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Conference moira::naturism

Title:Naturism
Notice:Site report index is in topic 7
Moderator:GENRAL::KILGORE
Created:Tue Jan 26 1988
Last Modified:Thu May 08 1997
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:457
Total number of notes:3687

243.0. "Restroom Humor" by ASABET::MCLAUGHLIN () Tue May 08 1990 14:12

Entry number 884 in REC_NUDE regarding differences between French 
and American attitudes toward nudity and bodily functions has amused 
me and reminded me of an experience that I had in France last year.
This is the portion of the entry which I found intriguing:
 
	  Indeed, the problem is not wether you can put your ball or
	tits in the air, but that people from the opposite sex
	cannot see them. Swimming pools do not have individual
	changing rooms or showers. The worse being the washrooms,
	there are 30 cms high opening at the bottom of the wall so
	that you can see people with their pants down while they're
	shiting. Beeeerk ! 

Although female nudity in the media is much more prevalent in France, 
French society has remarkably contradictary attitudes toward bodily functions. 
While talking with several friends in Colmar, France who had never been to the
United States, they asked whether it is true that public restrooms in the
United States do not have walls between toilets (i.e. closet-like floor to 
ceiling walled compartments with full sized doors).  After being told that 
American restrooms have partitions, but not exactly floor to ceiling, they 
were quite shocked, and thought the situation offensive and scandalous.  I 
accepted their reaction as a simple case of human conditioning, meaning they 
had trouble accepting that which they were not used to.  However, I was mildly
annoyed that the same people who promoted themselves as sexually open-minded 
and accepting of the human body feared the sight of a crumpled pair of pants or 
a crumpled skirt, etc. 

The very next morning, in downtown Colmar, I saw a large free standing public 
restroom situated in the middle of a major square.  The restroom had EXTERIOR 
URINALS!!!  I commented to a French friend (who lives in the United States) 
that I would have liked to have seen that garish facility before hearing 
American restrooms being derided.  He said that the facility was "for 
tourists."  Yeah, right!

Shawn
    
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243.1They MUST be joking!CHEST::ELLIOTTue May 08 1990 16:1522
    Shawn,

    Ah, yes, I remember it well, the joys of French toilets...!

    Perhaps your French friends don't realise that you actually have such
    things as proper loos over there! Many of the public loos in France are 
    of the 'two tiles to stand on and a hole in the ground in the middle' 
    variety, which could be a bit unpleasant if the doors and partitions 
    didn't reach the ground, couldn't it! (Some even feature charming little 
    open channels to take the, um, waste away. Quite delightful!)

    Really, I'm amazed and more than a little amused that the residents of a 
    country where ghastly sanitation is common could find partitions that 
    don't reach the ground "offensive and scandalous", unless it's for the
    reason I've guessed at above. As for exterior urinals being "for tourists",
    perhaps it's an attempt to solve the problem whereby no self-respecting
    tourist goes into a public loo in France a second time, once they've
    discovered how dreadful they are the first time. ;-)

    Are you sure they weren't joking?!

    June.
243.2They were seriousASABET::MCLAUGHLINTue May 08 1990 18:1920
June,

You have made a valid and hilarious point regarding those all-important lower 
30 cm of wall when using the commonplace and so-called "ethnic minority" 
toilets in France.  I wish that I had thought of your hilarious comeback!

The folks in Colmar were indeed serious.  Years ago, before my first trip 
to Europe, my French friend, and another friend who had lived in Switzerland 
for 5 years, told me about the "ethnic minority" toilets that I would no doubt 
encounter.  To be honest, I was incredulous and thought that they were joking.
At that point, my French friend mentioned that one of the most uncomfortable
aspects of adjusting to life in the United States was using public restrooms,
and all because of the gaps below and above stall partitions. 

Strange that he thought nothing of using the restroom below Notre Dame 
Cathedral, which has a female attendent collecting fees and watching over 
the urinal area.  How's that for inconsistency?

Shawn
    
243.3...words fail me!CRATE::ELLIOTWed May 09 1990 13:1111
> Strange that he thought nothing of using the restroom below Notre Dame 
> Cathedral, which has a female attendent collecting fees and watching over 
> the urinal area.  How's that for inconsistency?

 Strange, indeed! I can only conclude that dignity is only an issue
 where, er, um, (how do I put this delicately?), where the 'other thing' 
 is concerned. 

 You learn some amazing things in Notes!!

 June.