It's time to de-bunk the myth that squatting will cause urinary tract issues for female squatters. Principally because I truly believe that a majority of women who squat in public restrooms most likely take a load of as it were and sit on the toilet seat in their own homes. Just my opinion.

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"Odor in the court! The judge is eating beans--his wife is in the bathtub counting submarines." Author Unknown

Recently some raw food enthusiasts have decided that chewing your food is bad for your health. You are supposed to stick your food in a blender and grind it into a paste, then drink it. Apparently this is more natural and helps you digest your food better so that you get more vitamins and nutrients from it.

These people are beginning to suffer from muscle atrophy in their jaws. (This is NOT a joke.) Now health food stores are marketing products that these nutcases use to exercize their jaws so that the muscles stayed toned, because they are not using the damn things for what nature intended in the first place.

There have been many disgusting studies out there as well. Apparently, tofu causes brain damage. It turns out that the idiot scientists didn't look at the OTHER parts of their control group's diet. Everyone on the study turned out to be consuming tons of aspartime, making the study nil and void.

People through history have come up with stupid ideas. In the 1940s and 50s people actually drank radioactive water with the false idea that it was "natural" and cured all ails. Most of these idiots died of radiation poisoning or cancer.

Please look at what we have done throughout nature. I personally am not a squatter, simply because bathrooms are not set up for it and, as Dave stated elsewhere, my joints are not conditioned from years of practice. However, as others have pointed out above, humans have been squatting for centuries.

Don't believe the words of a few men who don't like sharing their toilets with a standing woman, because that is what this study is REALLY about. I will continue to stand to pee. I have done so for years and had no related health problems.

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Broccoli!

In Germany, all the public toilets have a sign on the wall behind the commode: "Please Approach" (meaning FACE the toilet), in numerous languages. Nobody sits. And they don't squat, either. They put their hands against the side walls or the back wall, centered over the pot, and let drop. It even had a little (very tasteful) picture of a lady holding her skirt up with one hand and leaning slightly over the potty.

It worked great, once you got the hang of it, and I sometimes still do that if the seat is nasty. And frankly, from a standing position, EVERYTHING comes out, believe me. I think it straightens out all the bends and curves.

Squatting only makes sense if you're out in the wilderness or in Italy with those vile little holes in the ground that pass for public toilets there.

I am in complete agreement with PooperGal regarding the benefits of squatting. However, I wonder: is this article referring to full-blown down-on-the-hamstring squatting or what we've called the stoop n'poop -- hovering above a toilet bowl with the legs only acutely bent? In that case, I wonder if they have a point -- that's really not a stance very conducive to evacuation.

There are many benefits to squat evacuation, I'm sure. I'm not one of the squatters, as I was never taught to squat to urinate and deficate.

I worked for a U.S. held company where 85% of the employees were native-born Chinese. I laud and applaud diversity, otherwise I wouldn't have signed on and stayed for a duration of four years. I do have to state how that it was extremely disgusting to work in a company where there were so many squatters who didn't use toilet liners and left all their shoe prints/germs on the toilet seats. Am I the only person who has experienced this?

That's a good point to raise, Dave. I believe that the gist of the article is that women tend to half-squat to avoid sitting on dirty toilet seats. My theory is that most women do not develop their quadraceps adequately to allow a full squat over the toilet. At home they sit, so they may not do enough squatting to condition themselves for a proper squat.

Also, Western toilets are kind of high, so you can't really squat in the full sense. In nature, squatting means going back on your haunches, bending your legs like a bobby pin so they are completely folded in half and your butt is practically touching the ground.

But, I do believe that half-squats over Western toilets are perfectly normal to do. I use the method myself and have never had any "incomplete evacuation" arise from it.

As I wrote previously, any such partial evacuations are probably due to the woman not having strong enough quads to stay suspended over the toilet, so she rushes to pee or poop and needs to stand up before her quads are exhausted. Regular half-squats are all it takes to fix this.

I have the suspicion that our ancesters on the African savannah may have used half-squats when on the hunt - they had to drop a load and keep moving. I've seen dogs do half-squats when being walked, because their owners didn't want to wait for the dog to crap. Squat happens.

PooperGal
"Searching for the Origin of the Feces"

I wrote - "My theory is that most women do not develop their quadraceps adequately to allow a full squat over the toilet."

I meant "half-squat" - not "full squat."

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PooperGal
"Searching for the Origin of the Feces"

I understand what you wrote, Pooper Gal. I'm talking about Western style toilets with footprints not at the front or back of the toilet seat, but on each side. This leads me to believe that full squat evacuation was the method of choice, even on the Western toilet. I could be wrong, but I don't think so.

For once, I have run into some people who DO know squat!

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"Say, has anybody seen my sweet Gypsy Rose Volcano?"

I am still having trouble accepting that there are people who actually climb UP onto the SEAT and balance there like a primate. Feet ON the SEAT?!? I...I just can't wrap my mind around that. I guess I'm more sheltered than I thought.

I've read a bit about bladder positioning, and it seems that women with collapsed vaginal walls also suffer from this not completely evacuating the bladder each and every time. There is a part of the bladder that hangs lower due to a breach in the vaginal walls, thus pools bacterial.

