Here's a little quiz: what product is manufactured in the United States more than in any other country, but is used in other countries far more than it's used in the United States?
It's the bidet (pronounced beeday), the bathroom fixture that's commonplace in well-appointed bathrooms around the world. Stateside, bidets--other than those being exported--are rarities. Consequently, talk of bidets often inspires looks of perplexity. If it's not perplexity, it's blushing, giggling or a knowing, arched eyebrow. Why? Probably Americans' infamous, puritanical squeamishness about bodily matters. Bidets, usually porcelain, usually nestled beside the toilet bowls they resemble, are bathroom fixtures specifically designed for cleaning the genital and rectal areas of the body (although, you could just as easily soak your feet, or rinse your socks in one, too).
The beauty of the bidet is that a person can clean key areas without taking a shower and can circumnavigate the rough toilet paper trap. As you'll read on www.bidet.com (one of the more hilarious Web sites, by the way, featuring a 1964 promotional portrait of Arnold Cohen, a.k.a. "Mr. Bidet," a pro-bidet testimonial from Walter Cronkite, and a little cartoon of a smiling guy with a jet of water aimed at his butt), "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." Indeed, when you give it some thought, who wouldn't prefer a little warm water to a, uh, plantain leaf on one's delicate under-sections? The passage continues, "It appears incredible that the modern American who spends so many billions of dollars on cosmetics, drugs and various other personal care preparations ... should be so concerned about fastidious daintiness and well being for 98 percent of his body, when for the better part of each 24 hours he blissfully ignores his invisible but nevertheless soiled derriere."
Here's how Bidets work: a person sits "astride" a bidet (note, the word "bidet" comes from the old French word for "pony," which definitely helps with the visualization). The person turns on the water, adjusts it for temperature and pressure until the water reaches the appropriate body parts. Although there are various models and styles of bidets, including models that fit inside the toilet bowl, the classic model is free-standing, featuring a little fountain coming up from the middle of the bowl.
Bidets, in addition to conserving bath water and being easier on the skin than toilet paper, are also recommended to soothe hemorrhoids, cramps, and bladder infections. They can also be used for "sitz baths" in which hips and bottoms are immersed in warm water--good treatment (with saline solution) for inflammatory bowel diseases, or even sore muscles.
Historians say the earliest known written reference to bidets was in the 1700s. They originated in France and were favored by cavaliers who didn't have a lot of time for baths, but who wanted to clean the parts of the body that came into contact with their saddles. The knowledgeable folk at bidet.com admit that Americans aren't all that comfortable talking about bidets. The fixtures are plagued by unfortunate myths--that they're naughty--embraced by French prostitutes who used them to freshen up between customers (though they certainly could be used for this purpose and even other kinds of trysts in which cash does not change hands); that they were used solely for feminine hygiene during menstruation (though they certainly could be used for this purpose); or, most far-fetched, that they were intended for birth control (and they certainly should not be used for this purpose).
Currently, in the Treasure Valley, bidet purchase seems to correspond with income. Anna Whitney, assistant branch manager at FNW-Familian Northwest, a home fixtures store with various locations, says most "local" bidets are found in Sun Valley and Eagle, in custom-built homes in the $300,000-plus range. Typically, says Whitney, "such homes have two master suites and the people who live there are professional in nature. There's a definite market place for bidets. Anybody who's doing any kind of customizing will typically have one."
Bidets, says Whitney, are "special order" items that come from distribution points in Salt Lake and Portland. The most basic bidet, made by a familiar company like Kohler, sells for around $410. Fixtures, which are sold separately, typically run another $250-$350. (We found some slightly cheaper bidets on the Internet, though one would have to figure in shipping costs).
While bidet.com makes a convincing case for bidets becoming as common in American homes as Water Piks, Whitney says that at this point in time, the market is "higher end"--no pun intended we're sure. And, it is true. Bidets still make Americans all flustered.
To read more: www.bidet.com; www.american-bidet.com, or our favorite: www.mum.org--the site for The Museum of Menstruation and Women's Health where you can actually see a picture of a portable, wooden bidet made in 1928.
Illustration (A bidet)
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