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I don't know if this has been asked before but: Why does so much of the world use toilet paper? Especially given the cost in manufacturing, the cost of buying

I don't know if this has been asked before but: Why does so much of the world use toilet paper? Especially given the cost in manufacturing, the cost of buying it, and the dependence that comes on using a product that may go out of stock. Obviously I'm a bidet person, but I'm just trying to build a better understanding.

Fezzik 7y ago
If I had to guess, it is similar to why people spend small fortunes on diamonds - despite being a horrible financial decision and having superior/cheaper alternatives, a series of a societal pressures (mainly advertising, at this point) has resulted in people making a behavioral decision that is far less than optimal based on any reasonable metric. Also, people are bad at changing habits. Really bad. And as ridiculous as it is, a huge portion of the US thinks bidets are for the French, gays, and women... all of which are thought of as pejoratives. I am not as familiar with the ignorances and stupidities of other countries.
adamredwoods 7y ago
I don't think bidets are standard in the US and still need a water hookup, which is a small but definable barrier. TP is cheap, viewed from a short-term cost.
- rootusrootus 7y ago
  There are cheap bidets that don't need any electrical hookup, and install with a splitter on the water hookup for the toilet itself. It's just a cultural thing.
baud147258 7y ago
Not all appartement have enough room to put a bidet in each bathroom? At least it's been the case in most bathroom I've seen. And TP can still be usable without any running water.
- coderintherye 7y ago
  Bidets can be attached directly to the toilet now, it does not need to be separate. Even in a tiny bathroom with almost no wiggle room, they can be added to an existing toilet (speaking from recent experience).
  - taurath 7y ago
    My problem - you need power usually where there isn’t in US bathrooms.
    - amingilani 7y ago
      You don't need power for the spray bidet. You can hook it to the toilet's water supply.
rootusrootus 7y ago
I'm a bidet person too and I still use toilet paper.
- amingilani 7y ago
  Despite the higher costs and no higher benefits? Why so? That said, I've done so when there was no other option. Personally, I didn't feel clean and had to shower the moment I got home.
  - rootusrootus 7y ago
    TMI, but I like my nether regions dry. So I use TP to dry after the bidet. And I won't even claim to use just a few squares -- that's how you end up poking your finger through the paper and then leaving pieces all over your butt ;-).
AndrewKemendo 7y ago
I honestly think it comes from puritanism. My guess is that people in general, at least in the US, are afraid that they might get some kind of pleasure from a bidet, and that is scary to them. You can see those elements portrayed, usually comically, in depictions of of bidets in US media.
- flanbiscuit 7y ago
  Seems about right. Just found this: > Throughout this bidet boom, the United States resisted its appeal, and the reason might have been the power of first impressions. Americans were introduced to bidets on a broad scale during World War II, when troops were stationed in Europe. GIs visiting bordellos would often see bidets in the bathrooms, so they began to associate these basins with sex work. Given America’s puritanical past, it makes sense that, once back home, servicemen would feel squeamish presenting these fixtures to their homeland. But even before the war, bidets were linked to sex and scandal. In the United States and Britain, when various forms of douching were thought of as a pregnancy preventive, bidets were considered a form of birth control. As Norman Haire, a birth-control pioneer, put it in 1936, “The presence of a bidet is regarded as almost a symbol of sin.” The present-day American sociologist Harvey Molotch agrees, concluding that the devices were tainted with France’s hedonism and sexuality. “Bidets have had such difficulty ... Even all the power of capitalism can’t break the taboo.” https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2018/03/the-bidets-revival/555770/ https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2018/03/the-b...
gwbas1c 7y ago
Habit: It's what I learned as a kid and I'm too freaked out to squirt cold water back there. When I've traveled to places with bidets, I was too afraid to make a mess, so I didn't try it.
phonypc 7y ago
Mostly culture and habit, but I argue against the prevailing wisdom and say it's also more hygienic to use TP. Moving water throws invisible droplets everywhere that can spread bacteria, which is why modern health authorities strongly recommend against washing raw poultry, for instance. For females at least, there's some evidence of bidets not being ideal; https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21058441 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21058441 Of course, soap and water should outperform TP, and maybe we should all be using soap.

