February 11, 2002

10:19 AM

Use the natural squatting position with Nature's Platform."Two-thirds of humanity use the squatting position to answer the call of nature. Doctors and Yoga teachers recommend it for more complete elimination and to prevent hernias, hemorrhoids and colon disease." And what a fine Valentine's Day gift it would make too!
posted by homunculus (28 comments total)

Or, you could use a turkish toilet.
posted by Avogadro at 10:34 AM on February 11, 2002

Guaranteed to support a 300-pound man or woman -- comfortably!

Or 250, once Nature's Gravity takes its course.
posted by theplayethic at 10:36 AM on February 11, 2002

That turkish toilet looks like the squatty potties in Thailand....

Actually the product here might do better if marketed to Asians in the West who aren't comfortable with Western toilets...I have heard more than one story about footprints on the toilet seat.
posted by bunnyfire at 10:41 AM on February 11, 2002

After discovering the Asian-style toilet in Japan I was glad my Tokyo hotel had Western-style ones. It was tough some days having to hold it till I got back to the hotel, but the bathroom is one place I prefer not to experiment.
posted by tommasz at 10:48 AM on February 11, 2002

Check out the endorsements page to read testimonials and see pictures of happy customers (not pictures of the product in use, of course). Priceless quotes like, "I've been balancing on toilet seats for twenty years. I've broken a few, and dislodged my share of toilets from their anchors to considerable expense." (Charlie Walters, MBA). Good grief, Charlie.
posted by altojen at 10:48 AM on February 11, 2002

Stern talked about this a year ago or so, and had a woman on who advocted the squat. She said it was like performing childbirth in many developing countries, to which Stern laughed uproariously.
posted by adampsyche at 10:51 AM on February 11, 2002

Without going into detail (i know, this will be a stretch for me) I have tried asian style facilities. It's not that bad, and I could get used to it.
posted by bunnyfire at 11:12 AM on February 11, 2002

Looks like it would be hard to read the newspaper using these things. I'll stick with the western style.
posted by Keen at 11:12 AM on February 11, 2002

You can achieve the same ergonomic benefits from having a footstool or something in front of you to prop up your bent legs. We used to use one of those slanted wooden meditation benches.
posted by Danf at 11:17 AM on February 11, 2002

it may be good for you. But the fact that it is used by so many people in the world does not convince me that it is the right thing to switch too. More people eat with chopsticks or with their fingers than with silverware but I don't feel a sudden need to change to this method. Stick with Metamucil and all will come out in the end.
posted by Postroad at 11:19 AM on February 11, 2002

eating and defacating in the squating position will aid the digestion for the majority of people. not that i reccomend doing both at once.

reading the newspaper can be acheived, but requires better balance than needed for the sit'n'shit design.

potty training is probably a distant memory for most of us, but i am sure it was a chore at the time.
posted by asok at 11:35 AM on February 11, 2002

Their R&D department does some nice work.
posted by kirkaracha at 11:41 AM on February 11, 2002

As a woman with hideously bad knees, all I can do is wince in anticipated pain. This would not be a good thing for me, or for heavy people, handicapped, etc. We can't get in that position. And if we tried, we would fall. And that's not the place I want to be falling.

Also, imagine that lawsuits as people fall off your toilet onto a hard ceramic floor and the ensuing mess.

Give me a comfy seat any day.
posted by Red58 at 11:52 AM on February 11, 2002

I always found pants difficult to deal with when I tried the Japanese-style toilets. If I was wearing a skirt, little problem, but the pants tend to bunch up in a way that promotes instability of stance.
posted by meep at 12:01 PM on February 11, 2002

Personally, I prefer The Love Toilet.
posted by spilon at 12:06 PM on February 11, 2002

As an American who has lived in both Kuwait and Iran, I've got to say that once you get used to this, er, posture, it's in many ways preferable to the standard seated pose. Let's just say things tend to move along quite nicely.

But for reading the Sunday Times, I'll take my unmodified crapper any day.
posted by emptyage at 12:29 PM on February 11, 2002

I wouldn't mind seeing the US inculcating some bidet technology, but otherwise: I am a king, at least in my McCastle, and deserve a proper throne.
posted by UncleFes at 12:39 PM on February 11, 2002

spilon: nice one! I remember watching that a while back.
posted by quirked at 12:41 PM on February 11, 2002

I understand the pros and cons of both the squat toilet and the standard western toilet. What I don't understand is the German toilet. Thats just wrong.
posted by homunculus at 12:55 PM on February 11, 2002

My favorite quote from the testimonials page: "I've been balancing on toilet seats for twenty years. I've broken a few, and dislodged my share of toilets from their anchors to considerable expense."

Personally, I'd reconsider my stance once I'd taken out one. But that's just me.

posted by donpardo at 1:42 PM on February 11, 2002

Homunculus,

I remember visiting a high school friend who's parents lived in Germany at the time. My exposure to the German toilet was indeed a bit distressing. If I remember correctly, the thing I hated the most (besides the smell) was the sound of the turd hitting the shelf (and a teenagers angst about whether or not I'd done something wrong!).

I am now happily married to a fine german lass, who has never professed a desire to convert our north american toilets.
posted by smcniven at 3:46 PM on February 11, 2002

Naysayers should go and read their FAQ and info pages. This really is superior. Period.
posted by benh57 at 4:10 PM on February 11, 2002

Philippe Starck says American Standard toilets are the coolest in the world - they're in all his hotels, even in the tiny Hudson bathrooms - and no amount of ethnic, undignified squatting is going to change this. Plus it's not a good position to read. Going to the bathroom shouldn't just be about shitting. That's the meaning of civilization. Like Cadillacs and Barca Loungers, our Western commodes are not supposed to be efficient or healthy. Harrumph!
posted by MiguelCardoso at 5:54 PM on February 11, 2002

I don't see how having your knees up under your arms, like in the picture, is supposed to be "comfortable." Maybe for a contortionist.
posted by kindall at 6:16 PM on February 11, 2002

Oy, Homunculus, thanks for resurrecting some wishfully forgotten memories. The first time I set foot on German soil was after a train ride from Belgium. Whatever I'd eaten in Brussels was not agreeing with me, and upon arrival in Germany, I made a beeline for the restroom. I won't go into the difficulties and painful delays involved in currency exchange, etc, (thank goodness pay toilets have been outlawed in most of the US), but severe gastric distress meeting bare porcelain was unsettling, to say the least. I figured at the time that most Germans were apparently too dainty to ever suffer from "tourista". What in the world is the point of those commodes, other than a designer suffering from dyslexia?
posted by Oriole Adams at 7:42 PM on February 11, 2002

Thanks for sharing! LOL. Those German toilets really sound traumatic, I wonder what their origin is and why an entire culture would chose such a fiendish technology.
posted by homunculus at 8:52 PM on February 11, 2002

Squat position...
Oh...I thought you were talking about sex positions!

Nevermind...
posted by HTuttle at 10:05 PM on February 11, 2002

But .... where would I put my laptop computer?
posted by maniabug at 8:23 PM on February 12, 2002