Big underwear is in cahoots with the same people that make the TP for public restrooms to insure skidmarks ruin underwear before their time would otherwise come.
Seriously, though, as someone who tells everyone to get one, people don’t like the idea of water shooting at their ass hole. I get it. Mine is an exit door only. Even if you tell them it isn’t like a niagra-falls enema, the machismo crowd can think of it as homosexual. Then the next excuse is cold water / how do you clean it. (As if toilets themselves magically stay clean on their own)
Countless people rent. A landlord isn’t going to install anything extra without getting extra in return and bidet isn’t a selling point so they don’t get put it, and if they did it would be a point of possible failure of water, which no landlord wants, so I wouldn’t be surprised if some leases even prohibit them.
Finally, they aren’t free. Even the cheapest one is an unnecessary expense if you think the idea is ridiculous. You have to read a lot of internet comments, or know someone who has one to purchase one as an American.
@KNmeh7 I think it goes beyond exactly what a bidet is used for. Americans are just uneasy when it comes to thinking about–or egads! talking about–anything to do with bodily functions and especially those related to toilets.
I’m a renter and put in one of these without even asking my landlady (and then put one on her toilet!). It goes under the toilet seat, connects to the cold water line to the toilet tank with a tee fitting (supplied with the bidet), and takes 20 minutes to install. All you need is a screwdriver and an adjustable wrench. They cost from about 30 to 50 dollars depending on quality. Mine in a BioBidet because they use copper where cheaper ones use plastic.
American men (in particular) have a real phobia about anything having to do with their own personal butts.
“Ah kin jist see th’ mess th’ kids’d make fiddlin with it, nope, not here.”
Involves Plumbing, which is a Dark Art akin to sorcery to those who don’t know which end of a pipe wrench plugs into the wall. (Of course, Real Murrikin Men can do plumbing blindfolded. And some really can. But they still won’t install one of these hyar thins, no way.)
What’s a bidet? [answer is provided] Why would I need that? Wouldn’t I still have to wipe off the water? Ick.
French is the reason most likely, along with Americans really got the toilet paper industry built up more than other countries before these became widely available.
The French part though, is why we also don’t use metric.
@jouest@kevinrs I’m still aghast on the failure of the metric thing. In 1st grade we were taught it and how to convert and how we would all switch to it in the next couple of years. Some local cities even started to post signs in miles and km. Then it just magically went out of our media and out of our minds.
@jouest@kevinrs@pmarin yeppers Suddenly the push for it was over. Now it’s quite frustrating when an item dimensions are only in metric I think it’s just to screw with us older folks.
@jouest@kevinrs@pmarin Massachusetts had miles and kilometers on highway signs until at least the 90s. I haven’t been there since then, but I remember seeing them on the way to visit the then-in-laws and thinking how cute it was that they were still trying to get metric to take. It was more likely too expensive to change them until the signs themselves needed to be replaced because of wear.
@dahobbs9@jouest@kevinrs@pmarin For small measurements, I prefer metric. I always have to start at the half inch mark and work my way down to quarter inch, then eighth inch and counting how many eighths.
You forgot “inertia”.
I have a bidet I got in an IRK several years ago that I keep meaning to put in my bathroom but still haven’t done!
(Note to self… Find and install meh bidet…)
@chienfou When you finally get to install it and use it for the first time, you’ll be asking yourself “Why didn’t I put this in years ago?” - ItalianScallion, Bidet Evangelist
When you finally […] use it for the first time, […]
But if you don’t love it on the first try, don’t scrap it immediately. Some people need a few extras uses before it becomes comfortable. Especially if you don’t figure out how to deal with all the extra water mess. (Or, rather, how to avoid creating the extra water mess.)
Myself included. I still don’t love it, but I appreciate its utility. (Disclaimer: there is not currently one in my house or anywhere I have frequent access to.)
@Kyeh
True enough, tho in all honesty those were all the porcelain, stand-alone versions. They were typically used during la toilette in the morning to clean your nethers. A full out bath or shower was not a daily event in those days.
Most folks didn’t go from the toilet to the bidet after a BM since it was awkward to make the transition with your pants around your ankles.
Oh… and it was also handy after sex…
@chienfou I have encountered those in hotels in France. I think that last detail is another reason they’ve only caught on slowly over here; our Puritanical forebears didn’t approve of them …
I’m an American guy. I have a nice bidet that sprays warm water and dries with warm air when done. It even keeps the seat warm for me during winter. I have a stack of special towels for removing excess water before the dryer comes on. I’m apparently not normal.
One of my first trips to France the room came with a bidet but the shared bathroom was down the hall. I’m assuming that everybody pees in the bidet (I did).
This is different from the bidet seats which already go on toilets, or the fancy Japanese $3,000 units.
@werehatrack@xobzoo So it seems neither are correct and both are simply auxiliary firefighting apparatuses. Luckily, no fires have broken out in either the shower or toilet thus far, though there have been a few unfortunate chili or pepper related false alarms.
