Women's' Urinals
 

This is a sister post to the string about all things lavatory. A few years back I came upon the below women's' urinal while documenting some historic rest-rooms on the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia:

http://www.wildfreshness.com/brian/a.../Sanistand.jpg

Made by American Standard, these "Sanistand" models were a postwar response to the increased use of public rest-rooms by women as families took to the road on family vacations. I did a little research and it turns out (as most women would admit), that women do not like to pee on public toilets for fear of "catching" something nasty. In fact, most women, when confronted with no choice, will "hover" over the standard toilet rather than let their buttocks touch it. Unknowingly to them, doing so constricts the bladder and prevents full evacuation of the urine, leading to an increased chance of UTIs.

For whatever reason (probably because they were awkward to use and had a lot of "splash back"), the women's' urinal fell out of favor and now they have the automatic cover machines on some standard toilets. So for today's women, it's "hover or cover."

I never understood toilet seat phobia. Skin is an effective barrier to germs. Just don't touch your face after using a public toilet until after you have washed your hands, and you will be fine. To be fair, I do understand it. It's all about the cooties. I just don't think it's rational.

and that urinal looks like it could be dual purpose. The trap appears large enough to pass solids.

Solids
 

I thought that at first as well, but further research revealed that it's for liquid waste only.

Do hovering women want to risk getting "cooties," or get a UTI? That's the question.

I don't know why you felt the urge to put this in Nothingland. Bathroom-related tpoics darn near deserve their own forum area here on The Cellar!

Anyway, thanks for the pic. I read about these but had never seen one. Could you tell us more about how you came to be "documenting some historic rest-rooms"?

Historic to whom, and for what reasons...? Or do I want to know?

I saw this thread and thought of this :

"The Electric Picnic is taking care of female concert-goers this year by providing female urinals at the boutique music festival in Stradbally.

Everyone knows that the worst element of any festival is the long queues for portaloos that are often too awful to even consider sitting on. The Electric Picnic will be the first in Ireland to provide female urinals in a bid to cut loo queues and offer women a more time efficient & hygienic option to portaloos.

Female urinals for girls will be used in association with P-Mates. The unique and original P-Mate enables woman to pee while standing upright. The P-Mate is a small conical device made out of leakproof, firm and reliable material and is used by girls to enable pee-ing standing upright. It is then instantly disposed of; it is environmentally friendly, fully recyclable material.

At Electric Picnic ladies will be able to walk into an enclosed girls-only urinal, pick up a P-Mate and go! No queues, no waiting around for your turn, no fuss.

Female urinals are just one of the many new facilities that will be provided at the festival this year."


1)WTF? are we supposed to pee standing up, in front of all and sundry?
2) What happens if you're wearing jeans? Its leaving me with a picture of lots girls with trousers around their ankles, in very prone positions..eww. They are probably gonna be totally high/drunk aswell..should be funny...


Has anyone else used one of these or seen them in use? I've never heard of them before. I think I'll take my chances with the minging portaloos....

How I Came To Document Historic Restrooms
 

I'm a cultural resources specialist and historian for a large government organization that manages thousands of historic buildings. Up on the Blue Ridge Parkway (now you know what organization), many of the "comfort stations" at the several recreation areas along the route were built by the CCC during the 1930s. We are nominating the Parkway as a National Historic Landmark, so I must survey and document all that is there. That is how I came upon the female urinal; otherwise, I may never have discovered it. I think it speaks to many issues we all deal with in our daily lives, and represents a curious blip in American plumbing history. Besides, I've always been fascinated by urinals; and I'm not the only one:

http://www.urinal.net/

pffft! I got pregnant 3 times from sitting on a toilet seat! ;)

I can help with that.

People's ass goes on them. There's no way I can summon the desire to mix my ass sweat with someone elses and carry the film around on my buttocks all day.


lol. okay it's cooties.

The original construction side of high school had those female urinals.

They were rarely used, even when there was a line.

Those female urinary cones, which I like to call "portapenis", are available in travel catalgoues such as Magelleans. Apparently, they're handy when confronted with normally untenable or undesireable locations when nature calls. Utilizing them in a traditionally nasty and crowded scenario (such as a festival and its ubiquitous portajohns) seems to me to be a pretty good idea.

Do you think that women will reject the notion for standing while urinating in a single-gender environment because of sociology, habituation, or ???

