Cross-posted at Jezebel.
I am convinced that women could pee standing up, with the same accuracy as a man (which means, what, 90% accuracy?), if they practiced as often as men do.
There, I said it.
In any case, I’m not the only one and, in fact, in 1953 American Standard unveiled a urinal for women (via Vintage Ads):
Close up:
A commenter says she remembers seeing these in roadside rest areas for a time. But, obviously, they didn’t catch on. I suspect that they were made with women in skirts in mind, and involved squatting more so than standing and leaning back. This set of instructions for an another women’s urinal may or may not have applied to this one:
In any case, I like to imagine an alternative future in which women use urinals as easily and lightheartedly as men. It makes me appreciate the historical contingency of our everyday lives. Reminds me of the horizontal wall refrigerator.
Lisa Wade, PhD is an Associate Professor at Tulane University. She is the author of American Hookup, a book about college sexual culture; a textbook about gender; and a forthcoming introductory text: Terrible Magnificent Sociology. You can follow her on Twitter and Instagram.
Comments 56
Ismail — February 11, 2012
I'm all for gender equality, but within certain limits. A Brave New World gender neutral setting is not within those limits. A male urinal is MUCH more easily accessible for a male. A man has a penis, and is taught from a young age to urinate. A female has a urethra, which requires greater precision (not to mention its something drunk lady friends of mine usually try...) I dont think these kinds of gender equality are what activists had in mind when they fought for equal sex rights.
Joseph J Kane — February 11, 2012
Think of the water efficiency!
Anna Geletka — February 11, 2012
I've spent a lot of time working outside and therefore peeing outside, and while I'm perfectly comfortable squatting in the woods, I have a hard time imagining a standing urinal that works as well for women as they do for men. Especially one that allows as much relative privacy as male urinals do - how would we pee standing up without taking off our pants, instead of just opening the fly?
Normally I disdain explanations like "if this worked, we would already have a system for it", but perhaps it's accurate in this case. Working outside, I've often wished I COULD stand up to pee, but it just doesn't work very well.
Go with the flow... — February 11, 2012
I used to guide whitewater rafting trips and went on multi-day trips on longer rivers, and several of the women who came along on a Grand Canyon trip I was part of were professional Canyon guides and would walk right up and stand next to the men (whether customers or other guides) as we all lined up along the banks to urinate into the river (it's required to pee into the river, not onto the shore in the Canyon as it's much more sanitary considering the traffic volume and limited space along the banks).
If you could block out the row of people from view and only see their urine streams you wouldn't be able to tell who was who. The women had to do a bit of squeezing and tugging to orient their plumbing so they wouldn't just pee on their own feet but they said it wasn't difficult or uncomfortable and simply required a willingness to actually go for it. For women who go on a 14 or 21 day Grand Canyon trip it's an essential technique to pick up because it's common for a 16 person, 21-day trip to include about 100 cases of beer (no exaggeration) and otherwise they'd have to wade out into the frigid water since they're not allowed to urinate on shore.
I've always thought that river-runners would be a fascinating subculture to study from a sociological standpoint as one's status in most whitewater contexts is based on one's actual abilities regardless of gender, amount of personal wealth, who your daddy was, or any other arbitrary and pointless distinction. You can either run the river or you can't, period. Over the years it's always seemed to me that the global whitewater subculture is one of the most egalitarian scenes I've ever encountered, and it's truly global as I've sat around campfires talking to men and women of various racial backgrounds from North, Central, and South America, Europe, Africa, and New Zealand (and I mean all simultaneously sitting around the same fire!). Similar campfires burn somewhere every night all over the world along the shores of raging rivers that are likely being peed in by standing men and women even as I write this. Like any social scene, whitewater has it's share of obnoxious pinheads but overall the men and women in it get along better and treat each other with more mutual respect than in almost any other subculture I've run around in.
Anonymous — February 11, 2012
Physically it would work, yeah, but culturally it wouldn't. You're spot on, those urinals would be perfectly accessible to women in skirts (and I've seen women try with varying levels of success to use men's urinals in skirts. Long story) . But not all women wear skirts on a daily basis (I'd wager most don't) nowadays. I can't think of many women who'd want to get their pants almost completely off in a setting similar to the way men's urinals are set up (in public restrooms, without distinctive stalls for privacy).
Christie — February 11, 2012
We have a number of those in the bathrooms at Umass Amherst! Most women refuse to use them, so if you're willing to do so you can avoid long lines between classes.
Ann — February 11, 2012
Brooklyn college had them, and there is an article in the Spring 2010 newsletter about them. http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&ved=0CCkQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.brooklyn.cuny.edu%2Fpub%2Fdocuments%2Ffnewsletter_Spring2010.pdf&ei=Ncw2T_G3DaXH0QW3sJixAg&usg=AFQjCNF4FxU0deMOOIxm979YW60Mw6oxMg&sig2=qDA699qwE87TJkMYwjdOeA
Carlin70 — February 11, 2012
My college has a few of these in the women's bathroom, and most of the time they are very clean, as no one uses them. I attempted once, but there is the issue of most women wearing pants that is a hindrance to facing the urinal itself. The squat method works, but still the pants are an issue since you have to basically remove the pants to lower than your knees to be able to back up far enough. The idea may be great, but the actual functionality is lost on me.