It is the same reason Americans look at a piece of art and see naked instead of art we were brought up as a nation by religious people that can give no quarter to the differences of others it is either that or as a people we think any thing that happens below our waist is by sexual by default. Once you put aside any preconceived notions you realize it is just a very clean way to well clean
This might overlap with “machismo” or “culture”, but: cultural attitudes towards health, safety, and cleanliness in general.
There’s a self-destructive segment that doesn’t value it as something shared and objective: as a social good, and for consistency, for themselves. (And perhaps vice versa: people who don’t consider healthcare a need, as if to justify their own going without. Though Obamacare may have led to that too.) This group has become actively hostile to any thought of improving health and cleanliness, and it’s become a thing of political identity.
Other countries may have such people with such preferences too, but only in the U.S. have they concentrated their cultural power into a fatburg of bad and rejected ideas. It’s only a couple(?) dozen percentage points, and even fewer true believers, but there’s a tipping point effect in play, and it’s been enough to change where the U.S. lands.
On a serious note I think it’s because no one talks about it. I don’t even mean just bidets, I mean anything to do with pooping. I remember a few years ago Oprah and Dr Oz had this while episode about poop because it was such a “taboo conversation”. So the idea that anyone it explaining the benefits of bidets in any detail ( the kind of detail needed to make someone switch ) is highly unlikely. Also many of them are poorly made. A bad one can be the only one you ever experienced, unlike other places where a weak or bad faucet is understood to be a bad one because you’ve used countless other ones.
In the US you either never heard of it, or brought / used a cheap one that made you go " I don’t see the hype " and then no ever talks about it again
(Definitely ordering today’s because enough already.)
@jouest you forgot, didn’t you?
@jouest
Big underwear is in cahoots with the same people that make the TP for public restrooms to insure skidmarks ruin underwear before their time would otherwise come.
Seriously, though, as someone who tells everyone to get one, people don’t like the idea of water shooting at their ass hole. I get it. Mine is an exit door only. Even if you tell them it isn’t like a niagra-falls enema, the machismo crowd can think of it as homosexual. Then the next excuse is cold water / how do you clean it. (As if toilets themselves magically stay clean on their own)
Countless people rent. A landlord isn’t going to install anything extra without getting extra in return and bidet isn’t a selling point so they don’t get put it, and if they did it would be a point of possible failure of water, which no landlord wants, so I wouldn’t be surprised if some leases even prohibit them.
Finally, they aren’t free. Even the cheapest one is an unnecessary expense if you think the idea is ridiculous. You have to read a lot of internet comments, or know someone who has one to purchase one as an American.
@KNmeh7 I think it goes beyond exactly what a bidet is used for. Americans are just uneasy when it comes to thinking about–or egads! talking about–anything to do with bodily functions and especially those related to toilets.
I’m a renter and put in one of these without even asking my landlady (and then put one on her toilet!). It goes under the toilet seat, connects to the cold water line to the toilet tank with a tee fitting (supplied with the bidet), and takes 20 minutes to install. All you need is a screwdriver and an adjustable wrench. They cost from about 30 to 50 dollars depending on quality. Mine in a BioBidet because they use copper where cheaper ones use plastic.
@KNmeh7 cold is refreshing tbh
@ItalianScallion @KNmeh7 Frog bidet?
Till they invent a bidet that sprays beer, America is saying no to them.
@Wollyhop this feels a little Belgian
@jouest @Wollyhop Poirot would kindly suggest that you refrain from feeling little Belgians.
KuoH
@kuoh
…oh (raises hand) … me, me, me … I get it…(BTW: Good one )
@kuoh @Wollyhop slow clap
My opinions only, in no particular order:
@werehatrack i like the first bullet the best
@jouest @werehatrack indeed, it could get quite messy.
Yeah, it’s a machismo thing. Real super cool macho patriotic men don’t let nuttin’ go near their buttholes.
@haydesigner well, there was that time at the frat party….
@haydesigner
(sorry the free ChatGPT isn’t so good at the words still ;))
French is the reason most likely, along with Americans really got the toilet paper industry built up more than other countries before these became widely available.
The French part though, is why we also don’t use metric.
@kevinrs Freedom Spray
@jouest @kevinrs I’m still aghast on the failure of the metric thing. In 1st grade we were taught it and how to convert and how we would all switch to it in the next couple of years. Some local cities even started to post signs in miles and km. Then it just magically went out of our media and out of our minds.
@jouest @kevinrs I am hungry for Freedom Fries now.
@jouest @kevinrs Or some poutine, But that’s Canadian, eh?
@jouest @kevinrs @pmarin yeppers Suddenly the push for it was over. Now it’s quite frustrating when an item dimensions are only in metric
I think it’s just to screw with us older folks.