Fezzik 7y ago

If I had to guess, it is similar to why people spend small fortunes on diamonds - despite being a horrible financial decision and having superior/cheaper alternatives, a series of a societal pressures (mainly advertising, at this point) has resulted in people making a behavioral decision that is far less than optimal based on any reasonable metric. Also, people are bad at changing habits. Really bad. And as ridiculous as it is, a huge portion of the US thinks bidets are for the French, gays, and women... all of which are thought of as pejoratives. I am not as familiar with the ignorances and stupidities of other countries.

adamredwoods 7y ago

I don't think bidets are standard in the US and still need a water hookup, which is a small but definable barrier. TP is cheap, viewed from a short-term cost.

rootusrootus 7y ago
There are cheap bidets that don't need any electrical hookup, and install with a splitter on the water hookup for the toilet itself. It's just a cultural thing.

baud147258 7y ago

Not all appartement have enough room to put a bidet in each bathroom? At least it's been the case in most bathroom I've seen. And TP can still be usable without any running water.

coderintherye 7y ago
Bidets can be attached directly to the toilet now, it does not need to be separate. Even in a tiny bathroom with almost no wiggle room, they can be added to an existing toilet (speaking from recent experience).
- taurath 7y ago
  My problem - you need power usually where there isn’t in US bathrooms.
  - amingilani 7y ago
    You don't need power for the spray bidet. You can hook it to the toilet's water supply.

rootusrootus 7y ago

I'm a bidet person too and I still use toilet paper.

amingilani 7y ago
Despite the higher costs and no higher benefits? Why so? That said, I've done so when there was no other option. Personally, I didn't feel clean and had to shower the moment I got home.
- rootusrootus 7y ago
  TMI, but I like my nether regions dry. So I use TP to dry after the bidet. And I won't even claim to use just a few squares -- that's how you end up poking your finger through the paper and then leaving pieces all over your butt ;-).

AndrewKemendo 7y ago

I honestly think it comes from puritanism. My guess is that people in general, at least in the US, are afraid that they might get some kind of pleasure from a bidet, and that is scary to them. You can see those elements portrayed, usually comically, in depictions of of bidets in US media.

flanbiscuit 7y ago
Seems about right. Just found this: > Throughout this bidet boom, the United States resisted its appeal, and the reason might have been the power of first impressions. Americans were introduced to bidets on a broad scale during World War II, when troops were stationed in Europe. GIs visiting bordellos would often see bidets in the bathrooms, so they began to associate these basins with sex work. Given America’s puritanical past, it makes sense that, once back home, servicemen would feel squeamish presenting these fixtures to their homeland. But even before the war, bidets were linked to sex and scandal. In the United States and Britain, when various forms of douching were thought of as a pregnancy preventive, bidets were considered a form of birth control. As Norman Haire, a birth-control pioneer, put it in 1936, “The presence of a bidet is regarded as almost a symbol of sin.” The present-day American sociologist Harvey Molotch agrees, concluding that the devices were tainted with France’s hedonism and sexuality. “Bidets have had such difficulty ... Even all the power of capitalism can’t break the taboo.” https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2018/03/the-bidets-revival/555770/ https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2018/03/the-b...

gwbas1c 7y ago

Habit: It's what I learned as a kid and I'm too freaked out to squirt cold water back there. When I've traveled to places with bidets, I was too afraid to make a mess, so I didn't try it.

phonypc 7y ago

Mostly culture and habit, but I argue against the prevailing wisdom and say it's also more hygienic to use TP. Moving water throws invisible droplets everywhere that can spread bacteria, which is why modern health authorities strongly recommend against washing raw poultry, for instance. For females at least, there's some evidence of bidets not being ideal; https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21058441 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21058441 Of course, soap and water should outperform TP, and maybe we should all be using soap.