The
local chapter of the Left Party, a socialist and feminist political
party, in Sormland County Council, Sweden, is pushing to make standing
while peeing illegal for men using the county council’s public
restrooms.
Party officials are pushing to make public restrooms in the county council “sitting only.”
Supporters of the proposal say sitting while urinating is more hygienic and promotes sanitary restroom habit for male users.
It will help to eliminate the problem of puddles on the floor and spray stains on toilet seats.
They
also argue that urinating while sitting will help to promote male
health because it allows men to empty their bladder more effectively.
Sitting while urinating according to advocates will reduce prostate problems among men.
As
a compromise, the party has proposed that some toilets could, in the
interim, be designated exclusively for men who must remain standing
while peeing.
The Left Party’s Viggo Hansen, who made the
proposal, said that ultimately he wants office toilets in the council to
be genderless and would thus like to see only “sit-down” toilets in
county council offices.
He said that the move should not be seen as meddling in the bathroom habits of people.
He
said: “That’s not what we’re doing. We want to give men the option of
going into a clean toilet.” But proposals across Europe to enforce
“sitting only” regulation in public toilets have been criticized.
Dr.
John Gamel of Louisville University noted that the push to enact
legislation banning men from standing while peeing in restrooms is
spreading in Europe with feminists pushing similar legislation in
Germany, France and Holland.
“The liberated women of France and
Germany and Holland have vowed to put their men down – on the toilet.
They carry placards showing a huge red X scrawled across a man standing
to urinate.
They shout: “
Laissez tomber votre pantalon, et asseyez vous! (Drop your trousers and sit)!”: “
Behalte deine Tropfen fuer dich (Keep your drips to yourself)!”; “
Toch niet weer een vieze plas op MIJN badkamer vloer (Not another filthy puddle on MY bathroom floor)!”
Gamel
argues that legislation cannot force men to adopt more supposedly
sanitary habits while peeing. He told The Huffington Post that the spray
and spatter during “shake off” will not be prevented because “no man
will want to shake off” while sitting on the toilet to avoid sticking
the hand inside the toilet.
Gamel writes: “…most of the stray
“sprinkles” that so enrage European women occur not during the act of
urination itself, but immediately afterward, during a ritual men learn
as part of their potty training. The various maneuvers required to
discharge the urine remaining in the urethra.
A man who tucks away
his man-hood without performing these maneuvers will dribble half an
ounce of urine into his underwear, causing an embarrassing stain in the
crotch of his trousers, or an even more embarrassing streak down his
trouser leg.
To avoid this debacle, every sentient male, after
every urination, carefully squeezes or “milks” his member to assure that
no stray drops remain within the urethra. “Unfortunately, some men
pursue this goal with excessive vigor, indulging in what can only be
described as “shaking off the last drop.”
It is precisely these
movements – and not the free-falling stream itself – that deposit most
of the unwanted urine on lavatory floors throughout the world.”
“As
a result, forcing men to sit while emptying their bladders will serve
little purpose, since no man wants to shake himself off while remaining
seated on the toilet.”
Euro News