I am wondering if this was taken into consideration, this type of problem or others like it.

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.....hugging bunnies since 1969

I think Bunghole means they stand straddling the shitter and squat down slightly getting their butt closer to the bowl, but still in a mostly upright position. Not standing on the seat which is a bit difficult.

I've yet to try this one..... be back in a few!

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Regional POWER POOPING CHAMPION 1988-2006
Poop Shooter!

That makes sense, Bunghole. I have heard of people - mainly Asian - squatting on the toilet seat, with their feet on the seat. They're trying to apply what they're accustomed to (squatting on a ground toilet, with the "put your foot here" imprints), but on a Western above-ground-level toilet. Awkward indeed.

Straddling a Western toilet seems practical if you wear skirts/dresses and crotchless underwear. Forget it if you wear jeans or anything that isn't elastic and can't be stretched or pulled away to allow peeing without soaking yourself.

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PooperGal
"Searching for the Origin of the Feces"

Crotchless panties..... hmmmmm

It's always a wonder seeing women going into the bathrooms... I always wonder if they have crotchless panties or even panties at all. The mere thought that most of em could be wearing crotchless panties is amazing. Or should I consider the fact that only Asian women wear crotchless panties because of their squatting tecniques.

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Regional POWER POOPING CHAMPION 1988-2006
Poop Shooter!

When you think about it, crotchless panties are the same thing as a guy's Jockey briefs, except that the "escape flap" is on the bottom instead of in front.

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PooperGal
"Searching for the Origin of the Feces"

PS wrote: "Or should I consider the fact that only Asian women wear crotchless panties because of their squatting tecniques."

Pooper Gal says: "Straddling a Western toilet seems practical if you wear skirts/dresses and crotchless underwear."

The discussion was about full-squatting not straddling. Your imagination is working overtime and ass-umption is the mother of all screw ups.

Sounds like someone needs to go "intimates" shopping for his wife.

My fantasies of that sort of thing generally end at the Victoria Secrets flyer in the Sunday papers.

So, straddling is out, but squatting is in. Wouldn't squatting be a lot more convienient if you were wearing crotchless panties??? Or sans panties altogether?? I think if the US was a squatting society Levi's may consider making their jeans with zippers that go all the way around to the back side.

You could doo your dooty without pullling your pants down.

......I may be on to something here!

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Regional POWER POOPING CHAMPION 1988-2006
Poop Shooter!

Having done loads of hiking and horseback riding in the woods, I can attest to the fact that it's easy to schooch pants and underwear out of the way to do a full squat in the bushes.

But straddling or stand-up peeing requires an unenumbered exit point for pee, meaning you have to go crotchless or "commando" under a skirt. It's just an issue of practicality.

Meanwhile, to address the original subject, I don't see any health problems with women doing either. My point was that half-squats might deter women from completely emptying their bladders because their legs aren't strong enough to hold the position for the duration it takes to complete urinating. That is easily remedied by doing frequent half-squats for increasing periods until the quadraceps are conditioned.

Full squats, by the same token, require a regimen of gentle and gradual stretching of the quads in successively deeper squats until you can comfortably squat all the way down.

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PooperGal
"Searching for the Origin of the Feces"

SO, this thread is turning into a big bunch of "Diddly Squat"

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Regional POWER POOPING CHAMPION 1988-2006
Poop Shooter!

PS Wrote: "I think if the US was a squatting society Levi's may consider making their jeans with zippers that go all the way around to the back side."

It's already been done, but not because we're a country of squat evacuators. You were looking in the wrong magazine, Poop Shooter. The lower-toned "Fredricks of Hollywood" sells those types of jeans and leather pants. We always made fun of the chicks who wore them. They're referred to as "easy access wear"....

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"Odor in the court! The judge is eating beans--his wife is in the bathtub counting submarines." Author Unknown

Bunghole, I'd like to address the specific toilet-squat you refer to. This is the Taoist toilet squat which is practiced by Chinese-Americans for purposes of balancing the chi. Yes it is exactly the same squat discussed other places on the site. It's a complicated philosophy. But in short it explains the footprints on the seats at your factory.

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"Rectum hell, killed em' both." Author Unknown

What I'm really interested in knowing is about, for lack of a better term, the "heel squatters". I've seen individuals who squat for long periods of time on the ground, but their buttocks are resting upon upturned heels while the balls of their feet on the ground provide balance. Would this be a squat individuals use when using a hole in the ground type toilet??

Bunghole, yes that's it. And they stand on the toilet seat the same way.

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"Rectum hell, killed em' both." Author Unknown

I just hated those freakin' footprints on the toilet. I suppose the seat protectors would have made them slide around. I suppose you can't ask them to adapt to western type toilets if they've been squatting their whole lives--but for cripes sake, couldn't they wipe/wash the seat in consideration of the western non-squatters? Just a consideration question from someone who dealt with the filth for too many years.

So, Rat Droppings, are you saying that the Chinese have feng shui for crapping too?

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PooperGal
"Searching for the Origin of the Feces"

Ok, I just checked my feng shui book and it says nothing about pooping positions. It does say that the toilet should be positioned at a slight angle in the room and you should not have a mirror above the tank.

