The REAL reason Americans don’t use bidets? Capitalism.

r/

You buy a bidet once. Toilet paper? That’s a lifelong subscription.
Of course capitalism doesn’t want people switching that would destroy the toilet paper industry.
And somehow, spraying clean water on your ass is “weird,” but smearing it with dry paper every day is totally normal? Sure.
But hey, why push for hygiene when endless consumption is more profitable?
Bidets are cleaner, greener, and cheaper over time.
But in a system where profit beats common sense, waste always wins.

Edit: I’m aware that capitalism isn’t the only reason and America isn’t the only country that uses toilet paper.

Comments

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  2. Tiana_frogprincess Avatar

    There’s a lot of countries that doesn’t use bidets that are less capitalists than the US.

  3. Who_am_ey3 Avatar

    Americans? bidets aren’t even that common in general. stop making this about Americans

  4. BeanyIsDaBean Avatar

    So why don’t Australians use them either? Lol stop acting like America is the only country without bidets

  5. TanukiFruit Avatar

    Someone watched the south park episode on toilet paper capitalism

  6. laudable_lurker Avatar

    Western Europe is capitalistic as well yet countries like Italy, Spain, and Finland see widespread usage of bidets.

  7. jazzgrackle Avatar

    You can purchase a bidet in America if you want.

  8. fedeita80 Avatar

    Just fyi, Italians first use toilet paper and then the bidet

  9. notmenotwhenitsyou Avatar

    home depot has them for $30 dawg

  10. jasonology09 Avatar

    This isn’t an unpopular take, it’s just a dumb one. Bidets are far from ubiquitous in the entire Western world.

  11. Rabbid0Luigi Avatar

    As someone from a country that has bidet “guns” near every toilet, we still use toilet paper, I won’t pull my pants up with a wet ass

  12. 2020WorstDraftEver Avatar

    Jokes on them. I use free paper napkins from the gas station.

  13. ForsakenRacism Avatar

    You can buy a bidet attachment for like nothing

  14. OkSentence1717 Avatar

    Bro there’s a whole South Park episode about this. Go to bed. 

  15. revgodless Avatar

    American GI’s in WWII went to French brothels were they encountered bidets for the first time so they associated it with sex work and thought they were unclean.

    That is the historical reasons why Americans don’t use bidets.

  16. Punch-The-Panda Avatar

    Even when we use a bidet, we still need toilet paper to wipe the water off

  17. Varietygamer_928 Avatar

    You can get a bidet in America if you want it. And I know a fair amount of people that do use one, including myself

  18. gorehistorian69 Avatar

    a large majority of men in the US would not want a bidet because it’d be seen as “gay”.

  19. mouthfullpeach Avatar

    when i visit someone and see that they dont have a bidet or watering can i feel so shocked

  20. whitewinterhymnyall Avatar

    The people who sell bidets are not the same people that sell toilet paper.

  21. darkmykal Avatar

    I could easily look this up myself but this just crossed my feed so here we go. What do you use to scrub if you’re using a bidet? I imagine using a weak stream isn’t enough to get it all off but using a stronger stream would just splash shit-water everywhere. Currently I just buy baby wipes and throw them in the trash.

  22. Khorvair Avatar

    I don’t want to shoot water up my ass (I am not american)

  23. agent-assbutt Avatar

    Some of us do coffee enemas and colonics on tv and tiktok instead.

  24. Arlitto Avatar

    I have a bidet. I still use a little bit of toilet paper to dab myself off cause even though my booty hole is clean, it is wet, and I don’t have a fancy bidet that dries you off afterward.

  25. Whiskeymyers75 Avatar

    It’s not really capitalism when water isn’t free unless you’re connected to a well.

  26. Comfortable_Hall8677 Avatar

    As an American handyman, I installed countless bidets. The clients were from all walks and origins.

    My opinion never did change though, I thought it was weird. Even a cheap bidet produces an impressively pressurized stream of water, and unless the occupant was perfectly centered every time, the stream would surely bounce from all angles of their underside and get everywhere.

