We’re all SO MUCH MORE!!


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PostPosted: Wed Sep 08, 2021 10:27 am 
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Joined: Sat Mar 29, 2014 11:45 am
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Although I second everything above, let me add a little.

First, the male ego is fragile, especially the macho male ego. Occupations that appeal to the macho mindset may be the last bastions of the stigma we oppose. One exception to this may be long-haul truckers, who are increasingly adopting diapers as the best solution to their work schedules.

Second, entertainment usually portrays impossibly rosy, positive attitudes towards its characters, and impossibly heart-warming solutions to their heroines/heroes problems. Incontinence is embarrassing, not entertaining. As the stigma continues to weaken, eventually a writer, director, and producer may see incontinence as a viable challenge for their lead character to overcome. When that happens, the stigma will well and truly be conquered.


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PostPosted: Wed Sep 08, 2021 3:55 pm 
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Joined: Mon Jan 25, 2021 2:13 pm
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Location: Southern Ontario, Canada
I think the points that Ellyn makes illustrates how absurd the resistance is. I agree with the reason Patrick outlines is really where the problem is. IIRC, the book about the Afghan pilots said that protective underwear was made available but the soldiers refused to wear them. The same probably applies to the young race drivers, who want to keep with the macho image. There are increasingly more women race drivers, which I think is great. I'd bet that they would wear protective underwear to avoid peeing in their fire suit.

When you see that TENA (or some other) is listed as a sponsor on the body of a NASCAR entry, then I'll believe that the stigma is nearly gone. Perhaps in 10 years as the demographic changes to a "country for old men" will we see more of a shift.

PS: NASA didn't like the term diaper, so they came up with MAG (Maximum Absorbency Garment). See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maximum_Absorbency_Garment


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