Diana — February 11, 2012
Sure, women can pee standing up if they can shoot it out quickly and straight in order to avoid the pee going down their legs. As a little girl, I was always jealous of my best friend (boy) that he could pee standing up but the truth of the matter is that a penis sticks out a certain number of inches away from the rest of the body and you can point it in any direction, and women don't have either of those advantages. I'm totally cool with putting enough toilet paper on the seat, and take a little break now and then. A final note: have you ever seen a guy attempt to pee while sitting on toilet (presumably doing #2)? Men should be advocating for better toilets, not women.
Bunny Nguyen — February 11, 2012
My legs are to short to straddle anything. I'm cool peeing sitting down.
snerk — February 11, 2012
There are actually quite a lot of products that are supposed to help females to pee while standing up like during sport, camping etc. The Pmate is only one of them (http://www.femalefreedom.ca/). That one is disposable made from cardboard but there are reusable ones too, though I have always wondered what you are supposed to do with them after use when you can't clean them immediately.
EJ — February 11, 2012
I learned how to pee standing up ~8 yrs ago, and my biggest societal complaint is that women's jeans are NOT designed with such a skill in mind. I can pee standing with just my pants unzipped in men's pants because they have a longer zipper, but women's pants have a shorter zipper. I have to "scooch" the waistband down past my butt, which is annoying and defeats the purpose of standing as more convenient and comfortable. I can't be the only one who's noticed this, right?
Robert Adams — February 11, 2012
Hey, that was my original post on Vintage ADs. Thank you for the interest! I just want to add that this came from a January 1953 issue of Architectural Forum.
R-
Inooradd — February 11, 2012
So what I gather from all this is they exist and theyre relatively not used much because, its either uncomfortable or messy (mostly former). I guess I stand corrected.
flask ehrlenmeyer — February 11, 2012
i have seen and used one of these.
the images of it are included in one of my geocaching logs from 2005.
http://www.geocaching.com/seek/log.aspx?LUID=8d1f2e2b-efcb-4f3b-a878-7a6d59282146&IID=6198b5c6-8ae5-4296-b26d-d4c0d3ef0b20
a friend of a friend swears she can pee standing up with great accuracy, but i have not seen her do it, so it's still just hearsay.
she says it takes some practice and that if you wish to develop the skill, you should start practicing in the shower.
demesne — February 11, 2012
Even if I could pee standing up, I think I would still sit on the toilet seat. It's just more comfortable...
Anonymous — February 12, 2012
Urinals are pointless for men AND woman. If our culture didn't encourage men to be anti-empathetic asses who must stand up before peeing, then I would never have to use the urinal.
In fact, in my gender neutral college dorm bathrooms, I always sit down to do number 1.
Heather — February 12, 2012
I live in Japan and almost all restrooms have sit-down toilets for older people and "squatty potties" for everyone else. They are just a hole in the floor: you squat down, do your business (#1 or #2), use the toilet paper at squat-level, deposit paper in hole, and then push the "flush" button to have it all disappear. I prefer western toilets, but am getting used to the Japanese squatty potties.
Landen — February 12, 2012
I would just like to say that I can accurately pee standing up, and currently have female genitals. You just have to practice... the biggest barrier was teaching my body that it wasn't wrong to pee whilst in a standing position.
"Yes I'm serious, Urethra. You can pee now. I KNOW you're standing. It's okay. Just do it."
By "accurate" I mean really freaking accurate.
Lunad — February 12, 2012
A relavant graphic:
http://thesocietypages.org/graphicsociology/2010/12/10/1263/
(NSFW)
it is a scientific study of male and female urine stream trajectories.
Legolewdte — February 12, 2012
Ever been to mainland China? I've heard that a significant portion of the world lives there, and the cultural norm is to squat, not sit, when pooping. I'd assumed the norm for women is squatting when peeing as well. Isn't that pretty much peeing when standing up?
liz — February 12, 2012
These urinals still exist, in the main building of the U.S. Department of State in DC!
Anthony Tantillo — February 12, 2012
Women don't understand that toilets are sort of ill made for men. Imagine having your vagina pressed against the inside bowl of the toilet, or in some situations, in the water itself.
Make better toilets for men and us men will have no reason to use urinals. Otherwise, check your privilege and understand that it is always much more comfortable to pee standing up.
Anonymous — February 12, 2012
I'm a little surprised that nobody has mentioned the issue of body shape and size. It seems to me that fat women, or women with otherwise large thighs, couldn't really pee standing up. Speaking as a fat woman with thighs that more than touch, I'd have to spread my legs pretty wide just to give the pee somewhere to go!
