Pee Parity

 The Shewee

   As an old fellow, I am familiar with problems relating to urination, but relieving oneself while out-of-doors is not one of them. It is far easier for males and for that I apologize. I have learned that there is a device for women which I will now call to the attention of you female walkers, and for you fellows who should keep it in mind for next year's stocking stuffers. The marketing person who came up with the name for the product, The Shewee, also deserves our attention and an award for doing so. 

   To avoid the charge of "appropriation" I will turn this post over to the woman author who knows more about the product and the process of using it than I do.

“The Pure Liberation of a Personal Urination Device: A Plastic Aqueduct Provides New Pathways For Relief,” Melissa Hart, New York Times Magazine, Dec. 17, 2024
   "The device appeared on the front porch for my birthday: seven inches of sturdy pink plastic shaped like a deep-bowled spoon. “Happy Peeing!” my friend — who, like me, is an avid hiker — had written on a note tied with a ribbon.
   The gift was a personal urination tool that allows people with vaginas to stand when they urinate. “Gross!” my teenage daughter groaned…. I assessed the gadget: a miniature aqueduct. My friend had included a washable absorbent paisley square — a pee cloth that could be attached to the user’s backpack with a strap that read “Piss Off.”

She then goes on to talk about feminine travails when hiking on trails. It appears that both this product and the idea have been around for a long time.

   "It turns out, however, that 18th-century women had already figured out how to pee standing up, during hourslong dinner parties without a toilet in sight. Encumbered by long, heavy skirts, they could hoist back their satins and silks and brocades and let loose in a handled porcelain chamber pot called a bourdaloue. In his painting “La Toilette Intime (Une Femme Qui Pisse),” or “The Intimate Toilette (A Woman Who Pees)” (circa 1760s), the artist François Boucher depicts a demure young woman holding back her pink and green skirts and petticoats so that she can go in a delicate vessel shaped like a gravy boat."

   Female Urination Devices are pictured and easily purchased via Amazon. For Canadian shoppers, here is a link to what is apparently "Canada's Official Shewee Retailer."