@jouest @kevinrs @pmarin Massachusetts had miles and kilometers on highway signs until at least the 90s. I haven’t been there since then, but I remember seeing them on the way to visit the then-in-laws and thinking how cute it was that they were still trying to get metric to take. It was more likely too expensive to change them until the signs themselves needed to be replaced because of wear.
@dahobbs9 @jouest @kevinrs @pmarin For small measurements, I prefer metric. I always have to start at the half inch mark and work my way down to quarter inch, then eighth inch and counting how many eighths.
You forgot “inertia”.
I have a bidet I got in an IRK several years ago that I keep meaning to put in my bathroom but still haven’t done!
(Note to self… Find and install meh bidet…)
@chienfou do it and report back!
@chienfou @jouest I’m not optimistic about his chances, objects at rest tend to stay at rest.
KuoH
@chienfou When you finally get to install it and use it for the first time, you’ll be asking yourself “Why didn’t I put this in years ago?” - ItalianScallion, Bidet Evangelist
@chienfou @jouest @kuoh
kinda sounds like procrastinating
@chienfou @ItalianScallion
But if you don’t love it on the first try, don’t scrap it immediately. Some people need a few extras uses before it becomes comfortable. Especially if you don’t figure out how to deal with all the extra water mess. (Or, rather, how to avoid creating the extra water mess.)
Myself included. I still don’t love it, but I appreciate its utility. (Disclaimer: there is not currently one in my house or anywhere I have frequent access to.)
@chienfou @dahobbs9 @jouest @kuoh
Or at least avid amateur-crastinating.
@chienfou Funny because I’m sure you’ve used them often, since the French invented them!
@dahobbs9 @macromeh
FIFY actually locally it’s FIFY’all
Or at least avid amateur-cr-ASS-tinating.
@Kyeh
True enough, tho in all honesty those were all the porcelain, stand-alone versions. They were typically used during la toilette in the morning to clean your nethers. A full out bath or shower was not a daily event in those days.
Most folks didn’t go from the toilet to the bidet after a BM since it was awkward to make the transition with your pants around your ankles.
Oh… and it was also handy after sex…
@chienfou I have encountered those in hotels in France. I think that last detail
is another reason they’ve only caught on slowly over here; our Puritanical forebears didn’t approve of them …
I’m an American guy. I have a nice bidet that sprays warm water and dries with warm air when done. It even keeps the seat warm for me during winter. I have a stack of special towels for removing excess water before the dryer comes on. I’m apparently not normal.
@JuliusWayne me neither. If I ever visit, remind me to ask for fresh towels.
One of my first trips to France the room came with a bidet but the shared bathroom was down the hall. I’m assuming that everybody pees in the bidet (I did).
This is different from the bidet seats which already go on toilets, or the fancy Japanese $3,000 units.
This was French old tech.
Random thought while trying to fall asleep.
Is a bidet just an antigravity shower or is the shower just an overhead bidet?
KuoH
@kuoh Possibly. Let us consult higher authority.
/8ball Is a bidet just an antigravity shower?
Better not tell you now
@kuoh @werehatrack
Reply hazy try again
/8ball Is the shower just an overhead bidet?
@werehatrack @xobzoo So it seems neither are correct and both are simply auxiliary firefighting apparatuses. Luckily, no fires have broken out in either the shower or toilet thus far, though there have been a few unfortunate chili or pepper related false alarms.
KuoH
It is the same reason Americans look at a piece of art and see naked instead of art we were brought up as a nation by religious people that can give no quarter to the differences of others it is either that or as a people we think any thing that happens below our waist is by sexual by default. Once you put aside any preconceived notions you realize it is just a very clean way to well clean
This might overlap with “machismo” or “culture”, but: cultural attitudes towards health, safety, and cleanliness in general.
There’s a self-destructive segment that doesn’t value it as something shared and objective: as a social good, and for consistency, for themselves. (And perhaps vice versa: people who don’t consider healthcare a need, as if to justify their own going without. Though Obamacare may have led to that too.) This group has become actively hostile to any thought of improving health and cleanliness, and it’s become a thing of political identity.
Other countries may have such people with such preferences too, but only in the U.S. have they concentrated their cultural power into a fatburg of bad and rejected ideas. It’s only a couple(?) dozen percentage points, and even fewer true believers, but there’s a tipping point effect in play, and it’s been enough to change where the U.S. lands.
…wait, what was this post about, again? Bidets?
On a serious note I think it’s because no one talks about it. I don’t even mean just bidets, I mean anything to do with pooping. I remember a few years ago Oprah and Dr Oz had this while episode about poop because it was such a “taboo conversation”. So the idea that anyone it explaining the benefits of bidets in any detail ( the kind of detail needed to make someone switch ) is highly unlikely. Also many of them are poorly made. A bad one can be the only one you ever experienced, unlike other places where a weak or bad faucet is understood to be a bad one because you’ve used countless other ones.
In the US you either never heard of it, or brought / used a cheap one that made you go " I don’t see the hype " and then no ever talks about it again