 |
| Bidet. Photo from Wikipedia. Framed by Antonia Scott. |
Having recently returned to Italy after a few years in London there was one household fixture I was thrilled to be reunited with the Bidet!
The Bidet, which is a french word for pony, apparently based on the notion that one might ride a bidet like they do a pony. Invented in the late 17th Century, the bidet once was located in the bedroom but in the 1900s was moved into the bathroom. As the 1800s bedrooms consisted of basins of water for the sometimes daily wash of hands and face, it would seem a basin that could be sat upon to clean the lower region was a welcomed hygienic advance for those who could afford it.
It's primary function both then and today is the cleaning of the genitals. When accompanying a shower, bath, sink and toilet unit, for me, the bidet is the piece de resistance of hygiene the ammonia icing on the deep clean cake.
Why then for so many of my foreign friends is it seen as a "dirty" fixture and exiled from bathrooms around Australia, the UK and USA? On a recent first trip to South West Europe my friend confessed that she cringed at the look of the bidets as it reminded her of oral sex.
Interesting, according to a Wikipedia entry, bidets "once served as a practical way for couples to prepare themselves before sex, as well as to rinse themselves afterward". Arguably, the bidet is still used for this purpose and if it is, is this not a good thing? A clean thing? One to be embraced and encouraged in all bathrooms not one to turn ones head away from in disgust?
I just don't get it. What is it about the bidet that makes us non-Europeans smell foul play?
Is it the fact that it looks a little like a toilet so our brain digests it into the potty file? Another Aussie friend of mine once confessed that upon spying her French hotel bathroom she'd been surprised to find a male urinal opposite the toilet and thought it a novelty that her and her boyfriend could both use the lavatory at the same time.
Another had thought it s toilet for children. Once the true identity of the "second" toilet was discovered both friends had crinkled their noses up in disgust at the fixture of filth.
But why?
The bidet is not a toilet. It's more like having an additional wash tub or sink. An extra place to wash whatever you like. Aside from its primary purpose, I've seen children use it for brushing their teeth and even quick baths. I've also seen people use it for washing their feet. At times I even use it as a tub for holding water when I'm cleaning the house or washing my delicates. The end product is always clean.
In some parts of India just water is used to clean below after going to the toilet. In other parts of the world just toilet paper is used. In boundless bidet countries both concepts are combined to get a cleaner result than ever.
It seems clear that bidet's are clean. And a champion for good personal hygiene. So why do we still think they are so obscene?
Is it some unchecked overhang from past British verses French or American verses French sentiments where each claimed hygiene superiority over the other? Or is it still harboured due to this claim to hygiene superiority between cultures still being rife today.
For instance, apparently according to the Urban dictionary a "dirty frenchman" is when a man doesn't shave for a couple of days, and there is stubble growth. "I didn't shave this morning. I feel like a dirty frenchman.
I say that our dirty notions of the bidet are passé. It's time we all said "G'day to the bidet".
No comments:
Post a Comment