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Regional POWER POOPING CHAMPION 1988-2006
Poop Shooter!

PS, is that fengshui book yours or the missus? Mirror above the bed but not the tank? Is it because of the hole in the toilet?

Well, once there was one of those magnifying makup mirrors sitting on the tank. I went to take a wizz one morning and looked into the mirror and thought the weenie fairy had blessed me the night before. Than I realized it was just the mirror.

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Regional POWER POOPING CHAMPION 1988-2006
Poop Shooter!

Poop Shooter, Yes, like Feng Shui. It has to do with the concepts of Yin & Yang & balance.
And besides, it can't just be simple! That would be too simple.

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"Rectum hell, killed em' both." Author Unknown

Rat.... in all reality, the feng shui and yin yang theories are simple. It is the simplicity of it all that makes it appear difficult to us Westerners.

If a natural "balance" is difficult to you, then you are doing somethig wrong. (typical taoist or eastern belief I think)

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Regional POWER POOPING CHAMPION 1988-2006
Poop Shooter!

Poop Shooter writes: "Well, once there was one of those magnifying makup mirrors sitting on the tank. I went to take a wizz one morning and looked into the mirror and thought the weenie fairy had blessed me the night before. Than I realized it was just the mirror."

I wonder if you could use that make-up mirror as part of your smoke and mirror routine in the bedroom? Just make sure it's always focused on your parts and not hers!

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"Odor in the court! The judge is eating beans--his wife is in the bathtub counting submarines." Author Unknown

Not unless it contains the standard disclaimer: "WARNING: Objects in mirror are larger than they appear."

Well, the reflection was much bigger than the mirror. I had to see a shrink for 3 months after that happened. It's a sensitive subject for me to this day!

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Regional POWER POOPING CHAMPION 1988-2006
Poop Shooter!

Poop Shooter, thanks for the bit about the feng shui book. It explains why the toilet in my downstairs bathroom is not flush (ha ha, I said flush) with the wall, but rather cocked (ha ha, I said cock) at a slight angle. I always thought this was due to shoddy workmanship on the part of whomever installed the toilet, but nope, it's feng shui. Now I have a good excuse for if someone snooty or picky would come over and make a remark about it. They'll probably go home and put their toilet on an angle too.

AB2K, I thought you guys lived upstairs. Have you moved, or simply taken over the whole place?

No, we moved. We now own a single house, with TWO toilets. The Iron Ass story, which refers to my upstairs dwelling, took place two years ago. We moved last September, shortly after I wrote the buttwasher story.

AB2K, are you sure the floor under your toilet isn't rotting and the toilet isn't about to fall through into the basement?

...wouldn't that make for a great poop report!

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Regional POWER POOPING CHAMPION 1988-2006
Poop Shooter!

That is entirely possible, Poop Shooter. You have me worried now. Hooray for homeowners' insurance. If/when it happens, I will be sure to document it for PR. That would suck, though, because all the fixtures in that bathroom are blue, and it's not the 70's anymore so I don't know where I could find a blue high-flow toilet.

Actually, the toilet isn't on an angle vertically, but horizontally. One side of the toilet tank is against the wall and the other side of the tank is probably 1/2 inch away from it. However I am still concerned about the structural integrity of the bathroom floor (have been since we noticed a leak in the basement.)

Ok, that's easy to fix if you want to. Not to worry. When the whole thing starts sinking into the floor, start worrying.

Oh... ask Dumpster where to her an old blue high-flow toilet. My parents are still using theirs!! Their house was built in 1973, and that toilet is still pushing doo doo!!

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Regional POWER POOPING CHAMPION 1988-2006
Poop Shooter!

Eee Gads. Those color coordinated bathroom fixtures of the 70s. You could get matching bathtub, sink and toilets. My dad's bathroom still has the high flow from the 70s and it's strong flusher.

One poster from another article mentioned Urban Ore, a recycler Berkeley, CA, is the end to meet all ends as a toilet graveyard. It's been at least 7 years since I last went there, but they have every color/size/shape of toilet imaginable. Most folks go to their bathroom fixtures graveyard to get a good deal on a clawfoot tub.

To read Dumpster's tribute to his ancestral toilet, look at the thread under Al Bundy's Ferguson. One of the few unfailing things in my life!

None of that negative stuff now Dumpster. There's more fish in the ever swirling toilet bowl of life.

As an antique dealer, I love it when people throw out those claw foot tubs. The real nice ones bring $100-$250 on average. A brand new claw foot tub can run over $1000 and is usually a special order at the lumber yard.

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Regional POWER POOPING CHAMPION 1988-2006
Poop Shooter!

Women used to squat to have their children, but male oriented medical fools have altered that practice too. I wouldn't take anything anyone says seriously about natural body functions when they've been warped by this penocentric society.

Wasn't it the birth of someone's child, of royalty, so that the town could see it coming out that changed from squatting to laying down? I wish I could remember.

It became fashionable to have a baby while laying down to imitate the queen.
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.....hugging bunnies since 1969
www.daphneszoo.com