    I don’t see how they’d leave the experience and put their clothing back up without using a towel. Maybe they use a towel every time? Idk.

    It’s weird. I get having a sparkly butthole or not wanting to use or flush toilet paper but everything about a bidet surely isn’t worth it. I just feel that toilet paper and wipes (discarded into their own trash receptacle, don’t get me started on the dangers of flushing wipes down your pipes) is less weird.

  27. Tough-Weakness-3957 Avatar

    Sometimes I feel like these are just interesting perspectives and not necessarily unpopular opinions

  28. Splloosh Avatar

    Bro i religiously use my bidet BUT I STILL USE TP. like please stop squirting your poopy butt with water

  29. MuskokaGreenThumb Avatar

    Holy shit bro. It’s not that deep. Big toilet paper isn’t spending billions keeping you from buying a bidet attachment for $40.

  30. fmessore Avatar

    I come from a country that normally uses bidet and its the best thing in the world. That being said, you still need a bit of tolite paper afterwards to make sure you are clean and dry everything up

  31. TheQomia Avatar

    The bidet manufacturers dont care about the profits of the toilet paper industry. Thats why you can buy a bidet rn in America

  32. sean_themighty Avatar

    FYI: the $30-$40 bidet attachments on Amazon are 100% worth it even if that’s all the money or know how you’ve got. I thought forever that I wouldn’t be satisfied with the cold water tap, but it’s honestly not bad at all (maybe not if you live in an area with winter-temp water all the time).

    I also have an electric unit with heated water, seat, dryer — lots of bells and whistles — and I still don’t mind using the basic “cheap” style at all. I encourage everyone to get one. You really do use a LOT less toilet paper.

  33. realdavidnunez Avatar

    nobody tell this dude u can buy a bidet with ur own money

  34. Dramatic-Gas4723 Avatar

    Show me a paper trail (pun perhaps intended) indicating a business deal between toilet companies and toilet paper companies, and you may be onto something. Though, I don’t know where the particular economic system of capitalism comes into play lol.

  35. VisualConfusion5360 Avatar

    And if every single American used bidets, they would claim Americans are wasteful and use fresh water just to clean their butt hole when the rest of the world doesn’t even have fresh water to drink

  36. earthworm_fan Avatar

    But I own a bidet? It also doesn’t entirely eliminate toilet paper, though it dramatically cuts down on it

  37. HonestBass7840 Avatar

    You still have to dry your backside.

  38. Visit_Excellent Avatar

    Insider Edition actually did a video on this subject! I highly recommend you watch it 🙂

    https://youtu.be/nI5shsQuauY?si=Sc19BwTseJmDvswi

    In short: you’re partially correct. Bidets were actually super popular in Europe. Americans were first introduced to bidets during WWII, however, they witnessed them in brothels. So the association with bidets and sex work lingered and affected their popularity. When the guy who invented bidets tried to introduce them to America, it was a huge failure due to the negative press. 

  39. No-vem-ber Avatar

    Since I installed a bidet I use more toilet paper because I use the paper to dry myself off. 

    I don’t understand anyone who doesn’t do that… Are you walking around with just wet drippy underwear? Genuine question

  40. IEgoLift-_- Avatar
  41. New-Load-651 Avatar

    Popping in the shower…. I’m poor

  42. WEASELexe Avatar

    I bought a nice bidet from Amazon and love it

  43. mervmann Avatar

    You do realize you can get a bidet on Amazon to add to your existing toilet right? But sure blame capitalism lol.

  44. LonelyCakeEater Avatar

    I def use less paper with a bidet

  45. RadRimmer9000 Avatar

    So instead of smudge shit in my butt crack, I’m leaking poop water in my pants?