Anonymous — February 13, 2012
A. This is my favorite thing I've seen all day.
B. I pee all the time standing up, but I'm not sure about my accuracy because I'm always in the shower. I'll try to pay better attention next time.
C. I wear a skirt almost every day, but this still wouldn't be that handy for me because I also wear pantyhose. Now, if I changed to stockings and did the ol' tug-aside, this might just work; however, can you even get stockings these days that aren't the sexy, lacy kind?
D. How far are these things from the ground? The same distance as a man's urinal? That doesn't seem very convenient if you're going to have to do some squatting...
Links for the week – I want to want a tablet, but I don’t. « kjcoop.org — February 13, 2012
[...] Sociologial Images: Urinals for Women: An Alternative Reality [...]
Paul Jonker-Hoffrén — February 15, 2012
At Dutch music festivals they introduced around 1999 female urinals to speed up the queues for the toilets...I will send a reference if I can find one.
Paul Jonker-Hoffrén — February 15, 2012
And here is a link in Dutch: it was 2000, and the contraption introduced at the Pinkpop festival was called the Urinette. Made by a Dutch company, Plastuit B.V. and a link here: http://www.p-mate.nl/en/
Heather Tristan — February 15, 2012
We have squatty potties here in Korea as well, and I have to say that they are just not hygienic. They are troughs in the bathroom floor and any toilet paper used is discarded in a trash receptacle (which smells lovely in summer). There is a considerable amount of splatter generally and the floor around the squatty potty is usually stained and sticky, with a noticeable odor that pervades the entire restroom area (although it is difficult to determine whether this comes from the trashcan holding the toilet paper or the toilet itself). I am sure that this way of eliminating human waste saves a great deal of water, but the horror of trying to lower your panties enough to clear the stream without them touching or (eek!) resting on the pungent floor leaves me with a strong opinion that I would rather use a Western-style commode. Please. Incidentally, I have a small child who only uses squatty potties in the older buildings where Western-style toilets are not available and the mess and hassle involved is considerable.
Cleo Anderson — March 3, 2012
Wow! So a few years back at my college in our oldest building,in the smallest bathroom,in the darkest corner of the furthest stall (I'm not kidding,this is a literal description of the place.) I found an instruction sheet like the one in the post on the wall. I was really confused,and no at school knew what I was talking about and at the time the internet only turned up a few mentions but no pictures. Nice to finally know I'm not crazy.
Miriam Mogilevsky — March 11, 2012
I'm sorry, but I don't understand why this is an issue. If peeing standing up is something women much "teach themselves" to do, is it really not easier just sitting down? Do we really have to be exactly like men in every possible way, even in mundane matters of personal hygiene?
no — March 18, 2012
Why would you WANT to go for a piss standing up? Sorry but it's hard enough going for a piss when you're squatting, let alone trying to piss in a fucking urinal. I would never go to the toilet publicly again. I'd probably piss all over myself. We CANNOT aim like men, we do not have PENISES to put in our hands to aim it at a certain point, we have VAGINAS that cannot aim for absolute shit. You'd actually have to TEACH yourself to do it, now what's the point in that when you can just urinate sitting down? WHICH IS NATURAL FOR US TO DO. Get a grip, or get a dick if you wanna go for a piss in a urinal.
Kate Middleton — November 17, 2012
If your cloths have the zipper in the right spot then you have no problem peeing standing up. Gagajeans make it easy. Check them out at www.gagajeans.co
Thy Miocena — November 19, 2013
The reason this never caught on is because women are more private. Probably not naturally, but due to the constant threat of male sexual violence. It is a damn good thing these never caught on actually, as men in dresses aka trannies are demanding their pseudo-right to sex segregated spaces that exist as harm reduction from the huge problem of male sexual violence which is perpetrated by men against women in women's washrooms.
Gazwan Noori Noori — July 30, 2018
Thank you for sharing to us on what does the toilet for women looks like at old times. It is totally different from what we have on this generation. They might have urinals that they can just carry around but we can still see the difference from before and today.
Kellen W Berry — July 25, 2019
Does it have to be an alternate universe or futuristic tale?
I am currently preparing to produce a small device called Spouti™. Women who wear Spouti™ could use any urinal they want. You just put it on in the morning and you can stand to pee.
No need to wait for the future or spend hours of practice. If you use Spouti™ you don't even have to lower your pants.
The only reason women can't stand to pee is because their urethra isn't long enough. So Spouti™ fixes that issue.
Barbara — March 24, 2021
I am so glad I found this article! There was a row of stalls with these in a womens’ room (next to a row of standard toilets) at a popular public garden we went to often when I was a little girl in the mid-sixties. Those stalls were always empty, though there might be a line for the others. My mother would never let me go explore, and they disappeared in a renovation by the time was old enough to go into a public bathroom by myself. They’ve always stuck in my mind, I think because I was at the age to be fascinated by anything potty-related, and also because whenever I got up the courage to ask one of my contemporaries if they remembered them, they all claimed to not know what I was talking about! Now, at last I know I’m not crazy. Thanks!