Photo courtesy of SheWee.com
Though from the looks of this thing I guess all we ever needed was a funnel. I guess it’s that easy? Fashion a funnel at an angle with a curved shoehorn-like bowl, and presto, women are liberated! It’s true that we gals really, really need an alternative to sitting on (or squatting above) nasty gas-station toilets. It’s a big-time pain in the ass for women to have to sit and squat all the time, same goes for things like menstruating, childbirth, and childrearing; we put up with a lot because of our anatomy. But on the pee front I’m not yet convinced that the Brits’ SheWee has broken the porcelain ceiling.
First off, the physics of it seems really challenging, which is probably why we haven’t seen a SheWee before. I mean, we have a female condom, we have boxer shorts for women, but, like lady Viagra, the bipedal pee has heretofore eluded us. Second, the site insists that you can use the SheWee “without removing your clothes.” Hmm, I’m not trusting that molded funnel to catch everything and keep my clothes, and shoes, wee free. Plus, it’s reusable and is supposed to be put back in a bag between uses, which means you’re carrying around urine between liberated pee stops. The SheWee is perfect, says the site, for so many occasions: in the car, while scuba diving, on Everest. In fact, the SheWee promises that NOW you can “hike/climb/ski/jog off the beaten track, miles from the nearest toilet.” Because women wouldn’t even think of doing any of these things if they didn’t have a plastic urine-covered funnel in their pocket.
It’s the usual feminine hygiene sell, that a device, whether it’s a Swiffer, douching with Lysol (“Still the girl he married“), or NuvaRing (“Let Freedom Ring“), is what’s going to free women from the bonds of their pesky vaginas.
All this said I just might get me a SheWee and give it a try, because how could anyone resist a product that lets you “travel the world with the comfort of home in your pocket.”