  46. jaytrainer0 Avatar

    You can easily buy a bidet. Also I still use some tp to dry off. Just not as much

  47. DolanGrayAyes Avatar

    I use the bidet almost everyday and I’m pretty sure I spend more on soap, also toilet paper is necessary for other purposes like cleaning your glasses or spilled liquids from the desk

  48. gridlockmain1 Avatar

    If the US really wanted to go full capitalist it would follow England’s example by privatising the water industry, so there is no publicly funded option to clean your ass

  49. AnonymousLlama1776 Avatar

    Wait till you find out that capitalism isn’t only found in the United States and all those bidet-using countries are capitalist too

  50. striykker Avatar

    Hey OP, wait until you look into the American medical system. Talk about protecting capitalism.

  51. ybarracuda71 Avatar

    I had a bidet in my old house. Just the toilet hose kind. It was because of covid, I haven’t gotten around to installing one at the new house but totally am. Toilet paper was hard to come by here during covid so that was my answer lol.

  52. JustForTheMemes420 Avatar

    Sorta some people just think it makes you gay for having something touch your butt. It’s becoming more common since the pandemic though.

  53. arcadiangenesis Avatar

    Not really, because you still need to replace your bidet every few years. They get shit all over them, and they’re impossible to fully clean.

    Also, you can always upgrade to a more expensive model. I started with a $40 bidet on Amazon, and now I’ve upgraded to a $300 Toto Washlet. I already have my eye on the next upgrade. Capitalism at its finest.

  54. 0_possum Avatar

    I love my bidet. The only issue is now I don’t like to poop anywhere but home

  55. diobreads Avatar

    How about just washing it raw?

  56. Responsible_Oil_5811 Avatar

    Virtually all the countries that use bidets are capitalist.

  57. Sheila_Monarch Avatar

    Many bidet-standard countries are also capitalist societies. This is a silly leap to make.

    It’s simple exposure. People that didn’t grow up with them or have never used one don’t realize they should have one. And they probably won’t until they encounter the opportunity to give one a whirl.

  58. hamburgergerald Avatar

    Bidets aren’t a banned item. And they’re not particularly expensive either. I can drive over to the local hardware store and buy one. Americans don’t have bidets because they don’t want them.

  59. Old_Captain_9131 Avatar

    Washing your ass is a habit that i wish more “modern” countries need to pick up more.

  60. Sweet_Cartoonist_987 Avatar

    You could also nair your butt every now and again. A third the toilet paper use and no swamp butt.

  61. SwordTaster Avatar

    Having tried a Japanese bidet toilet before, the reason I don’t use a bidet is because I fucking hate the sensation of them. I don’t care that toilet paper continuously costs money, I do NOT enjoy the spray sensation on my butt and I will never use a bidet ever again.

  62. blueangels111 Avatar

    So, there’s a car game my buddies and I would play, called just think about it. The idea? You’re given 30 seconds and a random topic by their choosing. Once this 30 seconds is up, you gotta give a 2 minute rant on the hidden conspiracy related to that topic. Naturally, you must end with a very aggressive “just THINK about it people!”

    Where am I going with this? Well, this unironically reads shockingly similar to the time I had to give a passionate rant on how sporks are Russian propaganda and are anti American, because they’re anti consumerism and try to get us to buy less utensils thus destabilizing the economy.

    Take from this what you will.

  63. GoodGuyScott Avatar

    Cause the water cant reach past their fat asses.

  64. CereBRO12121 Avatar

    South Park covered this. Be careful or the TP industry will call a hit on you for preaching this!

  65. AramisSAS Avatar

    Big Toilet Paper at it again

  66. theturbod Avatar

    Another crazy Reddit communist…

  67. skudzthecat Avatar

    The french aristocrat’s had them in the 1700s, but the modern bidet was patented
    In 1928, in the United States, when John Harvey Kellogg applied for a patent on an “anal douche”.[3

  68. guerilla_ratio Avatar

    I can’t imagine not having one. I travel for work and on extended stays I just buy and install. It’s something I refuse to live without

  69. StrawbraryLiberry Avatar

    Yeah, they want us to keep buying all these paper products.

  70. wherearemyballs112 Avatar

    I just dont want something blasting me in the asshole point blank