"Look at the pee all over the edge ... hee hee!"
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The issue of gender issues has always caught my attention, as an architect it is an issue that is becoming more and more relevant, but it is a topic that is present, or should be present, in practically everything. This brings us to the thorny and always controversial topic of machismo, feminism, new masculinities, etc, which I hope to address in other posts in the future.
The fact is that reviewing readings on these topics I came across one that attracted a lot of attention, where both interesting and surprising data are given, and once I was at that I started looking for articles on the same topic and I found some more that delve into in the question.
The interesting thing is that several countries have already implemented campaigns in favor of men urinating sitting down, and not standing up, as is always the custom, among them Sweden, Germany and Taiwan, and this has not been so that women who share bathrooms with men stop getting angry about the splashes in the toilets, or having to lower the lid all the time, but for reasons of economy and hygiene, since urine is very acidic and slowly damages those surfaces with which it comes into contact constantly, apart from the bad smells that accompany it.
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In Taiwan, the government initiative has to do with the cleaning and maintenance costs of public toilets derived from the splashing of urine from men, and in Germany the controversy arose due to the case of a landlord who discovered that the cause of the radiators of the bathrooms of some of their apartments were damaged were the splashes of urine from the single men who inhabited those apartments, so it was suggested to these that they either began to urinate sitting down or they began to take care of the expenses derived from piss standing up.
The matter has even reached the courts, since there has been the case of at least one landlord who has sued a tenant because urine splashes have irreparably damaged the marble floors of the bathroom of a house that rented him, and he won the lawsuit.
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Some European governments give as an argument for this "crusade", in favor of men urinating sitting down, also health issues, since it supposedly helps the prostate and is generally healthier, but the reality is that there is no conclusive data on the fact that sitting down is healthier than standing up.
What is a fact is that with age the power or force of the urine stream in men decreases, and it is not surprising that after 40 many men choose to urinate sitting down, without government campaigns involved, but simply because it is more practical and more hygienic for them, since the lower the jet power, the less control, even if it sounds like a joke.
So far the interesting part, since to be honest I had no idea about these data, now let's move on to the surprising thing: all the controversy about it. For women this is very clear, their arguments in favor are historical and forceful, but in the case of men the story is very different. Although in some European countries children are taught to urinate sitting down, the reality is that the male gender in general has been taught that the normal, or usual, is to urinate standing up.
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And the reality is that it is something really practical, most of the time, and depending on what pants you wear and how tight they fit, since if the pressure that oppresses the bladder is not completely released when urinating, it arises what we colloquially call "the treacherous droplet", which is nothing more than a little urine that remains in the urethra and that at the moment of raising the closure and relaxing the body leaves our organism without us being able to avoid it sometimes.
At this point we have to recognize that men are generally lazy to pee, we are lazy to unbuckle our belt and unbutton our pants to release pressure and urinate more comfortably, and we opt for the easiest but not always more comfortable and practical , especially if we wear slim fit low rise pants, which is to lower the zipper, remove the member and urinate.
Now beyond this, which is a generalization that of course does not apply to all men, urinating sitting down, from my point of view has no major problem other than getting used to it, and in fact it is a more widespread custom than looks like; so much so that Leo Messi himself, in a videotaped interview, commented without the least embarrassment in the world that he urinates sitting down.
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But the thing turns out to be not so simple, since it seems for many men to urinate standing up is a sign of masculinity, and doing it sitting down deteriorates their manhood, so much so that many consider the mere suggestion of doing it, an offense. And we are talking about the male inhabitants of first world European countries that one would think would have a broader and less sexist criterion.
In Germany, for example, there are the stehpinklers (men who defend urination standing up) and the sitzpinklers (men who urinate sitting down). Some put stickers in the public toilets with the legend "Here you pee sitting", and the others with the legend "Standing for your rights".
The surprising thing is that in the 21st century, not peeing standing up is seen as a threat to masculinity, and generates so much controversy, so much conflict, when there are real issues that could be considered to really threaten to redefine masculinity, in both senses, for better or worse. That in the middle of 2018 men consider that they are less so for urinating sitting down is somewhat depressing, or at least frustrating.
Being a man is much more than urinating standing up, sitting down, lying down, or whatever, being a man has to do with values and principles, which today, probably more than ever, have to adapt to a new reality in which the traditional model of family, has ceased to be unique and has, to put it colloquially, diversified.
The role as a couple and father of today's man faces new challenges that urgently need to be addressed, that are more important than whether we urinate standing or sitting, at least that is my humble opinion.
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What is surprising is that while there is a movement in favor of men's rights, in which complex issues such as men's reproductive rights, for example, are being brought to the table, we are worrying about our manhood being seen decreased by urinating while sitting.
And even more surprising is that we continue with this mine that prevents us from seeing what is important, and we continue to debate on issues, which although important, are not the ones that will allow us to reach that dream, sadly almost utopian, in the short term, of gender equality, not even on such trivial issues as the way we urinate. So echoing the title of this post: urinate sitting or standing, is there the dilemma? I sincerely hope ... not.
©bonzopoe, 2021.
Thank you very much for reading this post and dedicating a moment of your time. Until next time and remember to leave a comment.