Social Construction of Micturation
 

There are powerful cultural, sociological, and perhaps genetic factors that influence the psychology of public waste evacuations. I remember the Boston Public Library had a real problem with men using the stalls for some hot fellatial action; they took off the doors and added cameras. Now I'll be honest and tell you that I just don't want to pinch a loaf while a bunch of people are watching me. Yet in other countries, communal bathrooms are not uncommon.

And what is the Boston Public Library restroom webcam site url, please? Clever moneymaking idea...live library pron.

On the other hand, I'm not into taking a dump in a semen covered stall. But I'll be honest and say it's all about the cooties. Or maybe the heebie jeebies.

I'd hold it in both cases and get all constipated and stuff.

yes....and my propensity to get extremely embarassed about things like this has something to do with it. :o

Maybe in the next few years it will be common, so we'll all be fine with it.

Also women can't direct their pee with such precision as men..and we need to wipe...there are loads of problems...:thepain:

Aha, I take it you've never cleaned a men's room. :lol:

Women can't; men won't.

I have a friend (she's a she :p ) who is an absolute perfectionist when it comes to aim. Its the grossest and coolest party trick ever.

Women wont; men won't.

You were screwing someone who was sitting on a toilet seat? I've done that before...

Question??? Could it be that the toilet above in the picture was for STANDING over and not the hover-round idea? Walk in, face the wall , lift your skirt and go. This would have been before women in general wore jeans and pants in large numbers so it would have been easy to just walk-n-pee, then pat.

And as far as buttocks sweat and germs? Ever go into a womans restroom where a hover-round has been? You'll worry about more than butt-sweat, and I'm not sitting in THAT either. (I'm with Mr. Noodles on that one)

Doesnt every Mother teach their daughter to hover??

Its tough when you are intoxicated though.

romuh doog is correct. The Sanistand was made for standing over; hence the "stand" part of its name. Just which direction you stand I'm not sure. I think a womens will have to chime in and explain. The only time I've seen women pee is on camping trips and they squated on the ground. True story: my sister once did that in a bunch of poison ivy; her buttocks were later used as an illustration in a medical book.

I wouldn't know. I have to say, I have never taken the opportunity to discuss the matter with my wife and daughter.

Maybe at dinner tonight . . . .

here is a girly toilie

http://rednecks.info/pictures/redneck-garden.jpg

that would be a bit...errr....tickly Chey.

Easy to wipe though. ;)

*That's* where the Spring Bouquet Freshness comes from! Another of life's mysteries unveiled. :smack:

Polled one young woman, DaughterofV, "what do you think about this?" the opening picture.

"Ahh, no."

What about the Turkish lavatory ? You don't have to touch any seat or porcelain at all . The main difficulty with the Turkish lavatory is female foot-splash of course , but that is easily avoided . The micturating lady should be facing the wall , and not the door . Very few women know this .

Squatter
 

You must be referring to what some call a "squatter" lavatory. They are quite common in Asia and Parts of Europe.

http://www.wildfreshness.com/brian/archives/turkish.jpg

I wonder if they produce good pole dancers? ;)

I read some treatise many years ago that stated, rather emphatically, that the squatting facility was what *every* homo sapiens should be using, because that was the way our bowels were designed to be voided. The author attributed most of the ills of both society and the human body to the failure of Europeans and Westerners to take a proper dump.

Movements
 

That sounds partially true. Squatting achives maximum dialation of the anus, thereby encouraging the maximum voiding of feces. Probably results in less residue as well (less ass-wiping needed).

My father once told me of an African tribal leader who regularly would request his underlings to "void" themselves, take the end product with them, and form a line to allow the leader to inspect said product. He would go down the line and determine if his tribe was healthy by what he did or didn't see in their stools.

I knew I should have become a paleoscatologist.

OK, I'm now completely convinced that we need a separate forum area for scatologically-oriented topics.

I think that's a bunch of shit, SD. :D

What happens to the disabled?

Never mind the physological dynamics of the bloody things - I've reluctantly tried these abominations in men's toilets in France on a number of occasions and now try to avoid them like the bubonic. Whoever invented them never looked past the 'a-hole-in-the-ground-is-all-they-need' concept.

They are the most unhygienic objects in the world, invariably swimming in the misdirections of other users' urine and also having nowhere to park ones trousers/pants when partaking of the required squatting position - result: pissy-pants.

No wonder (and thank god!) they have failed miserably to proliferate in the modern world of water closets...

I'll just go piss on this friendly looking streetlamp if'n you don't mind. 'S better than a "squat'n'squirt".

