 SO
WHAT EXACTLY IS A BIDET?
Last week I posed the question of what is a bidet? Nobody
took me up on the question so I had to go out there and search for
myself. I know the name and I know them when I see them.
But what I did not know until this was was where they cam from and
exactly what was their purpose. It is as though everyone is
embarassed to talk about it and most go through life acting like they
knew it all along..... What a crock!!!
Let me share with you my first experience with a bidet.
Growing up in several parts of America I had never encountered a
bidet. When I was 25 I was walking the cobblestone streets of
southern Brasil as a LDS missionary. Southern Brasil is known as
the destination for a large percentage of the Germans that fled their
mother country when the second world war was drawing to an end.
Hence the heavy German influence on the Southern Brasil society.
An interesting side note is that up until Brasil adopted Portugese as
the national language in the early 60's German was the language of the
people in southern Brasil.
Being a missionary took me into a lot of houses and one day we
were invited to this family's home for dinner and I asked where the
bathroom was so that I could wash up. I used the standard toilet
and looked around for the sink to wash my hands. There wasn't a
traditional sink in the room, but there was this toilet looking thing
sitting next to the standard toilet. It has a handle on the side
and a bird bath type basin with a shower head pointing skyward.
I thought this was awfully strange to mount a sink so low to the
ground, but figured that the Brasilians were a much shorter people and
I was trying to become one with my new area.
I bent over and turned on the valve and water sprayed
everywhere. The shower head was more like a fire hose and I
quickly cut the water back off. My white shirt, slacks, tie,
arms, head and face were now drenched and I was still in a state of
shock. What was that thing and why did it attack me? What
in the world was I to do now? How was I going to play this one
off? I couldn't possibly stay in the bathroom until I dried
off. And speaking of drying off, how was I going to get the room
dry? This was truely a very embarrassing moment of my
life. These experiences keep one humbled. This quickly
takes a 6'6" Americano and cuts him down to just three feet tall.
Well ever since that experience in Brasil I have wondered what
the purpose of a bidet was for. I remember coming home from
Brasil and a new movie hero named Crocodile Dundee had come to
life. I remember going to see the movie Crocodile Dundee 2 where
he comes to visit New York. He encounters a bidet for the first
time and he too was befuddled. He figured it was for washing the
backside. Was it for men as well as women? Was it designed
to clean on off? It is a urinal too? So many questions and
yet I know that each one of you reading this already knows the origin,
design, and use of the bidet. Each one of you is laughing at how
silly this tall Utah inspector is in his thought process. So for
each of you, you need not read further. I will share the
following just for me so that I will learn all about the bidet.
Most Americans are not familiar with the unique "fourth" bathroom fixture, long an essential in the sophisticated homes and hotels of Paris, Rome, Caracas and Rio. It's called the Bidet (pronounced Bee-Day) and may be described as a little bath to sit in.
It appears that the Bidet had its origin in France. It was comprised of a simple encased receptacle used to hold the water and supported in a portable wooden stool. The name "Bidet" originally meant small horse. French Cavaliers desirous of bathing but having little time to do so, were indeed thankful for the original version of the Bidet. It permitted partial bathing of those body parts which were in close contact with their saddles.
The Bidet is almost always placed beside the bathroom toilet and is actually a form of lavatory. It provides convenient facilities for intimate personal cleansing of the rectal and genital areas of the human body usually not accessible for washing when fully dressed. It is the most significant innovation for personal hygiene and sanitation since the introduction of indoor plumbing itself.
The chief purpose of the Bidet is to maintain for the user a constant state of cleanliness after each use of the toilet. The Bidet should be considered a hygienic necessity rather than a luxury or status symbol. Daily use of the Bidet should become as conventional as brushing one's teeth.
After elimination, it is impossible to cleanse the rectal/vaginal areas with dry toilet paper. Warm water is obviously a better cleansing agent than the softest, prettiest or costliest toilet paper available. Any family laundress or personal valet can testify to this statement.
Toilet paper has been perfumed, decorated in color, sterilized and made antiseptic, but nevertheless, it is still dry paper and only a step better in evolutionary improvement than the pages of the mail order catalogue or the barbaric plantain leaf.
If it is routine to wash one's hands after using the toilet, is it even not more logical to wash one's bottom? Babies always have their bottoms washed clean, powdered and pampered. However, upon graduating from infancy to the stage of self reliant childhood, they are permitted to revert to the medieval custom of wiping and dry toilet paper. American parents are solely responsible for depriving their children of the appropriate guidance and education on this subject. Perhaps this is the result of the Puritanical American culture and heritage handed down through the years.
Most Americans are reluctant to talk about the matters which Bidets are concerned with. Many people look upon the Bidet with ridicule, thinking it is reserved for Parisiennes of doubtful virtue*, solely for feminine hygiene (douche bowl), or for prophylactic purposes (birth control). The latter is obviously not accomplished with plain water washing. Some misinformed Americans maintain that if people take enough baths or showers they do not need the Bidet. It should be realized that the Bidet is not a competitor of the bathtub or stall shower, but an adjunct-auxiliary-facility.
It is truly amazing that although American plumbing manufacturers produce more Bidets than manufacturers in any other country, these same Bidets are exported away from the very people who believe that they lead the world in personal cleanliness and hygiene habits. It appears incredible that the modern American who spends so many billions of dollars on cosmetics, drugs, and various other personal care preparations annually, as compared to similar expenditures for physicians' services, should be so concerned about fastidious daintiness and well being for 98% of his body, when for the better part of each 24 hours he blissfully ignores his invisible but nevertheless soiled derriere.
The same American who employs the tooth brush and "Water Pik" 1-2- or 3 times daily, should not retain the antiquated habit of relying on toilet paper to achieve cleanliness.
The Bidet can be put to good use for many purposes. The therapeutic advantages of washing after elimination are obvious to every proctologist, gynecologist and general physician. Bathing the genital organs can be more easily accomplished here than in a tub or shower. Women should thoroughly cleanse the external vaginal area at every opportunity during the menstruation period.
It seems unbelievable that the American home, which is so commonly equipped with every comfort, convenience and entertainment gadget such as: air conditioning, color television, dish washers, clothes washers and dryers, electric tooth brushes and shavers, stereo music sets, hair dryers and so on, should be so sadly lacking in such a useful appliance for the bathroom. For that matter, American hospitals are not equipped with Bidets nor are the majority of homes of American Physicians including proctologists and gynecologists.
|
It's a
great day here in Orem, Utah! The pressure of the holidays is upon
us. It is getting close to crunch time and the presents and festivities
are occurring each day. The kids are getting antsy as the presents get
placed under the Christmas tree.
This
past week was the week from the dark side. I found myself starting off the
week in Evanston, Wyoming. Mid-week found me inspecting a 1905 mansion in
the Salt Lake City avenues. And finally I ended the week inspecting a
ghost town bed-n-breakfast in LaTuda, Utah. It doesn't get any stranger
than a week like that. How would you like to drive in country like the
photo to get to an inspection? The strength of inspection schedule has
been very strong and unlike most other Decembers of years past. Trying to
juggle the inspection life and family life is really running me ragged.
Isnt that a homemade
French toilet, hand held self washing device for the women?
Chris Burkhart - Sandy, UT
