blog entry

Women can now pee standing up! But...do we want to?

Ummm...it's been a long time since I fantasized about being able to pee standing up. And when I realized (at the tender age of 4) that my brother possessed this skill and I did not, I decided that an extra appendange wasn't going to hold me back (this was probably my first feminist epiphany...luckily, subsequent ones have been a bit more fruitful).

So, I positioned myself pants down in front of the toilet and quickly learned that the extra appendage (albeit tiny...sorry Chris, but when you were 2 is WAS tiny) DOES make a difference and that when a girl tries to pee standing up, she doesn't make history, she just makes a mess.

Well, some 30 odd years have passed and I've since made peace with my gender-imposed disability. I've learned to squat like a champ for those situations where sitting can be quite unseemly (think portable toilets at the local speedway) and I've even chuckled in satisfaction when my parents bought a boat and made EVERYONE pee sitting down (take that Chris...what comes around goes around!).

But recently, I ran into this product, and though at first I thought it was a joke, I really don't think it is. It's the P-Mate, a cardboard funnel that gives women the freedom to pee standing up. Oh, and just for the record, the woman in the picture IS NOT ME!

But now that I've come to appreciate my feminimity, and the differences that I, as a woman, bring to the table, I'm not sure how I feel about this. Am I just an old dog that can't learn a new trick? Is this product taking an age-old envy a bit too far? Do we really want to be able to do EVERYTHING that men can do? (Are the feminists out there going to rip me a new one??)

Maybe this product is noteworthy for the sole reason that it gives those of us who'd like to pee...um, erect...the option to do so. And kudos to those women who've made that possible.

Now, if only they could figure out how to get men pregnant and carry babies to term, I'd have a slew!

Until then, I'm yours (sitting down),
~tcb
www.thatcoolbroad.com