EDIT: In China (mainland China, mind you), those kinds are so much more common than, y'know, real toilets, that most people actually squat on those, too, putting their feet on the seat and squatting over the bowl. I guess they think us damn fer'ners are crazy for putting our holes up so high in the air.

Had to use a squatter lav last time I was in Italy. We'd just been to my friend's wedding and were in a bar for a quick shot before heading to the reception (at a 5* villa with proper toilets!)

I had on a long dress, 3" stiletto mules and a hat. How I managed not to give myself a bath I'm not sure.

For the record I think every Mother does teach her daughter to hover. When I grew up I rejected this - I wipe the seat before I start but that's about it. I think I stopped bothering when I first started drinking - it was enough of an effort to remember to pull my pants down!

Mules
 

You sound very practical, Sundae. Do what you have to do in a given situation.

To be honest, I don't think human buttocks carry much disease, so wiping and sitting sounds reasonable. What ticks me off are guys who, for some bizzare reason, choose to piss in the stall rather than in the unrinal, even when one of the latter is availible. What's up with that?

And now we have some wise acre who's choosing not to flush his loafs. I think he's proud of them.

What type of shoe, exactly, are "mules"??

Mules are backless shoes - usually peeptoe (as mine were) and usually heeled, but not exclusively. Very pretty, but don't make porcelain any easier to negotiate!

I have a male friend who only urinates sitting down - perhaps this is the case for other men using the stalls? Or perhaps they are self conscious for some reason?

Personally I dislike going in front of someone else, and used to get very frustrated when my housemate took long baths, effectively tying up the only toilet in the house. She's say, "Oh you can come in, I don't mind!" I do! What if a really noxious fart creeps out? How lovely will your bubble bath be then?

1. The inability to get the water flowing when in company - happens to some - psychological - a bit like when the doctor sasks you for a urine sample and its a bugger to relax enough to do so.....

2. You just wakened a very old memory,

We have a public house (bar) in Dulwich, South London, near where we all used to live in our youthful drinking days, called the Alleyn's Head. I remember stopping off there with my pals to have a pint one night. It was about two thirds of the way through the evening and, as a result, at that time when every pub visited requires a call to the Gents for bladder space creation.

The urinals were not enough in number to take us all (yes communal peeing is an essential male passtime), and so one pal took to a stall for his wee. Above the relatively pleasant sound of running water in theurinal area, he was suddenly heard from behind the door to his stall to utter the word 'Jesus!' quite loudly. He emereged looking quite shocked and insisted we all enter to witness what he had seen.

No word of a lie it was the most enormous log I, or any of us, had ever seen - at least 6" in diameter and a good 20" long, and wedged firmly between the bowl and the bend! It wasn't going to budge - and we weren't about to make encourage it do so by any other means...

Instead, and as unanimously agreed, we spent the next ten minutes searching for someone with severely watering eyes....

That made me laugh immoderately, thank you !

I confess I once did one that (although nowhere near as big) sat upright in the pan & therefore didn't flush. Luckily I was at home and eventually persuaded it. Also - luckily - this was about 17 years ago. If it happened today I'd be tempted to take a photo on my mobile.... And that would be WRONG.

King Loaf
 

6" in diameter? I'm incredulous. How can that be?

One of these days I'm gonna make it to London and go to a "public house." London folks appreciate a good pint, none of that watery shite most people drink here. I like Whitbread; that's pretty good.

Hey cyclefrance, what kind of bike do you ride? I think I mentioned to you that I have a Grandis frame with a mixture of Campy and Shimano.

http://www.classicrendezvous.com/ima...andis_KK_4.jpg

And thanks for the Mule description, Sundae; you can fart around me anytime.

A hat? Wait, was it this wedding?

It was :)

I am smiling with delight that my legs and shoes are still dry.....

Your Grandis sounds a bit like my Record Sprint - I had it fully Campag on gears and brakes, but needed an extra low ratio gear for hills and could only get a shimano set for that. So Have Shimano intrusion on the back hub!

I've used the Sprint for the last 7 years and have clocked up about 10,000 miles on it. Thius year I invested in a Trek 7.1FX so that I have something with a bit better off-road capability for touring. Still enhjoy riding the Sprint though and intend to use ut later this year on a 100 mile charity ride on roads around Dieppe France...

Photo ofv the Sprint from last year's trip to Paris here

Posted some pics of the Trek on the bike thread here

This thread has just inspired a new Cellar Tag Line entry...go to the proper place to see it.