Complete and Creative

Squatting Toilet VS Sitting Toilet (1/2)

Unlike my comparison of London and Paris, this one is quite objective. Relatively speaking at least.

For those of you who have never experienced the squatting toilet, I really do recommend it. It’s a whole new way of doing something you do everyday. At least I hope you do it a minimum of once a day.

Fresh picture of a squatting toilet taken by a friend of mine who took a recent trip to Japan. Photo courtesy of Roland Carlos.

The sitting toilet is more often than not referred to as a Western toilet, which isn’t exactly a misnomer. The squatting toilet is found in various regions of the world, but it’s most popularly associated with China and India and Southeast Asia, and it’s not a sign of poverty (not a definite one anyway), more of a product of cultural heritage.

I say this because Japan still has plenty of squatting toilets when it’s got some of the coolest and most technologically advanced sitting toilets in the world. The Japanese themselves, especially the younger ones, prefer these toilets to the more traditional ones. I mean, some Japanese toilets even wipe for you. I shall not divulge into the infinite possibilities of potty humor here.

Let’s weigh the pros and cons of each.

Before I begin, however, let me emphasize that I think the toilet is mankind’s greatest invention. Seriously, what would we do without toilets? And toilet paper too.

Paradoxically enough, I haven’t dedicated much time to studying the history of toilets (reading a few Wikipedia articles hardly counts…maybe), so the following is just a comparison based on my personal experiences with public toilets around the world.

Comfort

I think the sitting toilet pretty much wins hands-down with this one. Most people probably wouldn’t choose to squat if they could sit, especially if they’re going to be doing something that will be utilizing other muscles anyway. But that might just be a result of habit. It may or may not be a natural human instinct to want to sit while cleansing one’s bowels.

Regardless of whether humans naturally prefer to sit or squat during this regular ritual, I think it’s pretty safe to say that squatting takes more energy than sitting. And we all know how lazy people can get.

Health

I don’t care how protective those seat guards are, my ass is still on that toilet seat in a public bathroom whenever I need to release some stool. When I’m feeling disgusted by the seat, I just assume the horse stance and try to finish up as soon as I can.

With a squatting toilet, though, the skin of my buttocks makes no contact at all with the porcelain or the steel or whatever material comprises the toilet. Still, with a squatting toilet, projectiles have a higher chance of flying around than with a sitting toilet.

to be continued…